[meteorite-list] Ancient bacteria could point to life on Mars

From: mark ford <markf_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2007 11:08:38 +0100
Message-ID: <6CE3EEEFE92F4B4085B0E086B2941B31293D2F_at_s-southern01.s-southern.com>

Why not?

Remember these space probes are actually (in some cases even heated)
sealed micro environments of their own, (nice for transporting
extreemophile bugs! (+ The usual competition bugs have been half killed
off). We know we have bugs on earth which can survive space travel, and
there are no doubt bugs which could survive for a while on mars, so ....
if they got deep into the soil.... it might take a while... but.

Unless we find Martian life that is <totally different> to any Earth
life, there will always be that nagging doubt...

Mark




-----Original Message-----
From: Bill [mailto:glixard at inbox.com]
Sent: 29 August 2007 10:40
To: mark ford
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Ancient bacteria could point to life on
Mars

C'mon now Sterling,

If transported earth bugs could survive, we would or already do have a
martian petri dish. That just can't be!

Bill



> -----Original Message-----
> From: markf at ssl.gb.com
> Sent: Wed, 29 Aug 2007 08:55:11 +0100
> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Ancient bacteria could point to life on
> Mars
>
> Hi Sterling,
>
>
> Indeed, yes it would be nice to find Martian life! - though I always
go
> back to the great ALH8... saga - front page news around the world,
then
> two days later everyone went back to watching the football! So I doubt
> that finding alien life would actually resonate very much with most of
> mankind after a few weeks. I my experience most people seem to be
immune
> from getting very enthusiastic about very much these days!!! I
certainly
> don't think it would change the human paradigm! 3/4 of the population
of
> Earth wouldn't believe us anyway...
>
> I also have major doubts that they will ever find any truly native
> Martian life anyway, ok They have superficial found traces of liquid
> water/vapor flows , but whoopee doos, the moon has traces of water!
This
> is not the same as vast oceans of warm stable water over many millions
> of years..
>
>
> Of course it doesn't mean we shouldn't look. But sadly I think years
> from now we will have ended up colonizing (if we haven't already!)
Mars
> with Earth based bacteria, then it will be next to impossible to tell
> for sure in any case. I am afraid the probe sterilization techniques
> used are way not good enough, I <know> there are parts of those
> spacecraft which couldn't be 100% sterilised... ;)
>
>
> Best
> Mark Ford
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sterling K. Webb [mailto:sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net]
> Sent: 28 August 2007 21:12
> To: mark ford; Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Ancient bacteria could point to life on
> Mars
>
> Hi, Mark, List,
>
> Their reasoning is that Mars' permafrost is
> thermally more stable, heats and cools less than
> Earth's, I think.
>
> The Martian polar regions are about 150
> degrees K. The Earth's coldest temperatures
> in, say, Antartica are 185 degrees K. but there's
> an 80 or 90 degree K rise in the "summer."
> Water ice may even "melt" temporarily! Ghastly.
>
> The Martian CO2 pole experiences only about
> half that change, and certainly none of that flighty
> "melting" behavior! Earth experiences a 140 degree
> K annual range of extremes and Mars about a 160
> degree K annual range of extremes.
>
> Since the DNA damage progresses faster at
> warmer temperatures and the slow DNA repair is
> carried out at the lower temperatures, it would
> seem that lower temperature would give it less DNA
> damage to repair, hence a better chance at survival
> for a longer period.
>
> Finding a microbe on Mars, an unequivocal and
> certain discovery where everyone is forced to admit,
> yes, there is or was or may still be (depending on how
> it's found), Life On Mars would be a major shift in
> the human paradigm, wow!
>
> We would argue about What It Means for years
> and years; it would energize and accelerate space
> travel; it would make my heart beat too fast and I'd
> take an extra pill, but...
>
> It's not the same as having somebody Completely
> Different to talk to. There is our desire to see Life
> everywhere, but if we explored a thousand Earth-like
> planets and found nobody more interesting than a
> coral polyp or a tiny hydra or jellyfish, I'd be a little
> disappointed. The potential for conversation is...
> limited.
>
> You know?
>
>
> Sterling K. Webb
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "mark ford" <markf at ssl.gb.com>
> To: <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 7:40 AM
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Ancient bacteria could point to life on
> Mars
>
>
>>> "When it can live half a million years on Earth it makes it very
> promising it could survive on Mars for a very long time," Willerslev
> said. "Permafrost would be an excellent place to look for life on
Mars."
>
> Yeah but call be a cynic, but Surely half a million years on earth is
> environmentally like half a decade on Mars!?
>
> Mark
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
> [mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of
> Sterling K. Webb
> Sent: 28 August 2007 06:44
> To: Meteorite List
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Ancient bacteria could point to life on Mars
>
> Hi, All,
>
> With the Phoenix Lander headed for Martian
> permafrost territory, this is suddenly more interesting.
>
>
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL2733009920070827?feedType=RS
> S&feedName=topNews&sp=true
>
> Ancient bacteria could point to life on Mars: Study
>
> LONDON (Reuters) - Ancient bacteria are able
> to survive nearly half a million years in harsh,
> frozen conditions, researchers said on Monday
> in a study that adds to arguments that permafrost
> environments on Mars could harbor life.
>
> The findings also represent the oldest independently
> authenticated DNA to date obtained from living
> cells and could offer clues to better understand
> ageing, said Eske Willerslev, a researcher at the
> University of Copenhagen who led the study.
>
> "When it can live half a million years on Earth it
> makes it very promising it could survive on Mars
> for a very long time," Willerslev said. "Permafrost
> would be an excellent place to look for life on Mars."
>
> The international team, which also included researchers
> from the United States, Canada, Russia and Sweden,
> tested the microbes living up to 10 meters deep in
> permafrost collected from Northern Canada, the
> Yukon, Siberia and Antarctica.
>
> When a cell dies, its DNA fragments into pieces but
> the samples the researchers studied were all very long
> strands -- evidence the cells were able to continuously
> repair genetic material and remain alive, said Willerslev,
> whose findings were published in the Proceedings of
> the Academy of Sciences.
>
> "These cells are active cells repairing DNA to deal
> with continuous degradation of the genomes, which
> is the genetic material that is key to life," he said in
> a telephone interview. "It is the same thing with humans."
>
> The scientists do not yet know the mechanism driving
> the continuous repair but Willerslev said the cells survived
> by eating nutrients like nitrogen and phosphate lodged
> in the permafrost.
>
> This is interesting because the temperature on Mars is
> much colder with more stable temperatures, representing
> an even better environment to sustain this kind of life, he
> added.
>
> While most scientists think our neighbor in the solar
> system is lifeless, the discovery of microbes on Earth
> that can exist in environments previously thought too
> hostile has fuelled debate over extraterrestrial life.
>
> Researchers had known these microbes could survive
> for a long time without food but until now there was
> little agreement on how long they could live, Willerslev said.
>
> Knowing this, and eventually pinpointing the key to this
> longevity, may also help scientists better understand
> the ageing process, he added.
>
> "It is interesting to see why some cells can survive
> for a very long time," he said. "That can be a key
> for understanding ageing."
>
> ______________________________________________
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>
>
> ______________________________________________
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>
>
> ______________________________________________
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list

____________________________________________________________
GET FREE 5GB EMAIL - Check out spam free email with many cool features!
Visit http://www.inbox.com/email to find out more!
Received on Wed 29 Aug 2007 06:08:38 AM PDT