Current Event #2

“Ancient Martian Lake May Have Supported Life”

Chang, Kenneth. "Ancient Martian Lake May Have Supported Life." New York Times. 9 Dec. 2013.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/10/science/space/on-mars-an-ancient-lake-and-perhaps-life.html?_r=0

            The article I chose is on a large freshwater lake that scientists have recently discovered once existed on planet Mars. Scientists believe that the lake existed around 3.5 billion years ago. Although it is not known for sure if life ever did exist on Mars, there is substantial evidence pointing to the fact that this lake could have supported life that would have been similar to life on Earth. Information was gathered on the lake from NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity, which landed in a crater located on the surface of Mars last year. This crater is believed to be the spot where the lake once lay. Today, Mars is unfit to support any sort of life that would remotely resemble life on Earth. The conditions on Mars are not appealing: frigid, arid, and lots of radiation. However, 4.5 billion years ago, Mars was in very different condition. Scientists believe that in its origins, Mars was much warmer and wetter. Although there is evidence suggesting that the lake itself was still highly salty and acidic at this time, there are counterarguments against this theory. These arguments are backed up by the presence of clay minerals, which seemed to have formed at the lake’s bottom, meaning that the lake water could not have been acidic. Other data supporting the theory that life could have existed in this lake is the existence of certain elements (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron), which are essential to life on Earth and therefore could potentially have once supported life on Mars. Scientists believe that the most likely form that this “Earth-like” life came in was microbes, which John P. Grotzinger, a professor of geology at the California Institute of Technology, believed would have thrived in this ancient Martian lake. The Gale Crater has also been helpful in creating of time line of important events in our universe. Scientists believe that 3.6 to 3.8 billion years ago, the impact of an asteroid most likely formed this crater. Since rocks on Earth were starting to form at this time, it is possible to line up events happening on these two planets. This is by no means a finished case, and scientists are still looking for definitive evidence that life in fact did exist in this lake. If scientists were to find carbon molecules (building blocks of life), this would prove that life was not only possible but also very likely existed. However, since these types of molecules can be destroyed by radiation, they might be difficult to find. Scientists involved in the research still are hopeful that by using the dating technique, they will be able to locate these organics, if they indeed exist.

            This article is very relevant to society because of what it means for us as humans. Similar to the last article I critiqued, this one too focuses on the notion that we are part of a bigger picture. This is an extremely important realization to come to terms with. In a smaller sense, it makes us think about the rest of the Earth. But in a much huger and ultimately more complicated sense, it makes us think about things that exist beyond Earth. If scientists could prove that at one point in time life did in fact exist on Mars, this would be a revolutionary discovery. Having a planetary body so close to Earth that has the potential to support life could potentially change all of our futures. Unlike far off planetary bodies in other galaxies that we will never visit in our lifetime, Mars is definitely within our reach. Since scientists have been looking for evidence that Mars could support life for a long time, this discovery is particularly important. Although we might not get to see the effects of it in our lifetimes, it could potentially affect future generations very directly.

            I thought that this article was very easy to read, but also included lots of important information. I think that the author did a good job of explaining this discovery in a way that even people who aren’t scientists could understand with ease. I found this article extremely interesting and would like to learn more about this topic and discovery. I had never considered that life might have once existed on other planets near us before. One critique I would have is that the author jumped around a little bit when talking about different subjects. If he had included more explanations and transitions from one paragraph to the next, the article might have flowed a little better. However, overall I thought this was a very interesting and important article and I would definitely recommend it to read.