• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Could Mars Have Been The Birthplace Of Life In Our Solar System?

March 9, 2024 by Deborah Bloomfield

The organic molecules that enabled life to emerge were present on Mars around 4.5 billion years ago, research suggests. And while these critical components may have hitched a ride to Earth around the same time, it was on the Red Planet that life found the most hospitable conditions.

Earth and Mars are both members of inner Solar System, which is made up of four rocky planets and the asteroid belt. Shortly after their formation, these terrestrial planets endured a brutal bombardment as a torrent of asteroids rained down on the inner Solar System.

Advertisement

While these rocks became assimilated into the crust of both Earth and Mars, the movement of plate tectonics on our home world caused these ancient meteors to be recycled into the interior of the planet. In contrast, the surface of Mars is stationary, which means the rocks that smashed into the planet in the distant past remain in place and can be studied.

By analyzing 31 Martian meteorites, the study authors sought to answer a series of fundamental questions about their origin. For example, until now scientists had never determined whether these ancient projectiles came from the inner or outer Solar System, or whether they carried any of the organic material that could have allowed life to develop.

Using ultrahigh precision chromium isotope measurements, the researchers identified the meteorites as carbonaceous chondrites from the outer Solar System. Based on the prevalence of such rocks on Mars and the fact that ice usually accounts for 10 percent of their mass, the authors calculated that these ancient impacts brought enough water to Mars to cover the entire planet in 307 meters (1,007 feet) of water.

Significantly, carbonaceous chondrites from the outer Solar System are also known to have transported organic molecules such as amino acids to the inner Solar System. These compounds are essential for the formation of DNA, and are likely to have provided the raw materials that allowed life to emerge.

Advertisement

“At this time, Mars was bombarded with asteroids filled with ice. It happened in the first 100 million years of the planet’s evolution,” explained study author Professor Martin Bizzarro in a statement. “Another interesting angle is that the asteroids also carried organic molecules that are biologically important for life.”

However, while conditions on Mars may have been ideal for life at this early juncture, the same can’t be said for Earth. “After this period, something catastrophic happened for potential life on Earth,” says Bizzaro.

“It is believed that there was a gigantic collision between the Earth and another Mars-sized planet. It was an energetic collision that formed the Earth-Moon system and, at the same time, wiped out all potential life on Earth.”

Taken together, these findings suggest that life probably had a better chance of thriving on Mars than on Earth during the formative years of the inner Solar System.

Advertisement

The study is published in the journal Science Advances.

An earlier version of this article was published in November 2022.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Sydney pubs to open in mid-Oct as end of COVID lockdown looms – with cases set to rise
  2. Xiaomi says its devices do not censor users following Lithuania report
  3. Citi hires Goldman banker to share leadership of global infrastructure – memo
  4. Young Metal Detectorist Discovers Massive Viking Raiding Hoard In Danish Field

Source Link: Could Mars Have Been The Birthplace Of Life In Our Solar System?

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Martian Mudstone Has Features That Might Be Biosignatures, New Brain Implant Can Decode Your Internal Monologue, And Much More This Week
  • Crocodiles Weren’t All Blood-Thirsty Killers, Some Evolved To Be Plant-Eating Vegetarians
  • Stratospheric Warming Event May Be Unfolding In The Southern Polar Vortex, Shaking Up Global Weather Systems
  • 15 Years Ago, Bees In Brooklyn Appeared Red After Snacking Where They Shouldn’t
  • Carnian Pluvial Event: It Rained For 2 Million Years — And It Changed Planet Earth Forever
  • There’s Volcanic Unrest At The Campi Flegrei Caldera – Here’s What We Know
  • The “Rumpelstiltskin Effect”: When Just Getting A Diagnosis Is Enough To Start The Healing
  • In 1962, A Boy Found A Radioactive Capsule And Brought It Inside His House — With Tragic Results
  • This Cute Creature Has One Of The Largest Genomes Of Any Mammal, With 114 Chromosomes
  • Little Air And Dramatic Evolutionary Changes Await Future Humans On Mars
  • “Black Hole Stars” Might Solve Unexplained JWST Discovery
  • Pretty In Purple: Why Do Some Otters Have Purple Teeth And Bones? It’s All Down To Their Spiky Diets
  • The World’s Largest Carnivoran Is A 3,600-Kilogram Giant That Weighs More Than Your Car
  • Devastating “Rogue Waves” Finally Have An Explanation
  • Meet The “Masked Seducer”, A Unique Bat With A Never-Before-Seen Courtship Display
  • Alaska’s Salmon River Is Turning Orange – And It’s A Stark Warning
  • Meet The Heaviest Jelly In The Seas, Weighing Over Twice As Much As A Grand Piano
  • For The First Time, We’ve Found Evidence Climate Change Is Attracting Invasive Species To Canadian Arctic
  • What Are Microfiber Cloths, And How Do They Clean So Well?
  • Stowaway Rat That Hopped On A Flight From Miami Was A “Wake-Up Call” For Global Health
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version