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experiment,
14
C-radiolabeled nutrient was added to the Mars soil samples. Active
soils exhibited rapid, substantial gas release. The gas was probably CO
2
and,
possibly, other radiocarbon-containing gases. We have applied complexity analysis
to the Viking LR data. Measures of mathematical complexity permit deep analysis
of data structure along continua including signal vs. noise, entropy vs. negentropy,
periodicity vs. aperiodicity, order vs. disorder, etc. It employed seven complexity
variables, all derived from LR data, to show that Viking LR active responses can be
distinguished from controls via cluster analysis and other multivariate techniques.
Furthermore, Martian LR active response data cluster with known biological
time series while the control data cluster with purely physical measures. It was
concluded that the complexity pattern seen in active experiments strongly suggests
biology while the different pattern in the control responses is more likely to be
non-biological. Control responses that exhibit relatively low initial order rapidly
devolve into near-random noise, while the active experiments exhibit higher initial
order which decays only slowly. This suggests a robust biological response. These
analyses support the interpretation that the Viking LR experiment did detect extant
microbial life on Mars (Bianciardi et al.
2012
).
Some scientists still believe the results were due to living reactions. No organic
chemicals were found in the soil. However, dry areas of Antarctica do not have
detectable organic compounds either, but they have organisms living in the rocks
(Friedmann
1982
).
8.5.4
New Forms of Hypothetical Life on Mars
The planet Mars has been studied for several years, and recently, with sophisticated
spacecraft - orbiters and rovers - analyzing its atmosphere and surface, it has
become clear that the “Red Planet” passed through great atmospheric and geological
disturbances at some 2 Gyrs ago. Mars indeed had a significant quantity of liquid
water flowing through its surface and subsurface at that time, and now it is an arid
and cold planet with a very thin atmosphere. The lack of a moon with the size of
Earth's Moon makes Mars to have its spin axis slowly oscillating, thus producing
geological epochs with much differentiated climates.
The extensive volcanism at that time much possibly created subsurface cracks
and caves (McKay et al.
2010
) within different strata, and the liquid water
could have been stored in these subterraneous places, forming large aquifers with
deposits of saline liquid water, minerals, organic molecules, and geothermal heat -
ingredients for life as we know it on Earth (de Morais
2004
).
At the subsurface, iron-rich clays, such as montmorillonite and kaolinite, pos-
sibly catalyzed several organic chemical reactions. Clay minerals are excellent
catalyzers and can catalyze peptide bond formation in fluctuating environments.
And it was also found that extensive mechanical distortion produced on freezing
and drying of these clay minerals produces unusual luminescent phenomena, during
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