Maybe we are not alone?

The creation of living matter from non-living matter is a simple process

By: Prof. Akiva Bar Nun, from: Galileo Galion September 18/October 1996

Has the moment arrived that we have been waiting for since we raised our eyes to heaven? Has the first evidence of extraterrestrial life been discovered? The evidence from a two-year study, on a meteorite that came to us from Mars, shows that it is indeed possible to find fossils of bacteria 3.6 billion years old, similar to the first bacteria fossils, of the same age, found in the rocks of the country.
When these evidences are verified by further studies, and the conclusions about fossils of primitive life on Mars are also confirmed, we will know for sure that also on Mars, our neighbor in the solar system that was formed, like the Earth 4.5 billion years ago, life began at the same time that it was formed on the surface The ancient earth.
If indeed so, then the creation of life from non-living matter is a process that happens quite easily, during the first billion years of the formation of a planet, when the conditions are suitable (suitable conditions are a lack of free oxygen and the presence of liquid water). If indeed life is created relatively easily, then the density of life in our galaxy, which contains about one hundred billion stars, a significant part of which have planets, can be great. It must be remembered that the life we ​​are talking about is extremely primitive - only bacteria. The bacteria ruled the earth for about three billion years, from their formation about 3.6 billion years ago until about 700 million years ago, when larger and more complicated creatures began to appear.
Man appeared only 3 to 5 million years ago, and our civilization is less than 10,000 years old - only three millionths of the age of life on Earth. In order for us to be able to assess the chance of making radio contact with other civilizations, we must of course ask if these three million are necessary in the development of life and for this we have only one example - on Earth.
As for the findings from the rock of Mars. This rock, which weighs about 1.5 kilograms, was discovered in 1984 in Antarctica in an area called HALLAN HILLS, therefore it was marked ALH 84001. It is easy to find meteorites in Antarctica: the rock walls are revealed in prominent fractures in the white ice. Also, because of the extreme cold and dryness that follows (more than in the Sahara), there are very few microorganisms that can contaminate the meteorites. According to the thickness of the ice layer, the meteorite has been lying there for about 13,000 years since it reached Earth. According to his exposure to cosmic radiation in space, before he arrived in Israel, he seems to have been there for about 15 million years, since he was splashed off the face of Mars by a large meteorite impact. To date we have 12 meteorites that came from Mars called the SNC group according to their places of discovery (NAKHLA CHASSIHNY SHERGOTTY).
Apart from Earth, Mars is the most suitable in the solar system to create life. Liquid water is needed to create life, so that the organic substances dissolve in it and act on each other until the building blocks of life are formed. The distance of Mars from the Sun is 1.5 times greater than that of the Earth, therefore it receives 1.5 times (2.25 squared) less radiation than the Sun, and today the prevailing temperature is below zero, and its waters are frozen at the poles and below the surface of the ground - in the form of ice (permafrost), as we know in Antarctica.
However, photographs of the ground surface of Mars clearly indicate that there was once liquid water on its surface. On the surface of the planet, you can see wadis formed by liquid water, and even large flood zones. The meteorites that came from Mars also contain minerals that were formed in the presence of liquid water. Therefore, it is likely that at the dawn of time, Mars contained in its atmosphere larger amounts of carbon dioxide and water vapor which, through the greenhouse effect, caused a fairly high surface temperature to allow the existence of liquid water and not just ice, as it is today. Hot Mars has cooled over the years. The water froze, followed by the carbon dioxide. With the disappearance of these greenhouse gases (which are currently warming the Earth) Mars froze and remains cold to this day. Random activity that occurs there causes the ground to heat up while the ice melts and causes massive floods, the evidence of which can be seen today in photographs of Mars.
The meteorite examined is a cracked basalt rock that breaks easily along the cracks. It formed 4.5 billion years ago, at the same time when the Earth was formed. 3.6 billion years ago, while on Mars, water and dissolved carbon dioxide flowed into the cracks. They turned over time into solid carbon compounds (chalk). Balls were found in the contents, they are also made of carbon compounds, and around them is a shell of iron oxide (magnetite) and iron sulphide, both of which are formed in the earth by oxidation and reduction processes of bacteria. Next to the iron compounds is an organic substance - polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAH), similar to the naphthalene we know.
These substances are formed by heating living matter to high temperatures in the absence of oxygen. The eutopic composition of the carbon compounds and the organic materials clearly shows that these are not impurities acquired on the surface of the earth, but originate from Mars. Also, the composition of the rock itself is similar to the composition of Martian rocks, as shown by the tests conducted on the surface of Mars in 1976 by the two Viking spacecraft that landed on it. They looked for microorganisms living there today, but the delicate biochemical tests were disturbed by the Martian soil, and the results were inconclusive. Filamentous bodies of about half a thousandth of a millimeter in size were also found in the carbon compounds, similar to the fossils of the first bacteria found in the rocks of the country. In a general aspect, although each result by itself can be explained by processes unrelated to life, the collection of all results together in a very small area in the rock is, apparently, evidence of primitive life that existed on Mars. The article summarizing the results of the research appears in the journal Science (SCIENCE) on August 16, 96.
In the following years we will return to orbit Mars, land on it and test it by an automated laboratory, in 2005 it may be possible to return a sample from Mars to Israel for further testing. In light of the current findings, it will of course be necessary to keep the samples in extreme isolation conditions so that they do not contaminate the earth with life outside of it. It seems that the day will not be far away and man will also land on Mars, but in the meantime, researchers in many laboratories around the world will repeat the tests conducted at the NASA Space Center and Stanford University, to verify their authenticity, and will also test the other meteorites that came to us from Mars.
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Prof. Akiva Bar-Nun is the head of the Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences at Tel Aviv University.

