posted 04-16-2019 08:40 AM               

The scientists from HAS were able to find the mineralized form of organic matter in the 482.5-gram meteorite. This discovery was made possible through optical microscopy and FTIR-ATR microscopy where the Martian meteorite's morphology and microtexture were detected. A very thin section of the meteorite was used for this study.

The researchers reported finding filament-like organic material within the Martian meteorite. The said material was said to be similar to those that were produced by iron-oxidizing microbes.

posted 04-16-2019 09:08 AM               

Life on Mars?

A Martian meteorite discovered 40 years ago delivers fresh evidence that life once existed on Mars

According to NASA, scientists are in agreement that there is no life on Mars. However, they continue to assess whether Mars ever had an environment capable of supporting microbial life. Now, researchers from Hungary have discovered embedded organic material in a Martian meteorite found in the late 1970s. The scientists were able to determine the presence of organic matter in mineralised form such as different forms of bacteria within the meteorite, suggesting that life could have existed on the Red Planet.

Officially named ALH-77005, the Martian meteorite was found in the Allan Hills on Antarctica during the mission of the Japanese National Institute of Polar Research between 1977 and 1978. The new study "Mineralized biosignatures in ALH-77005 Shergottite - Clues to Martian Life?" published in De Gruyter's journal Open Astronomy, by authors Ildiko Gyollai, Márta Polgári and Szaniszló Bérczi proposes the presence of active bacteria on Mars. Their research also suggests that there may have been life on other planets.

"Our work is important to a broad audience because it integrates planetary, earth, biological, chemical, and environmental sciences and will be of interest to many researchers in those fields," explains lead author Ildiko Gyollai from HAS Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences in Budapest. "The research will also be of interest to planetologists, experts of meteorite and astrobiology as well as researchers of the origin of life, and to the general public since it offers an example of a novel aspect of microbial mediation in stone meteorites," Gyollai concludes.

This new research could change the examination of meteorites in the future. In light of their discovery, the authors posit that solar system materials should be studied to establish whether there is evidence of microbial forms within space rocks - and an indication that there was once life on Mars.

posted 04-16-2019 01:02 PM               

They include a photo that shows what certainly appears to be a diatom. I haven't looked for any reviews of the paper.