Posted inAstrobiology Life on Mars NASA
How to Search for Life on Mars
This post provides additional discussion and references for How to Search for Life on Mars (Robert Zubrin, Steven Benner, and Jan Spacek, submitted to Scientific American)
Posted inLife Life on Mars NASA Synthetic Biology
NASA Headquarters Misses the Ball. Polyelectrolytes as the Key to Agnostic Life Finding
Synthetic biology, 20 years ago, taught NASA how to search generally, agnostically, and universally for alien life. NASA still does not understand the opportunity
Posted inAstrobiology Life on Mars Single Scoops
Benzoic acid on Mars. A 20 year old prediction come true?
Millan et al. just reported the discovery of benzoic acid in the dunes on Mars. Remarkably, benzoic acid was predicted 20 years ago to be on Mars as a product of organics falling to Mars via meteorite. And possibly ... life. Simply by understanding basic organic chemistry.
Posted inLife on Mars Origin of Life Single Scoops
If we are related to Martians, how would we know (Part 1)?
If life ever existed on Mars, it's possible that it could be related, in some way, to life on Earth. Fortunately, such a relationship would leave signs in Martian biochemistry.
Posted inLife on Mars
How the Agnostic Life Finder (ALF) Searches for Life on Mars
Here, we describe an Agnostic Life Finder (ALF) that is able to look for life in water throughout the Solar System. ALF uses electric fields to extract alien genetic molecules from water. This water will be mined in large volumes during in situ resource utilization (ISRU), to generate fuel before the first humans arrive to create large scale environmental perturbation.
Posted inLife on Mars
The Search for Life on Mars Must Start Now
According to planetary protection guidelines, manned Mars missions could be a severe biological hazard. At the same time, Mars will soon be accessible for those who might choose not to follow these guidelines. If we are serious about planetary protection, we must know if life is present on Mars before humans land there.
Posted inLife on Mars
The Race to Put the First Humans on Mars
Short of a global apocalypse, we can expect people living on Mars by the year 2050 and if everything runs smoothly, humans will be a multiplanetary species in the 2030s. Several national agencies and private companies declared their interest in landing humans on Mars. This article reviews their programs.
Posted inLife on Mars Synthetic Biology
Synthetic Biology Suggests a Universal Sign of Life in the Chemistry of Genetic Molecules
We cannot assume that life elsewhere in the universe will resemble terrestrial life, even at the molecular level, but this presents a problem: how will we recognize the signs of alien biochemistry if we find them? Synthetic biology provides an answer. Regardless of where it lives, complex life must be able to chemically encode large, diverse bodies of information, and only molecules with certain readily observable chemical properties can do this. Look for these molecules, and you'll find life.
Posted inLife on Mars Origin of Life
Minerals, Mars, and 3.48 Billion Year Old Australian Fossils
A fossil with Earth's most ancient life on earth was analyzed for its elemental content, showing that it had several of the elements necessary for life to originate from prebiotic chemistry.
Posted inLife on Mars
Cooking Lasagna Glaciers on Mars
The mid latitude Martian subsurface layered ice, the Martian Lasagna, could be the best place to look for life on Mars. Here, layers of ice, few inches thick are separated by thin layers of dust - creating chemical gradients and bringing nutrients, water and life together. Here is how the Martian Lasagna is made.