Scientists discover evidence of life on Mars

Named ALH-77005, the Martian meteorite was discovered in the Allan Hills on Antarctica during the mission of the Japanese National Institute of Polar Research between 1977 and 1978.  

Scientists from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS) Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences found embedded organic material in the meteorite. 

Scientists were able to ascertain the presence of organic matter in a mineralised form such as various forms of bacteria within the meteorite.

"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," said Ildiko Gyollai from HAS Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences.

"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," said Gyollai, lead author of the study published in the journal Open Astronomy.

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The study could change the analysis of meteorites in the future.

The study's authors say that solar system materials should be examined to ascertain whether there is proof of microbial forms within space rocks -- and evidence that there was once life on the Red Planet.

Recently, a study found that Mars may still have an active groundwater system deep below the surface, and could be feeding surface streams in some areas on the Red Planet.

Last year, researchers detected the presence of a deep-water lake on Mars under its south polar ice caps.

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The University of Southern California (USC) researchers in the US determined that groundwater likely exists in a broader geographical area than just the poles of the Red Planet.

Researchers discovered that there is an active system, as deep as 750 metres, from which groundwater originates to the surface through cracks in the particular craters they examined.

Researchers analysed the properties of Mars Recurrent Slope Linea, which are similar to dried, short streams of water that appear on some crater walls on Mars.

Scientists previously believed these characteristics were affiliated with surface water flow or close subsurface water flow, said Essam Heggy, member of the Mars Express Sounding radar experiment MARSIS investigating Mars subsurface.

(With PTI inputs)