Astronomers have in recent times recorded mixed results in their search for signs of life on other planets. While a group of astronomers have found
at least 45 planets orbiting distant stars that possess Earth-like qualities including a similar atmosphere and life sustaining liquid, water, as well as spotting possible marker of life, phosphine gas, on Venus; another team found no technological signs of alien life in study of more than 10 million star systems. This is as another research established difficulty in finding evidence of life on Mars.
The researchers conducted simulations involving clay and amino acids to draw conclusions regarding the likely degradation of biological material on Mars. Their paper, “Constraining the Preservation of Organic Compounds in Mars Analog Nontronites After Exposure to Acid and Alkaline Fluids,” was published September 15 in Nature Scientific Reports.
After a long exposure to Mars-like ultraviolet radiation, the experiments showed photodegradation of the glycine molecules embedded in the clay. Exposure to acidic fluids erases the interlayer space, turning it into a gel-like silica. On Earth, phosphine – a colourless gas that has the smell of garlic or decaying fish – is produced predominantly by anaerobic biological sources – organisms, which don’t require oxygen to grow.
Researchers looked at different ways the gas may have been produced, including from sources on the surface of the planet, micrometeorites, lightning, or chemical processes happening within the clouds. The team found a way to use information on “atmospheric species”, that is chemicals in the atmosphere, and how fast they escape into space to determine how close an exoplanet is in terms of temperature and composition to the Earth.
The team explained detecting habitable exoplanets is a difficult challenge, as we can’t just ‘send a probe’ the vast distances between stars. Meanwhile, Australian astronomers reported they have found no technological signs of alien life in a study of more than 10 million star systems. But the researchers concluded that, in this part of the universe, other civilisations are “elusive, if they exist” at all.
They also warned of “public health disaster” if the continent fails to focus on strategies tailored to mosquito-borne diseases other than malaria.
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