Earthly life could have arisen on Mars
One of the main conditions for the origin of life on the planet - the presence of phosphates and minerals, which are part of cell membranes, DNA and other important components of a living organism. On Earth, phosphates contained mainly in the rocks that are millions of years eroded by water, and the concentration of phosphates in the ocean has reached a certain value, it was the cause of the first protozoa.
Scientists recently discovered that on Mars there are phosphates, different from the earth, such as Merrill (Na2O 3CaO P2O5), which water dissolves 45 times better than others, so the on Mars life could have arisen much earlier than on Earth, and then some -That way to change the "residence" on our planet.
The group of geologists and chemists from the University of Las Vegas, Nevada, were able to recreate conditions similar to Mars to find out how was the origin of life on this planet. The results of their experiments, published in the latest issue of the journal «Nature»:
«According to our data, the interaction between rock and water on Mars happened in the 45 times stronger than on Earth, and the concentration of phosphate in the humid environment of Mars is approximately two times higher than in the earth. This, we believe, has accelerated the emergence of life ».
blockquote> Lisa Grossman, one of the scientists involved in this problem, in an interview with «New Scientist» stated that there are two competing theories about the appearance of living organisms on Mars:
"According to the chemist Steve Benner from the Institute of Science and Technology Vesthaymera in Gainesville, USA, the atmosphere of Mars previously full of oxygen which enters the reaction with boron and molybdenum - these compounds can serve as a catalyst for chemical processes, which led eventually to the emergence of RNA molecules, and then meteorite "delivered" to the Earth. This Bennett believes that the origin of life occurred not in the water, as an RNA molecule under the influence of H2O are rapidly destroyed. Other researchers, such as Christopher Adcock, believe that there is life in the water of dissolved phosphate minerals, but does not explain why in this case RNA molecules were destroyed ».
blockquote> While the "Martians" are arguing about the origin of life on the Red Planet, and the method of its delivery to the Earth, other scientists this year already can not answer the main question: how is it that of inanimate chemical elements were living organisms?
via factroom.ru
