mirrored file at http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== [1][LINK] [2][LINK] [3][LINK] [4][LINK] [5][LINK] [6][LINK] [7][LINK] [8][LINK] [9][LINK] [10][LINK] _SEARCH: _________ [IMAGE]-Submit [11]Hubble Space Telescope | [12]Spacewatch: Backyard Astronomy advertisement [13]Click here to find out more! [14][LINK] _Life On Earth Could Have Come From A Mars Rock_ _By [15]Robert Roy Britt_ Senior Science Writer posted: 02:00 pm ET 26 October 2000 In a discovery that has scientists rethinking where they came from, a groundbreaking study has revealed that living organisms could emigrate through the solar system in the relatively cool womb of a space rock, spreading life with little more fanfare than the arrival of a shooting star. The finding, hidden from scientists for more than 15 years in the magnetic structure of a well-studied meteorite found in Antarctica, presents a serious alternative to the idea that life on Earth arose spontaneously out of some primordial soup. Images [16][LINK] Magnetic microscopy image of ALH84001. The exterior (upper left) has been remagnetized in the Earth's field after the heat of entry, while the interior of the meteorite retains the weaker, mixed magnetism it acquired on Mars. More Stories [17]New Life For the 'Mars Rock'? [18]New Mars Pic: More Water-Carved Valleys [19]Rare Mars Rock Up For Grabs [20]Water on Mars: The Debate Rages Anew Multimedia [21]Hear the Perseids ping -- radar reflectionsof the 1999 Perseids [22]Video of the 1999 Leonid meteor shower Related Links [23]More on this study from the journal Science [24]More images from Caltech The bottom line: Our ancestors may have been Martians. The study by researchers at Caltech, Vanderbildt and McGill universities reveals that a Mars rock known as Allan Hills, [25]thought since 1996 to contain fossilized remains of Martian bacteria, remained cool enough to sustain embedded microbial life during its violent ejection from Mars and subsequent 16 million-year journey to Earth. Amazingly, even during a [26]fiery entry through Earth's atmosphere, the interior of the rock never got much hotter than a bad summer day in New York City -- 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius). Leading scientists from several fields said the research renews vigor in the idea that life on Earth could have come from somewhere else, part of a broader theory called panspermia. __Panspermia -- Monday on SPACE.com Visit SPACE.com on Monday for a special report on panspermia, the theory that the seeds of life are everywhere. You might be surprised at the potential cousins in your celestial closet. __Are we all aliens? "The study demonstrates clearly what we had previously only speculated about -- that the conditions of launch, space transit and reentry are not too harsh for dormant spores and other microorganisms to survive," said Jay Melosh, a geophysicist at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Melosh, who was not involved in the research but had previously shown that rocks could be ejected from planets without being overheated, says mounting evidence shows any [27]life that might have existed millions of years ago on a wetter, warmer [28]Mars could have traveled to Earth. __ The long, rocky road to Earth The Allan Hills meteorite, also called ALH84001, may be the most studied and debated rock in the universe. Made of stuff thought to be 4.5 billion years old, the object was carved from a half-mile (1 kilometer) under the Martian surface about 16 million years ago when an asteroid or comet hit the Red Planet. After eons of wanderings, Earth's gravity finally got hold of the rock and reeled it in. That was sometime between 11,000 and 13,000 years ago. Researchers found the meteorite in 1984, stuck in Antarctica's Allan Hills ice field. A [29]1996 study of the rock claimed to find fossilized trails of microbial life that originated on Mars. Many scientists doubted the finding, saying the features could have been created on Earth or might not have indicated microbial life at all. Debate has swirled around the rock ever since. But even if Allan Hills is dead as a doornail -- the meteorite does not contain actual life, only the apparent signatures of life -- the new study demonstrates that space rocks are _capable_ of acting as vessels for the transport of organisms around the solar system. Like an interplanetary shuttle service for life as we know it. And there seems to no shortage of shuttles: Experts estimate that roughly a ton of Martian rocks fall on Earth every year. More than a dozen have been found, while others bury themselves in sand or ice, or disappear into the seas. "Our findings give a boost to panspermia, since they are the first experimental evidence that a rock could be transferred from one planet to another without being heat sterilized," said Benjamin Weiss of the California Institute of Technology and lead