Expansionary Institute

Michael Zey
futurist3000@aol.com

A team of NASA-led scientists studying the Allan Hills meteorite reports
the discovery of magnetic crystals deep inside the four billion-year-old
Martian rock that landed in Antarctica some 13,000 years ago. Scientists are
excited by their find since, here on earth at least; these crystals are only
formed by bacteria, a living organism.

Dr. Everett Gibson, a NASA astrobiologist who participated in the
research, doesn't claim the discovery is the "smoking gun" that proves life
existed on Mars, but says the discovery is very important. "Based on the
lines of evidence, the easiest explanation is that biology existed," he
said.

Gibson and his colleagues found a magnetic compound called magnetite that
is fairly common on earth. However, the magnetites found in the meteorite
are the more rare variety; chemically pure and free of defects. More
important, they can only be produced by bacteria.  Gibson said the
scientists were initially concerned the bacteria could have entered the rock
after it fell to earth, but said the facts did not support that theory.

The crystals are deeply embedded in the meteor's carbonate material. He
also says it's very unlikely the bacteria found in the meteor would live in
Antarctica, where it was found.  Dr. Dennis Bazylinski, a professor of
geobiology at Iowa State University, believes the discovery is important on
a number of levels.  "It could be a biological marker. It can reveal what
types of organisms existed on Mars at the time the meteorite fell to earth,"
Bazylinski said.

But is it the "smoking gun?" Bazylinski is not prepared to say it is.
"That's an emotional issue. Where did life start, when did it start? The
kinds of questions that can keep philosophers busy," he said.  "Science does
not accept radical ideas quickly," Gibson said, adding that it's taken many
years, sometimes decades, for new scientific theories to be accepted as
fact.

But the idea that life forms may have existed somewhere besides earth may
not be all that radical. Gibson said some of his colleagues have questioned
the team's findings, but they haven't rejected them. They merely want to see
more evidence. Bazylinski said the available evidence points toward the
strong possibility that life once existed on Mars, "possibly with rivers and
large lakes."

Conclusive proof of life on Mars, past or present, may have to wait until
scientists can examine more evidence on the red planet itself, something
that can't be done quickly. "At the present time, no one has firm plans to
return samples from Mars," Gibson said.  While NASA is in the planning
stages for its next missions to Mars, Gibson said the European Space
Administration is ahead of the Americans, with plans to launch an ambitious
probe in 2003.

 The project, headed by British scientist Collin Pillinger, will launch
"Beagle 2" in mid 2003 with a Mars landing on December 26. The mission will
try to prove existence of bacteria beneath the surface by looking for and
measuring methane in the atmosphere. "It will be strong evidence in our
eyes" if they find it, Gibson said.

Gibson said the tantalizing evidence produced by the Allan Hills meteorite
over the last four years has changed the mindset of the scientific community
and sparked new interest in looking for life on Mars. He notes the renewed
interest by the U.S. government, with Congress adding more money to NASA's
budget. "We're trying to answer a question everyone can relate to; is there
life elsewhere," he said.

(Reported by Mark Huffman in Washington, DC)

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Copyright 2000 by United Press International.