Scientists have Watch Wife Having Sex In Front Of Husband Onlinediscovered small, potentially habitable areas on Marswhere life could, in theory, transform sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into oxygen, according to a new NASAstudy.
Though the research doesn't mean photosynthetic aliens are indeed living in these environments now — or even that they were there in the past — the findings provide the U.S. spaceagency with attractive targets for future searches.
For years, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter — a spacecraft circling the Red Planet — has seen white material lining dry gulliesthought to be dusty water ice. This environment in the Martian tropics could be mottled with small pockets of meltwater, similar to features found within glaciers on Earth.
A team has proposed that simple lifeforms like microbescould potentially find refuge up to 10 feet below the Red Planet's surface in these ice deposits found near the Martian equator.
"If we’re trying to find life anywhere in the universe today, Martian ice exposures are probably one of the most accessible places we should be looking," said Aditya Khuller, lead author of the study, in a statement.
SEE ALSO: Past life on Mars? Here's what new NASA evidence points to.Over the course of several ice agesspanning eons, snow mixed with dust fell on the ground of Mars, a world an average of 140 million miles away. That ancient snow — now ice — still contains flecks of dust.
Through computer simulations, the team demonstrated that a habitable zone could exist on Mars in ice with such dust. Their paper, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, suggests that just the right amount of sunlight could penetrate the ice to allow photosynthesis to occur in pockets of meltwater below an icy layer.
But why, pray tell, does a pinch of dirt matter?
On Earth, dust within icecan form so-called cryoconite holes — small areas where dust carried by wind lands on the ground, absorbs sunlight, warms up, and then melts deeper into the ice each summer. Eventually the particles stop sinking, but they continue to create enough heat to melt small pools of water around them.
And when this process happens here, the water holestend to be brimming with life, hosting entire ecosystems: algae, fungi, and microscopic cyanobacteria, for instance, all of which get their energy from photosynthesis.
"This is a common phenomenon on Earth," said co-author Phil Christensen of Arizona State University. "Dense snow and ice can melt from the inside out, letting in sunlight that warms it like a greenhouse, rather than melting from the top down."
On Mars, where there isn't a protective magnetic fieldenveloping the planet, the sun beats down on the world with high levels of toxic radiation. But a thick slab of ice could absorb the rays, protecting biology below the surface, while allowing enough light to pass through it and enable photosynthesis.
Though the environment at Mars' poles would likely be too cold for cryoconite holes to form beneath ice, the planet's tropics may present the right conditions. During the NASA study, scientists learned that too much schmutz in the ice would make for a very small habitable zone, of perhaps just 2 to 15 inches below ground. In clearer ice, that zone could potentially extend to 10 feet deep.
Scientists are excited about these findings because they provide a sort of liquid water loophole for Mars. The planet has such thin and dry air, water ice is thought to "sublimate," converting directly from a solid to vapor, at its surface. But the problems presented by Mars' atmosphere for ice to melt into water don't exist below a glacier or tightly packed snow.
The team plans to map out the most likely spots on Mars where shallow meltwater could exist. These may become some of the most enticing locations on the Red Planet for future astronauts to explore.
Topics NASA
Previous:Writing Attica’s History
Ellen Page and Emma Portner announce marriage with adorable InstagramA winter storm is breaking snowfall records in the SoutheastIncredible images show the East Coast 'bomb cyclone' from spaceGoogle reassures users following disclosure of major CPU vulnerabilityListen: Kendrick Lamar just dropped a new song for 'Black Panther'Apple acquires Buddybuild, plans to shut it down to Android developersIncredible images show the East Coast 'bomb cyclone' from spaceThe 'bomb cyclone' has people looking for love onlineThe 1980s did winter coats better than anyone else'She's Gotta Have It's DeWanda Wise to co'Bomb cyclone' leads to record coastal flooding in MassachusettsEven weather experts are in awe of the 'bomb cyclone'Twitter: Donald Trump's nuclear button tweets don't violate the rulesBuffalo Bills fans donate $60,000 to an opposing team's charityGoogle reassures users following disclosure of major CPU vulnerabilityLG's new 88'She's Gotta Have It's DeWanda Wise to coStar Wars effects master shares secrets of blue milk scene in 'Last Jedi''She's Gotta Have It's DeWanda Wise to coLG Electronics announces conceptual CLOi servant robots ahead of CES On Election Day 2016, the whole world is Winston Churchill Airline makes a sarcastic dig at Trump on Election Day Teen ransomware 'K!NG' blew his loot on drugs, gambling, and sex Companies can now give you 'Uber Vouchers' for free or discounted rides Prince Harry hits back at 'sexist and racist' trolling of girlfriend Meghan Markle Chance the Rapper personally escorted a giant crowd of fans to early voting sites 'Game of Thrones' cast bidding farewell will definitely make you cry: Watch Horrifying Trump cake spotted at Trump Tower 'The Crown' Season 4 reveals its Princess Diana: Photo Wayve says self Party pooper Trump is having a cash bar at his election night party Slutbot is a NSFW robot designed to up your sexting game Scammers use tax Brands need to stop telling people to go vote Trump gets confused by difference between 'county' and 'country' Instead of new iPhone apps, we're downloading the same old ones The ice lost by Earth's glaciers weighs as much as 27 billion 747s Rihanna wore the best t Congress bars the IRS from ever offering free tax filing software Donald Trump and Eric Trump both peeped on their wives' ballots
2.876s , 10131.3984375 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【Watch Wife Having Sex In Front Of Husband Online】,Defense Information Network