No potatoes on Mars. In this acidic soup nothing will grow
Source:
Scientists have found that certain components present in the Martian soil capable of destroying entire bacterial culture in just a few minutes. Researchers have long wondered over whether microorganisms are able to survive on the surface of the red planet. And the results of recent laboratory tests show that the destiny of any fallen on the surface of Mars green bacteria is unenviable. Apparently, potatoes grow on Mars will be much harder than previously.
The Problem is to perchlorates – chlorine-containing chemical compounds, first discovered on Mars in 2008. These substances on Mars in the liquid state, but actually turn it into acid brine. For people perchlorates are toxic, but not necessarily create the same problems for microbes. And since these connections allow water to remain in liquid form, scientists previously thought that their presence on Mars may be useful for life.
However, the researchers from Edinburgh University say that exposure to strong UV light these compounds make them a deadly poison for all forms of life.
"the Perchlorates are stable at room temperature, but become a powerful oxidizing agent when activated, for example, high temperatures", — the researchers report.
One of the ways to turn perchlorate into the acid is exposed to a powerful source of ultraviolet radiation. Since Mars is much less dense compared to earth's atmosphere, its surface is exposed every day to such type of radiation.
The Scientists decided to conduct an experiment. They took found on the skins of spacecraft (including ISS) bacteria Bacillus subtilis (Bacillus subtilis) and put it in the terms of artificially recreating the environment on the surface of Mars. The bacteria floated in a solution of magnesium perchlorate of the same concentration that is found on the red planet, and then they were subjected to ultraviolet radiation of the same wavelengths that bombard the Martian surface. The result that no bacteria have survived. The death occurred within 30 seconds.
To verify the experiment, the researchers also exposed to UV light for bacteria, is not placed in perchlorate medium. But even in this case, the entire colony was destroyed within only 1 minute.
Of Course, the surface of Mars not so wet as the bottom of a Petri dish. Therefore, the researchers decided to conduct a similar experiment by placing the bacteria in dry conditions, silica. This environment is a bit simplified the existence of the bacteria Bacillus subtilis, but in the end most of them still died. From this we can conclude that if Mars and there is life, then most likely she's lurking deep beneath the surface, where the concentration of perchlorate is much lower.
"Despite earlier suspicions of the presence of toxic effects, caused by acids present on the Martian surface, our observations show that the environment on the surface of modern Mars even more hostile to the living cells and is an explosive cocktail of acid, iron oxide, perchlorate and ultraviolet radiation", — scientists say.
If the salt flows down from the Martian rocks are indeed a concentrated flow of perchlorates, such environment is clearly unsuitable for sustaining life. And since perchlorates are present on almost the entire surface of Martian soil, based on the findings of the research team, we can sadly say that the majority of the planet's surface is uninhabited.
But there the share of positive news. If the Martian surface will be able to kill any terrestrial microbes upon contact, then the planet this will be a great defensive tool – less chances that in future missions, we will be able to bring back their terrestrial microbes.
Scientists, in turn, plan to continue their research and find out exactly how such a deadly cocktail on the Martian surface kills living cells.
Recommended
Can genes create the perfect diet for you?
Diet on genotype can be a way out for many, but it still has a lot of questions Don't know what to do to lose weight? DNA tests promise to help you with this. They will be able to develop the most individual diet, because for this they will use the m...
How many extraterrestrial civilizations can exist nearby?
If aliens exist, why don't we "hear" them? In the 12th episode of Cosmos, which aired on December 14, 1980, co-author and host Carl Sagan introduced viewers to the same equation of astronomer Frank Drake. Using it, he calculated the potential number ...
Why does the most poisonous plant in the world cause severe pain?
The pain caused to humans by the Gimpi-gympie plant can drive him crazy Many people consider Australia a very dangerous place full of poisonous creatures. And this is a perfectly correct idea, because this continent literally wants to kill everyone w...
Related News
The latest weather reports with Titan, moon of Saturn
a Method of radar scanning, which is usually used to measure the density of the snow caps at the poles of the Earth, was applied for the analysis of the surface methane seas, the largest satellite of the planet Saturn, Titan. As a...