The importance of the discovery - in the conclusion that life can be created easily says Prof. Akiva Bar-Nun
Our microorganisms ruled the earth for most of its life - from 3.7 billion years ago to 700 million years ago

By: Prof. Akiva Bar-Nun
American scientists presented at the press conference a collection of evidence indicating the possibility that they discovered microscopic life in a meteorite that came to Earth from Mars. Even if the result of the entire test is not sufficient, the impressive collection of findings indicates that fossils of microscopic life may have been discovered.
The source of the meteorite is Mars, according to the gases found inside it, which are consistent with our knowledge of the composition of the atmosphere of this planet. The age of the rock is about 3.6 billion years, as the age of the oldest rocks found on Earth. The environment in which the rock was formed, and its history, are suitable for Martian conditions. Areas of limestone rocks (carbonates) were found inside the rock, indicating the presence of liquid water. Compounds of iron with oxygen (magnetite) and iron with sulfur, typical of fossilized bacteria on earth, were also found, as well as organic substances, containing carbon and hydrogen in the structure of rings. These substances are formed when living matter is heated to high temperatures, without air. The shapes of the fossils are also similar to the fossils found on Earth, from 3.5 billion years ago. This is, then, an impressive collection of evidence. The importance of the discovery, if confirmed by other careful work, is in the conclusion that life can probably form quite easily, when the conditions are right. Until now we only knew about the life that was created on Earth. Now we have, apparently, another example, from Mars.
Our microorganisms have ruled the earth for most of its life -
From 3.7 billion years ago to 700 million years ago, larger and more complex creatures evolved on Earth. Man appeared only about 3 to 5 million years ago, and our civilization is only about ten thousand years old. Therefore, if the conditions on Mars, after the first life formed on it, changed and became colder and drier in an early period, the only fossils that could be found on this planet would be of microorganisms.
Humanity was already looking for evidence of life on Mars in 1976, when two "Viking" spacecraft of the American Space Agency landed on the planet and inspected its soil. The results of the tests were not clear, because of the disturbance of the materials in the soil to the delicate biochemical tests that were done. In a few years spacecraft will return to Mars and the ground will be tested again. Until then, researchers will have to make do with meteorites that came from there.
The author is the head of the Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences at Tel Aviv University