Methane in Mars Meteorites suggests Life is Possible on Mars

A few meteorites from Mars, that have tumbled to Earth, contain methane, a potential sign that primitive methane-based life may have existed on our planetary neighbour, researchers say.

The finding of methane in the meteorites proposes Mars may have underground livable situations practically identical to some discovered deep in Earth, the scientists report in the journal Nature Communications.

While the methane ought not be viewed as hard confirmation that life has existed at any time on Mars, it "is an ingredient that could potentially support microbial activity in the Red Planet," says geochemist Nigel Blamey of Brock University in Canada, lead author of the published study.

The researchers, part of cooperative study involving universities in Scotland, Canada and the U.S., analyzed samples from six shooting stars that came to the Earth millions of years back after being thrown into space from the Martian surface following asteroid impacts.

At the point when samples were crushed, they discharged huge measures of methane and hydrogen, probably from little stashes in the inside of the shooting stars, the researchers say.

"The biggest surprise was how large the methane signals were," Blamey says.

While a significant part of the methane in Earth's environment is delivered as a result of life, the scientists are speedy to bring up it can be created by different means, for example, volcanic activity.

Ancient volcanic rocks collaborating chemically with the slim environment of Mars could deliver methane, they recognize.

Still, they say, while the surface of Mars today is likely unfriendly to any kind of life, if methane exists underneath the surface, it could support microbial life, as it accomplishes for some microorganisms in a scope of compelling situations here on Earth.

"We have not found life, but we have found methane that could potentially support microbes in the subsurface," Blamey says.

There have been enticing signs that methane might likewise exist in the Martian air, with NASA's Curiosity as of late identifying a spike in the gas, recommending it is as yet being made through some procedure.

"One of the most exciting developments in the exploration of Mars has been the suggestion of methane in the Martian atmosphere," says John Parnell, a professor at the University of Aberdeen who directed the research.

So far, it's unclear where the methane is coming from or whether the rover's detection was even accurate, he notes.

"However, our research provides a strong indication that rocks on Mars contain a large reservoir of methane," he says, where they could serve as a source of food and energy for rudimentary forms of life.

Source: NatureCommunications