author of the study. The study is published in the October 27 issue of the journal _Science_. __ How about interstellar seeding? The panspermia theory holds that the seeds of life are everywhere, and that life on Earth could be the result of germs or other dormant organisms that traveled here from another star system, then evolved into spiders and lizards, Labradors and lawyers. Researchers familiar with the new Allan Hills study said it does lend support to the idea of interstellar seeding. However, a rock spending millions of years in interstellar space would face doses of cosmic rays that would likely destroy any genetic material inside a live or dormant creature, said astronomer Donald Brownlee, coauthor of the book _Rare Earth_. In an interview, Brownlee characterized a trip from Mars to Earth as much less hazardous, pointing out that for some rocks it takes less than a year. "I think this is a marvelous interplanetary transportation system, but a transportation system between stars is highly questionable," Brownlee said. Questionable, but not impossible, others said. 1 [30]2 | [31]>> Continue with this story > [32][LINK] * [33]Last-Minute Leonid Meteor Shower News & Tips * [34]Black Hole Breakaway: Supernova Gives Birth to Cosmic Monster * [35]U.S. Commission Calls For Space Program Overhaul * [36]NASA Increasingly Confident of Friday Shuttle Launch but More Tests Planned * [37]Astronotes: Algerian Satellite Brought to Plesetsk Spaceport * [38]Space Firms Look For Way To Capitalize on U.S. Security Market * [39]SPACE.com: More News Headlines [40]about us | [41]message boards | [42]register at SPACE.com | [43]contact us | [44]advertise | [45]terms of service | [46]privacy statement © 2002 SPACE.com, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. References 1. http://www.space.com/ 2. http://www.qksrv.net/click-711517-7089906?url=http://www.thespacestore.com/ 3. http://www.space.com/news/ 4. http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/ 5. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/ 6. http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/ 7. http://www.space.com/spaceviews/ 8. http://www.space.com/searchforlife/ 9. http://www.starrynight.com/ 10. http://www.spacenews.com/ 11. http://www.space.com/hubble/index.html 12. http://www.space.com/spacewatch/index.html 13. http://ad.doubleclick.net/click;h=v2%7C2eec%7C0%7C0%7C%2a%7Cu;4375560;0-0;5;5154454;9198-120%7C600;1290004%7C1288808%7C1;;%3fhttp://www.spacenews.com 14. http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/space.dart/;pos=scienceastronomy_article;sz=120x600;ord=42347735691635200? 15. mailto:rbritt at hq.space.com 16. http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=h_meteorite_magnetism_02,0.jpg&cap=Magnetic%20microscopy%20image%20of%20ALH84001.%20The%20exterior%20%28upper%20left%29%20has%20been%20remagnetized%20in%20the%20Earth%27s%20field%20after%20the%20heat%20of%20entry,%20while%20the%20interior%20of%20the%20meteorite%20retains%20the%20weaker,%20mixed%20magnetism%20it%20acquired%20on%20Mars. 17. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mars_rock_991229.html 18. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mars_valleys_001006.html 19. http://www.space.com/news/meteorite_auction_000824.html 20. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mars_surfacewater_000821.html 21. javascript:launch_mmplayer_audio('s000809_news_perseids') 22. javascript:launch_mmplayer_video('w1_000000_oldcollection_leonids') 23. http://www.eurekalert.org/E-lert/current/public_releases/scipak/weiss.html 24. http://www.gps.caltech.edu/tempfiles/magnetic_microscopy/ 25. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mars_rock_991229.html 26. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/meteors-ez.html 27. http://www.space.com/searchforlife/mars_astrobiology_000626.html 28. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/rocks_fromspace_991108.html 29. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mars_rock_991229.html 30. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/meteorite_survival_001025-2.html 31. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/meteorite_survival_001025-2.html 32. http://www.space.com/news/ 33. http://www.space.com/leonids/ 34. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/supernova_backhole_021118.html 35. http://www.space.com/news/space_initiative_021118.html 36. http://www.space.com/shuttlemissions 37. http://www.space.com/news/astronotes-1.html 38. http://www.space.com/spacenews/spacenews_businessmonday_021118.html 39. http://www.space.com/news/ 40. http://www.spaceholdings.com/ 41. http://uplink.space.com/ 42. https://www.space.com/php/members/register.php 43. http://www.spaceholdings.com/contact_us.php 44. http://www.space.com/php/siteinfo/advertise.php 45. http://www.space.com/php/siteinfo/TOS.php 46. http://www.space.com/php/siteinfo/privacy.php