1976, Viking lander injects Martian soil samples with nutrients laced with radioactive c14, soil spews out metabolized 14CO2.
1990s, evidence of nanobe biomorphs is found repeatedly in Martian meteorite samples; AL84001, Nakhla, Yamato 000593, the latter even showing iddingsite alterations and carbon-rich spherical nodules; complex carbonaceous materials found in dendritic structures resembling microbial colonies and biofilms.
2000s, Formaldehyde and methane detected in Martian atmosphere at geologically-anomalous rates.
2018, Curiosity finds organic molecules in Martian mudstones - thiophene, benzene, toluene, propane, butane - consistent with kerogen decay.
Curiosity also records dozens of sightings of morphological features that experts identify as bacterial traces, stromatolites, lichen and fungi.
Research throughout the 2010s provides abundant evidence of the survival and growth of earth extremophile lichens and bacteria in outer space and in martian conditions.
Also, a growing body of evidence suggests the possibility of abiogenesis on comets, asteroids, and dwarf planets like Ceres. The biotic precursor organic compounds are ubiquitous throughout the solar system, as is liquid water, and they can spontaneously generate amino acids under UV degradation.
Plausible theories in astrobiology posit the likely existence of life on Titan, Europa, Enceladus (Tiger stripes, organic plumes, oh my!), the asteroid belt, and even the sulfur clouds of Venus.
Face it: the solar system is alive.
1990s, evidence of nanobe biomorphs is found repeatedly in Martian meteorite samples; AL84001, Nakhla, Yamato 000593, the latter even showing iddingsite alterations and carbon-rich spherical nodules; complex carbonaceous materials found in dendritic structures resembling microbial colonies and biofilms.
2000s, Formaldehyde and methane detected in Martian atmosphere at geologically-anomalous rates.
2018, Curiosity finds organic molecules in Martian mudstones - thiophene, benzene, toluene, propane, butane - consistent with kerogen decay.
Curiosity also records dozens of sightings of morphological features that experts identify as bacterial traces, stromatolites, lichen and fungi.
Research throughout the 2010s provides abundant evidence of the survival and growth of earth extremophile lichens and bacteria in outer space and in martian conditions.
Also, a growing body of evidence suggests the possibility of abiogenesis on comets, asteroids, and dwarf planets like Ceres. The biotic precursor organic compounds are ubiquitous throughout the solar system, as is liquid water, and they can spontaneously generate amino acids under UV degradation.
Plausible theories in astrobiology posit the likely existence of life on Titan, Europa, Enceladus (Tiger stripes, organic plumes, oh my!), the asteroid belt, and even the sulfur clouds of Venus.
Face it: the solar system is alive.
