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"Dr. José Tiburcio Borda"
Laboratorio de Investigaciones Electroneurobiológicas
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Revista
Electroneurobiología
ISSN: ONLINE 1850-1826 - PRINT 0328-0446
The Carnegie Institution Geophysical Laboratory
Seminar,
Analysis of evidence of Mars life
held 05/14/2007
5251 Broad Branch Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20015; Main Phone: 202-478-8900; Fax: 202-478-8901
Summary of
the lecture given by
Gilbert V. Levin, Ph.D.
Chairman, Executive Officer
for Science, Spherix Incorporated, Beltsville, MD 21705, US;
phone 301-419-3900; fax 301-210-4908;
e-mail: glevin@spherix.com
Electroneurobiología 2007; 15 (2), pp. 39-47; URL
<http://electroneubio.secyt.gov.ar/index2.htm>
Copyright © May 2007 Electroneurobiología. Este texto es un artículo de
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Publication date / fecha de publicación: May 22, 2007
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Abstract: Gillevinia straata, the scientific name [1, 2] recognizing the
first extraterrestrial living form ever nomenclated, as well as the existence
of a new biological kingdom, Jakobia, in a new biosphere -Marciana- of what now
has become the living system Solaria, is grounded on old evidence reinterpreted
in the light of newly acquired facts. The present exposition provides a summary
overview of all these grounds, outlined here as follows. A more detailed paper
is being prepared for publication.
____________
In a May 3 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.
1. 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. The protocol called for a control in the
event of a positive response. Accordingly, duplicate soil samples were inserted
into fresh cells, heated for three hours at 160 ºC to sterilize them (the
control procedure established for all Viking biology experiments), allowed to
cool and then tested. These courses produced virtually no response, thus
completing the pre-mission criteria for the detection of microbial life. All LR
results support, or are consistent with, the presence of living microorganisms.
Yet between 1976 and late 2006 life on Mars remained a subject of debate, with
the scientific consensus being negative because of the following arguments:
a.
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 [see 3].
b.
"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.
c.
"Strong oxidants were present
that destroy life and organics". Findings [4] by the Viking Magnetic Properties
Experiment showed that the surface material of Mars contains a large magnetic
component, evidence against a highly oxidizing condition. Further, three Earth-based IR observations,
by the ESA orbiter [5] failed to detect the putative oxidant in any amount that
could cause the LR results, and, most recently, data from the Rover Opportunity
have shown Mars surface iron to be not completely oxidized (ferric) - but to
occur mostly in the ferrous form which would not be expected in a highly oxidizing
environment.
d.
“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.
e.
Lack of a new surge of gas upon
injection of fresh medium. Although 2nd injection responsiveness was not part
of the LR life detection criteria, the lack of a new surge of gas upon injection
of fresh medium on an active sample was interpreted as evidence against biology.
However, a previous test of bonded, NASA-supplied Antarctic soil, No. 664, containing
less than 10 viable cells/g [6], 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. The effect of the 2nd
injection was to wet the soil, causing it to absorb headspace gas. The gradual
re-emergence of the gas into the headspace with time occurred as the system
came to equilibrium.
f.
"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 [7] of the presence of liquid water when the rise
in the temperature of its footpad, responding to the rising sun, halted at 273
degrees K. 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 oC part of
the day, providing transient conditions for liquid water. Together, these observations
constitute strong evidence for the diurnal presence of liquid water. In
explaining the stickiness of the soil, MER scientists have said that it "might
contain tiny globules of liquid water," or "might contain brine".
Other images of Mars show current, if intermittent, rivulet activity. On the
Earth's South Polar Cap and within permafrost in the Arctic there is liquid water:
even in those frozen places, very thin films of liquid water exist among the
interstices of ice and minerals, enough to sustain an ecology involving highly
differentiated species.
g. "Cosmic radiation destroys life on Mars". a recent
report [8] 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.
With respect to the near-term effect of the radiation, when Surveyor's camera
was returned from the Moon after being in its much-harsher-than-Mars radiation
fields for forty months, it was found to contain viable microorganisms.
However, the point was then made that exposures of constantly frozen microorganisms
to this flux for millions to billions of years would have damaged their DNA and
its repair mechanism to the point where survival could not occur. In this
regard, Viking and the Pathfinder thermal data demonstrate that, at least at
the three widely separated locations of those landers, prolonged freezing is
not the case.
