Here is an analysis of evidence of life on Mars. What is surprising is that the positive results produced by the Viking Landers have been stone walled
for reasons which needless to say, seem to be obvious.
This paper was presented to the scientific community at the Carnegie Geophysical Laboratory seminar by Dr Gilbert V. Levin, Ph.D. Chairman, Executive
Officer for Science, Spherix Incorporated. I would recommend you read the seemingly incredible analyses where you will learn the truth and evidence of
life on Mars. Other revealing analyses and papers which are worth a read have been included in the acknowledgements at the end of the papers
One and
Two.
Another Government research website where this has been included is
here. Gilbert's paper is
here.
Though extremely thought provoking and interesting, I must warn you that this makes for heavy reading! But then life on Mars has to be scientifically
proved, and all science which can get pretty complicated, is not every one's cup of tea!
For those who find it tough to go through the labyrinth of scientific terminology, here are a few excerpts from these papers/lectures that will set
you thinking.
In a May 3, 2007, Carnegie dinner, Carnegie Institution Chairman, Michael Gellert, pointed out that the Institution was founded to - and does -
concentrate on high risk problems.
This makes Carnegie the proper venue for exploring a major scientific paradigm change – there is life on Mars. And, most importantly, to
determine whether life had more than one origin, as would be indicated were Earth life and Mars life fundamentally different.
Such a result would have profound implications for the existence of life, including intelligent life, throughout the universe. I am thus very pleased
to have the opportunity to present this prospect at the Carnegie Institution Geophysical Laboratory seminar.
The Excerpts.
The Viking Landers carried nine courses of the Labeled Release experiment (LR) designed to detect any metabolizing microorganisms that might be
present on the Martian surface. The LR was designed to drop a nutrient solution of organic compounds labeled with radioactive carbon atoms into a soil
sample taken from the surface of Mars and placed into a small test cell. A radiation detector then monitored over time for the evolution of
radioactive gas from the sample as evidence of metabolism: namely, if microorganisms were metabolizing the nutrients they had been given.
When the experiment was conducted on both Viking Landers, it gave positive results almost immediately.
Now why has this remained a subject of debate when the results were positive in the first instance? The reasons cited were:
1. “The Viking organic analysis instrument (GCMS), an abbreviated gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer designed to identify the organic material
widely presumed to be present on Mars, found no organic molecules”. (After years of discussion and experimentation, a consensus was reached
explaining this negative result as a lack of sensitivity).
2. "UV destroys life and organics". (Yet sampling soil from under a rock on Mars demonstrated that UV light was not inducing the LR activity
detected).
3. "Strong oxidants were present that destroy life and organics". (Findings by the Viking Magnetic Properties Experiment showed that the surface
material of Mars contains a large magnetic component, evidence against a highly oxidizing condition).
4. “Too much too soon”. The LR positive responses and their reaction kinetics were said to be those of a first order reaction, without the lag or
exponential phases seen in classic microbial growth curves, all of which seemed to argue for a simple chemical reaction. (However, terrestrial LR
experiments on a variety of soils produced response rates with the kinetics and the range of amplitudes of the LR on Mars, thereby offsetting this
argument).
5. ‘Lack of a new surge of gas upon injection of fresh medium”. (However, a previous test of bonded, NASA-supplied Antarctic soil, No. 664, had
shown this same type of response to a 2nd injection. The failure of the 2nd injection to elicit a response can be attributed to the organisms in the
active sample having died sometime after the 1st injection, during the latter part of Cycle 1).
6. "There can be no liquid water on the surface of Mars". (Since November and December 2006, the accumulated evidence shows that liquid water exists
in soil even if only as a thin film. Viking, itself, gave strong evidence of the presence of liquid water. Snow or frost is seen in Viking images of
the landing site (e.g., Viking Lander Image 21I093). Pathfinder has shown that the surface atmosphere of Mars exceeds 20 degrees C during part of the
day, providing transient conditions for liquid water).
7. "Cosmic radiation destroys life on Mars". (a recent report calculated the incoming flow of both galactic cosmic rays particles (GCR) and solar
energetic protons (SEP) over a wide energy range. As a result one may acknowledge that - without even invoking natural selection to enhance radiation
protection and damage repair- the radiation incident to the surface of Mars appears trivial for the survival of numerous terrestrial-like
microorganisms).
Adding to this rising tide of facts supporting the detection of life by the Viking LR experiment are the recent findings in the Martian atmosphere of
methane, formaldehyde, and, possibly, ammonia, gases frequently involved in microbial metabolism.
Huge recent advances in the research of the variety of extremophiles on Earth have added very strong import to the current context. Recently, an
expert in soil science from the Netherlands communicated to the congress of the European Geosciences Union that the discovery of the recent detection
of phyllosilicate clays on Mars may indicate pedogenesis processes, or soil (as opposed to regolith) development, extended over the entire surface of
Mars. This interpretation views most of Mars surface as active soil, colored red, as on Earth, by eons of widespread microbial activity.
I have attempted to summarize the main points here, though there are many more surprises, if you read the links provided.
So what do you make of this? Why is the scientific community shying away from the evidence that life exists on Mars, considering this mind boggling
evidence? Perhaps they want to be a 100 per cent sure, before declaring the reality of life on Mars, due to its profound implications on the psyche of
mankind as a whole.
Cheers! We may not be alone after all!