Japanese scientists discovered 'glimmer of life' on Mars

Japanese scientists have figured out how life on Mars could have emerged parallel to life on Earth .

Born between the Goldilocks "life zone" of the Solar System along with Venus and Earth, also possessing oceans and some living conditions. but Mars has always caused skepticism because it seems to lack the factor to "start" the biological world.

Now, a research team from Tohoku University (Japan) has found what they call "the spark of life" , according to Sci-Tech Daily.

Early Mars may have produced the starting materials for life right in its atmosphere. - (Photo: SCITECH DAILY).

To do that, scientists used computer models based on available data about Mars to investigate whether the planet's early atmospheric conditions could have promoted the formation of compounds. organic or not.

Writing in an article published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports, they said that today, although Mars is dry and extremely cold, it had a "friendly " past about 3.8 - 3.6 billion years ago. At that time, Mars had a temperate climate, maintained by the warming properties of gases such as hydrogen. That was also the time when this planet had water, contained in rivers, lakes, and oceans that NASA has found traces of.

Model tests show that under such conditions, an atmosphere of reduced hydrogen, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide can produce formaldehyde . It is a simple organic compound that plays an important role as a precursor for the formation of important biological molecules such as amino acids and sugars.

New simulations show that this ancient Martian atmosphere produced formaldehyde in large amounts, continuously during two of the planet's early geologic periods.

Thus, it is possible that Mars itself possesses the basic building blocks of life thanks to magical reactions in its atmosphere.

The research not only provides evidence of the possibility of life on ancient Mars, but also provides a way for life to arise on a planet born in the Goldilocks zone of star systems.

In addition, there is another widely accepted theory about the origin of life: It was brought by asteroids and comets containing organic material.

Either way, this suggests that life in the universe may have many ways to arise. And, we are almost certainly not alone in the universe.