2. Those arguments should have been satisfied with the
cited data. If not, additional evidence added an even richer context in support
of the LR results. Main items are listed as follows.
3. Further supporting evidence includes the possible
presence, on some of the Martian rocks, of desert varnish, a coating which on
Earth is of microbial origin or contains products generated by microorganisms -
an observation originally made by Viking on which several recent articles have rekindled
interest. 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. The existence of the short half-lived, UV-labile methane requires
a source of continual replacement. Continual volcanic activity, a potential
non-biological source of methane, has not been indicated by thermal mapping of
the entire planet. In the Earth's atmosphere, methane is sustained primarily by
biological metabolism. Moreover, the methane detected on Mars was associated
with water vapor in the lower atmosphere, consistent with, if not indicative
of, extant life.
4. As still further evidence, the kinetics of evolution of
labeled gas in the Viking LR experiment indicates the possibility of a
circadian rhythm, daily over the length of the experiments, up to 90 sols.
However, as of now, these are only indications, not statistically significant,
as is pointed out in two papers of which I'm a coauthor [9, 10]. However,
another paper [11], using a non-linear approach, concluded, “Our results strongly
support the hypothesis of a biologic origin of the gas collected by the LR
experiment from the Martian soil.” A new study, in which the authors of the
initial papers and the most recent paper are collaborating, is currently
underway to further investigate the statistical significance for that
conclusion.
5. 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 [12].
6. Another new, potentially important new insight is the proposed
H2O2-H2O life hypothesis [13], namely the possibility that the Martian life solvent,
in the organisms detected by the LR may be H2O2-H2O rather than H2O. Additionally,
it is conjectured [1] that layers of structured H2O (probably vitreous, rather
than crystalline, at the relevant temperatures) adsorbed on cytoskeletal/organel
analogs may compartment any H2O2-H2O mixtures.
7. Collectively, these new findings and analyses, compiled
with the LR data, strongly indicate microbial life on Mars. This development
should re-focus the analysis of the Viking Mission results to working out the
broadest physiological details required by the organisms in Marciana.
The analysis of the whole evidence thus constitutes a
situation very different from that of only a few months ago. With the biological
nomenclature of Gillevinia straata, the
possibility of contamination of Marciana must be considered. This may have occurred
in the missions over the past decades in which the sterilization procedures were
abandoned in the belief that there was no life on Mars. This and other biosecurity
concerns [14] must be evaluated. Also an epistemological objection that I have long
posed, that Jakobia organisms cannot be proven extant by detection of their
components alone, but only through the detection of their active metabolism [15],
would seem to take on new significance. I have proposed a detailed approach
that could enable the first determination of whether the Martian microorganisms
are similar to our life forms or truly alien [16]. Further, comparative biological
studies and the classification of extraterrestrial organisms could be
accomplished with metabolism-detection experiments in which environmental and nutrient
variables were studied. With the first extraterrestrial creature discovered and
named, our sense of responsibility in this endeavor should be heightened.
_____________
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Drs. Meserve, Huntress, Hazen and others of the
Carnegie Institution for providing this opportunity to speak and to discuss these
issues, to Dr. Patricia Straat, my Co-Experimenter, to Drs. Schulze-Makuch and
Houtkooper, for their discussions, and their seconding of the LR’s detection of
life albeit they propose the experiment soon killed the microorganisms
detected. I am most deeply indebted to Dr. Mario Crocco, who authored the paper
confirming the conclusion that the LR detected life, and to Dr. Mariela Szirko,
his colleague.
I thank Argentine Minister Marcelo Cima for attending the
seminar, representing Ambassador Jose Octavio Bordón, who was on official
business in Puerto Rico. Particular thanks are due Governor Jorge Telerman, Governor
of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, for having facilitated the research
work concluding that the Viking Labeled Release experiment of 1976 did detect
microbial life on Mars and the naming thereof.
References
[1] Crocco, M. (2007), Los taxones mayores de
la vida orgánica y la nomenclatura de la vida en Marte: primera clasificación
biológica de un organismo marciano (ubicación de los agentes activos de la
Misión Vikingo de 1976 en la taxonomía y sistemática biológica). Electroneurobiología
15 (2), 1-34;
http://electroneubio.secyt.gov.ar/First_biological_classification_Martian_organism.pdf
[2] Crocco, M.
