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Organic molecules in an ancient Mars meteorite formed via geology, not alien life:
When researchers in 1996 reported they had found organic molecules nestled in an ancient Martian meteorite discovered in Antarctica, it caused quite a buzz. Some insisted the compounds were big-if-true evidence of life having existed on Mars (SN: 3/8/01). Others, though, pointed to contamination by earthly life-forms or some nonbiological origins (SN: 1/10/18).
Now, a geochemical analysis of the meteorite provides the latest buzzkill to the idea that alien life inhabited the 4.09-billion-year-old fragment of the Red Planet. It suggests instead that the organic matter within probably formed from the chemical interplay of water and minerals mingling under Mars' surface, researchers report in the Jan. 14 Science. Even so, the finding could aid in the search for life, the team says.
Organic molecules are often produced by living organisms, but they can also arise from nonbiological, abiotic processes. Though myriad hypotheses claim to explain what sparked life, many researchers consider abiotic organic molecules to be necessary starting material. Martian geologic processes could have been generating these compounds for billions of years, the new study suggests.
"These organic chemicals could have become the primordial soup that might have helped form life on [Mars]," says Andrew Steele, a biochemist from the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C. Whether life ever existed there, however, remains unknown.
[...] Though the work doesn't bring us any closer to proving or disproving the existence of life on Mars, identifying abiotic sources of organic compounds there is crucial for the search, Steele explains. Once you've figured out how Martian organic chemistry acts without meddlesome life, he says, "you can then look to see if it's been tweaked."
Journal Reference:
A. Steele, L. G. Benning, R. Wirth, A. Schreiber, et al. Organic synthesis associated with serpentinization and carbonation on early Mars, Science (DOI: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abg7905)
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 15 2022, @07:49PM (1 child)
We'll all be dead eventually and won't see a change in how humans plunder the planet in our lifetimes.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 16 2022, @05:33PM
I have no children and don't plan to so I won't be subjecting anyone new to this planet in future generations. So at the very least I am minimizing the extent that my actions contribute to future plunderings and environmental damage and the extent that I contribute to the number of people in the future that will have to bear the burden of a dystopic future amongst corrupt politicians and undesirable neighbors. The present is dystopic enough.
Not to mention that the government keeps trying to pass more and more laws to tax and further burden the working class so they can squander it for themselves (Venmo, Zelle and others must now report transactions if the annual amount exceeds $600). They complain that certain groups of people that we want more children from aren't having children (those that tend to create desirable societies, statically much less likely to have criminal backgrounds, much less likely to steal and loot, much less likely to litter and vandalize, much less likely to commit violent acts, much more competent in the technical skills that make us better off) while those that we want fewer children from are the ones having all the children. They complain about how this will reshape the demographics of future generations and its culture to create a future dystopic culture with a higher percentage of less skilled people that create undesirable societies.
It's weird, I was talking to someone of a given race that at one time, on the one hand, spent a lot of time complaining about how bad people of this other race are and, on the other hand, was also complaining about how much it sucks that people from this same other race aren't really having children anymore. This person is relatively intelligent and receptive and I was able to change their mind on many things as well through our discussions (and I learned a lot from this person as well).
At one time this person was complaining about tap water quality. I explained that one problem is that many municipalities can't find enough skill and competent chemists that are qualified to do a good job ensuring good water quality. There are only so many people with the right skills in supply but there is a much larger demand for the water provided. If this person wants they can become a chemist and contribute to the solution.