New Evidence Suggests Mars Is Alive

Until now, scientists have viewed Mars as a lifeless rock, hopelessly dry with a terribly thin atmosphere -- unable to support life as we know it. But that view is changing now. Some scientists think Mars may be alive.

The life on Mars issue has recently undergone a paradigm shift," said Ian Wright, an astrobiologist at the Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute at the Open University in Britain, "to the extent now that one can talk about the possibility of present life on Mars without risking scientific suicide." Wright was quoted by Wired News.

A lot of the excitement centers on the discovery of formaldehyde in the Martian atmosphere -- a discovery made by Vittorio Formisano, head of research at Italy's Institute of Physics and Interplanetary Space.

Formaldehyde is formed during the breakdown of another organic gas -- methane. While methane can linger in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, formaldehyde lasts less than eight hours.

"There are three possible scenarios to explain the quantities: chemistry at the surface, caused by solar radiation; chemistry deep in the planet, caused by geothermal or hydrothermal activity; or life," Formisano told Wired News.

Since there are no known geological formations on Mars that emit methane, Formisano is very clear about his belief that these are traces of life on the Red Planet.

"I believe there is extremely high probability that microbial subsurface life exists on Mars," Formisano said. But he was quick to point out that he can't prove anything... yet. "What will certainly be needed in the future is a drill on a lander and direct evidence of the existence of Archaea bacteria."

FMI: www.nasa.gov