Lots of salt. Cold. And almost no oxygen. Extreme conditions that resemble the characteristics of certain Martian regions. However, they are those of a very earthly source. A source on the surface of which researchers have just discovered living microbes, which could therefore as well… have developed on Mars!
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[EN VIDÉO] Perseverance, in search of life on Mars Perseverance, this is how NASA has decided to name the rover it will send to Mars in the summer of 2020. A rover from which researchers expect a lot. He will be the first to collect rock samples to be brought back to Earth. Objective: to find traces of microbial life.
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Nunavut is the territory that extends the most in north of Canada. And somewhere in Nunavut, there is a spring that could almost be described as otherworldly. Lost Hammer Spring, it is the coldest source known to date on our Earth. Its water crosses 600 meters of permafrost before reaching the surface. Its temperature never exceeds 0°C. However, it does not freeze. Because Lost Hammer Spring is also the water source the saltiest known source on our planet. A salinity of around 24%. Far from the 3.5% of the Mediterranean Sea, but also from the 34% of the The peculiarity of the sea…” data-image=”https://cdn.futura-sciences.com/buildsv6/images/midioriginal/ 5/b/8/5b895d6c0f_50084119_dode-zee.jpg” data-url=”https://www.futura-sciences.com/planete/definitions/oceanographie-dead-sea-13138/” data-more=”Read more “>more Morte.
And if scientists evoke a source from another world, it is because these extreme conditions remind them of those which exist in certain regions of Mars, in particular. Especially since Lost Hammer Spring also contains hardly any Generalities
Symbol: ON Atomic Number: 8 Electrons per Energy Level: 2.6 Atomic Mass: 15,999 u Most stable isotopes…” data-image=”https://cdn.futura-sciences.com/buildsv6/images/midioriginal/4 /7/d/47dc2cafaf_59586_rust-screw.jpg” data-url=”https://www.futura-sciences.com/sciences/definitions/chemistry-oxygen-798/” data-more=”Read more”>oxygen. A unique opportunity for researchers to better understand the type of life forms that could exist on the Red Planet.
Studies had already revealed the possibility for certain microbes to develop in such extreme environments. But today, McGill University researchers (Canada) report having discovered, in It is therefore composed of particles which have been carried away by the agents of erosion, and which are deposited in successive strata…” data-image=”https://cdn.futura- sciences.com/buildsv6/images/midioriginal/2/6/1/261f67921e_47250_def-sediment-eutrophisationethypoxia-flickr.jpg” data-url=”https://www.futura-sciences.com/planete/definitions/paleontologie-sediment -1045/” data-more=”Read more”>sediment taken from the side of Lost Hammer Spring, microbes never observed before. And more importantly, live, active microbes.
Discover the secret of the survival of these microbes
It was not easy. Because the salinity of the water doesn’t just make life difficult. It also complicates the work of researchers. They still managed to extract a hundred of these This term encompasses a variety of very different species, whether prokaryotes (bacteria) or eukaryotes (yeasts, algae)….” data-image=”https: //cdn.futura-sciences.com/buildsv6/images/midioriginal/1/7/5/1753fd009d_50035172_escherichia-coli-microorganism-ars-wikimedia-03.jpg” data-url=”https://www.futura-sciences .com/sante/definitions/biology-micro-organism-6183/” data-more=”Read more”>microorganisms. To isolate and extract DNA to rebuild their genome using state-of-the-art tools. What to understand how microbes can survive in this extreme environment.
“The microbes in Lost Hammer Spring are amazing. They don’t need organic matter or oxygen to live.says Lyle Whyte, researcher, in a press release from McGill University. “They survive by eating simple inorganic compounds such as methane, sulphidessulfates, Carbon monoxide poisoning
Carbon monoxide (CO), produced during poor combustion of organic fuels (wood, butane,…” data-image=”https://cdn.futura-sciences.com/buildsv6/images/midioriginal/ a/0/b/a0bc7dcd90_50034618_monoxyde-carbone.jpg” data-url=”https://www.futura-sciences.com/sante/definitions/biology-monoxyde-carbone-4011/” data-more=”Read more “>carbon monoxide and you carbon dioxide. »
The result is exciting. Because all these ingredients are also available on Mars. But to find out if such micro-organisms could have existed on the red planet – and may still exist – researchers will have to go a little further. Cultivate these microbes – especially the most active ones – to understand why and how they thrive in extreme environments. And perhaps also, to help interpret the amazing isotopes of sulfur and carbon discovered in the Gale crater by the rover of the NasaCuriosity.
While waiting to find out more, the European Space Agency (ESA) has already decided to use the sediment samples collected near Lost Hammer Spring to test the life detection capabilities of the instruments to be carried on board its mission ExoMars.
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