(2007), Corrección: primera clasificación biológica de un organismo marciano,
género Gillevinia (no Levinia) / Correction note: first biological
classification of a Martian organism, genus Gillevinia
(not Levinia). Electroneurobiologia
15 (2), 35-37. [Included in the .pdf file above].
[3]
Navarro-González, R; Navarro, K. F.; de la Rosa, J., Iñiguez, E.; Molina, P.;
Miranda, L. D.; Morales, P; Cienfuegos, E.; Coll, P.; Raulin, F., Amils, R. and
McKay, C. P. (2006), "The limitations on organic detection in Mars-like
soils by thermal volatilization-gas chromatography-MS and their implications
for the Viking results", PNAS 103 (44 ), 16089-16094.
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/103/44/16089
[4] Hargraves,
R.B., D.W. Collinson, R.E. Arvidson and C.R. Spitzer (1977), The Viking
Magnetic Properties Experiment: Primary Mission Results. J. Geophys. Res. 82,
4547.
[5] Kerr, R.A.
(2004), Life or Volcanic Belching on Mars? Science 303, # 5666, 1953, 26 March.
[6] Quam,
L.O., ed. (1971), Research in the Antarctic, AAAS #93, Washington, DC.
[7] Moore,
H.J. et al. (1977), Surface Materials of the Viking Landing Sites. J. Geophys.
Res. 82:28, 4497-4523
[8] Dartnell,
L.R., L. Desorgher, J. M. Ward, and A. J. Coates (2007), Modelling the surface
and subsurface Martian radiation environment: Implications for astrobiology.
Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L02207,
[9] Levin,
G.V.; P.A. Straat, H.P.A. Van Dongen, and J.D. Miller (2004), Circadian rhythms
and evidence for life on Mars. Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology,
SPIE Proceedings 5555, 35, August.
[10] Van
Dongen, H., J. Miller, P. Straat and G. Levin (2005),A circadian biosignature
in the Labeled Release data from Mars?” Instruments, Methods, and Missions for
Astrobiology, SPIE Proceedings 5906, OC1-10, August.
[11] G.
Bianciardi (2004), Nonlinear Analysis of the Viking Lander 2 Labeled Release
Data. Proc. of the III European Workshop on Exo-Astrobiology on Mars: The
search for Life, Madrid, Spain, 18-20 November 2003 (ESA SP-545, March).
[12] Paepe,
R., (2007), "The Red Soil on Mars as a proof for water and vegetation"
Geophysical Research Abstracts 9, 01794; SRef-ID:
1607-7962/gra/EGU2007-A-01794,
http://www.cosis.net/abstracts/EGU2007/01794/EGU2007-J-01794.pdf?PHPSESSID=e
[13]
Houtkooper, J. M. and D. Schulze-Makuch (2007), A Possible Biogenic Origin for
Hydrogen Peroxide on Mars: The Viking Results Reinterpreted. In press at Int. J
of Astrobiology. A previous version in: http://arxiv.org/pdf/physics/0610093
[14] Marks, P.
(2007), Technology: Keeping alien invaders at bay. New Scientist, April 28, pp.
24-25.
[15] Szirko,
M. (2007), "Comentario editorial: la cuestión epistemológica en la detección
de vida en Marte", Electroneurobiología 15 (1), 183-187;
http://electroneubio.secyt.gov.ar/Acerca_de_la_vida_en_Marte_Editorial.htm
[16] Levin, G.
V. (2006), "Modern Myths Concerning Life on Mars", Electroneurobiología
14 (5), 3-25;
http://electroneubio.secyt.gov.ar/Gilbert_V_Levin_Life_on_Mars_Modern_Myths.htm
______
Copyright
© May 2007, Electroneurobiología. This
is an Open Access article: verbatim copying and redistribution of this article
are permitted in all media for any purpose, provided this notice is preserved
along with the article's full citation and original URL (above). / Este trabajo original constituye un artículo
de acceso público; su copia exacta y redistribución por cualquier medio están
permitidas bajo la condición de conservar esta noticia y la referencia completa
a su publicación incluyendo la URL original (ver arriba).
revista
Electroneurobiología
ISSN:
ONLINE 1850-1826 - PRINT 0328-0446