Bad breath, fart sniffer to hunt for life on Mars!
September 17th, 2010 - 2:01 pm ICT by ANILondon, Sep 17 (ANI): If at all there’s life on Mars, we are more likely to smell it before we see it. A new study has suggested that a chemical involved in bad breath and flatulence in humans may lead us to alien microbes on the Red Planet.
The sulphur-containing molecule methyl mercaptan is naturally produced in significant quantities on Earth only by microbes, including some that make their pungent presence known in the human body, reports New Scientist.
NASA’s next Mars rover is highly sensitive to the smelly chemical, which could betray the presence of Martian microbes, said Steven Vance of NASA.
The instrument in question is the Tunable Laser Spectrometer, which will fly on the Curiosity rover - set to land on Mars in 2012.
TLS was designed to analyse the carbon isotopes in Mars’s methane to search for signs that the gas has a biological origin. But the isotope tests might produce ambiguous results, so finding methyl mercaptan would help bolster the case for Martian microbes, said Vance.
The researchers are also planning to check TLS’s sensitivity to other gases produced by terrestrial microbes, like ethane.
“We’re demonstrating its ability to look at additional biomarkers and hopefully that will help us in our search for life,” said Vance. (ANI)
- Mars Rover find traces of mineral gypsum - Dec 08, 2011
- NASA's Odyssey spacecraft sets exploration record on Mars - Dec 16, 2010
- Water in Mars regions may have rudimentary life - Dec 13, 2011
- Martian meteorites suggest collision with Red planet caused water flow - Feb 03, 2011
- Now, NASA's rover to blast Mars rocks with laser - Dec 26, 2010
- Mars had 'recent' interaction with water and volcanoes, finds study - Sep 10, 2010
- Gene used by bacteria to breach plant defences identified - Mar 04, 2011
- New device unveils more mysteries about Maritan atmosphere - Oct 15, 2010
- NASA orbiter to hunt for source of Martian methane in 2016 - Mar 06, 2009
- Finding life on Mars could get easier with new tool - Feb 09, 2011
- Unmanned aircraft to look for life on Mars - Nov 16, 2010
- NASA scientist's experiment to find out if Mars ever had life in the past - Jan 06, 2010
- Vast fields of gypsum on Mars can provide evidence if life existed - May 01, 2010
- NASA's Mars Opportunity rover getting travel tips from orbiting spacecraft - Dec 17, 2010
- NASA Rover finds clue to Mars past - Jun 07, 2010
Tags: ambiguous results, bad breath, biological origin, biomarkers, carbon isotopes, ethane, flatulence, human body, life on mars, mars rover, martian microbes, methane, methyl mercaptan, nasa, new scientist, red planet, sniffer, spectrometer, tls, tunable laser