The ability to change memories is now even closer
Neuroscientists have recently discovered that the formation of different types of memory though they use the same neurons, but they occur in different processes. The discovery could lead to the development of new and more effectiv...
How justified is the hype on how to improve the brain?
Despite bold predictions from several Technocomplex about the future of neural interfaces, science extensions of the brain is still in its infancy. What do scientists think about all this hype that comes from Silicon valley? Mikha...
DeepMind learns his AI thinking humanly
last year, the artificial intelligence AlphaGo for the first time won the world champion in the game. This victory was unprecedented and unexpected, given the high complexity of the Chinese Board games. Although the victory AlphaG...
In South Korea, will build the largest rotating solar power station on water
to Increase the efficiency of solar power plants in different ways. One option involves the creation of a floating solar power plant, which rotates and adjusts the position of the Sun in the sky. About the imminent creation of one...
Have more, own less: the divided economy of the future
If you are among those people who welcomes a divided economy, you probably would prefer to sleep in other people's homes and drive foreign cars. You might also would not like to see piles of books, compact or optical disc, watched...
Japan will send a man to the moon in 2030
Rather ambitious intentions of the Japanese astronauts have become famous once was published the new work plan of the Japanese aerospace exploration Agency (JAXA), previously approved by the government. a spokesman for JAXA told ...
Organization of Space for Humanity to help the common people to fly into space
If you — an astronaut, a famous actor, musician or a businessman who has a lot of money, then you can easily fly in space. Astronauts fly there, and wealthy tourists have already started to sell tickets, because the Russian ...
falling on our planet constantly. Some reach the surface, but most are still burning in the atmosphere. found today the meteorite is considered a "Goba", weight of 65 tonnes, and the volume is 9 cubic meters. All in all, on the G...
Vaccination against influenza can replace plaster
In the United States successfully ended clinical trials of a unique plaster acting as alternatives to traditional injection flu vaccines. The trick is that the inner surface of the pad contains microneedles that painlessly penetra...
Sometimes the human mind can be so outstanding that will change the world. We don't know why these people are superior to others, but science is trying to find the answer to this question. the Museum of medical history of mutter ...
Scientists have found a planet, the hotter most well-known us stars
Astronomers have discovered one of the most unusual at the moment exoplanets. It is a gas giant similar to our Jupiter, but located so close to its star that makes a complete revolution around it in just 1.5 days. As a result, the...
The root of the intellect may be concluded in one equation
According to Dr. Joe Tina, a leading neuroscientist at the University of Augusta in Georgia, the key to intelligence lies in one simple, unassuming equation: N = 2i – 1. The theory of connectedness Tina is the description of how o...
10 sad facts about life after the Apocalypse
When the bombs stop falling, the face of the planet will change forever. For 50 years this fear has not left people. Enough for one person to push the button — break out a nuclear Apocalypse. Today, we have not so much exper...
Astronomers have obtained the most detailed picture of the surface of a distant star
an international team of astronomers working with Takashi a large antenna array of millimeter range (ALMA), the largest complex of radio telescopes received the most detailed image of the surface of a distant star that ever was cr...
"Solar paint" is able to produce fuel out of thin air
Turns out, the air can become almost infinite source of energy. And a new study showed the opportunity. Because the air is saturated solar steam and the surface of the Earth illuminates and warms the Sun. This means — the av...
Finnish scientists have created an artificial iris of the eye
the human Eye – a device is quite tricky. For example, depending on the level of the surrounding light, our pupils change size, so we can better see in the dark or blinded by bright sunlight. Scientists have long tried to recreate...
Uranus never ceases to amaze scientists
If David Lynch was commissioned to develop the planet, then this planet would definitely become Uranium. Because with this degree of strangeness that surround it and sometimes have no logical explanation, could handle only the Dir...
How close are we to the first successful human cloning?
human Cloning has become a very popular subject of science fiction, and we are desperate to wait for him to step over from the pages and screens in real life. However, in fact, we can be much closer to it than usual for us sci-Fi ...
Physicists have discovered how to actually create plasma emissions from the Sun
After more than a century of observations and several theories, scientists seem to finally have figured out the nature of the fast plasma emission occurring several times a day. Using a high level computer model, the researchers w...
Comments (0)
This article has no comment, be the first!