Research, Technology

Mars could be a more habitable place than Earth

To date, scientists are not aware of anyanother planet besides Earth where humans could live. But there are reasons to believe that once upon a time, the planet Mars was a good place to live - there was liquid water, a dense atmosphere and other conditions for the existence of life. Recently, a group of scientists led by Professor Martin Bizzarro (Martin Bizzarro) found that the planet Mars could be the first place in the solar system in which bacteria, animals and plants appeared. This conclusion was made during the study of meteorites, which were once particles of the Red Planet, but then ended up in space and fell to the Earth's surface.

The planet Mars could be the first place where life originated

New details about life on Mars

As part of the scientific work, the results of which werepublished in the scientific journal Science Advances, Danish researchers studied about 30 meteorites of Martian origin. The mineral composition of the stones showed that in the first 100 million years of existence, the planet Mars was attacked by a huge number of asteroids. Together with them, both particles of water and organic substances could well have entered the nascent planet, which could give a strong impetus to the origin of life.

Martian meteorite ALH 84001, found in 1984 in Antarctica

If the conclusions of Martin Bizzarro and his colleagues are correct,about 4.5 billion years ago, Mars could have become a more habitable place than the current Earth. Based on the composition of Martian meteorites, asteroids could enrich the planet so much that seas and oceans from 300 to 1000 meters deep formed on its surface. This seems to be true, because there are many traces on the surface of the Red Planet that were clearly left by rivers.

There are many traces of rivers on the surface of Mars

Lake Crater, at the bottom of which is currently workingThe Perseverance rover, with a high degree of probability, could be a deep lake. And where there is water, life could well exist - first in the form of microbes, and then in a larger form. It is hoped that someday scientists will find traces of bacteria or large creatures that lived on Mars in ancient times in the Martian soil. But such a discovery is unlikely to be made in the near future - samples of Martian soil will be delivered to Earth after 2030, either with the help of US spacecraft or by Chinese scientists. That's when the fun begins.

Billions of years ago, the Lake crater might have looked like this

See also: What plants can be grown in Martian soil?

Mars was more habitable than Earth

So, according to scientists, about 4.5 billionyears ago the planet Mars was full of water. Living organisms could well live on it - what they were, we now cannot even imagine. During the viability of Mars, our native Earth was definitely not a comfortable place to live. Around this time, our planet was experiencing the consequences of a catastrophic collision with a space object, as a result of which the Moon was formed. The entire surface of the Earth was molten, so that the origin of life was out of the question.

4.5 billion years ago the Earth was uninhabitable

But then there were still unknown events.For some unknown reason, the water on the planet Mars has completely disappeared. If any life forms existed on it, they completely died out. Of course, there is some probability that microscopic life still exists on the Red Planet, but scientists have not yet found any evidence to prove this.

Scientists still don't know why Mars turned into a desert

The planet Mars eventually turned into a desert,but the earth began to prosper. First, water appeared on our planet, and microbes in it. Further more. The first large animals appeared in the waters, which over the course of millions of years came to land. After that, dinosaurs appeared, their mass extinction occurred as a result of the fall of an asteroid (or even two!), And then other species of animals appeared and, finally, people. The history of the planet Earth is very long and full of mysteries, the search for answers to which scientists are engaged in.

See also: 5 facts about the solar system that will surprise you

Secrets of the origin of life on Earth and Mars

It should be noted that under certaincircumstances, the climate on Earth could be better than it is now. Today, the average temperature in the world is 14.9 degrees Celsius. However, if the planet Jupiter were closer to the Sun by 4.65 astronomical units, the now cold Antarctica would turn into a flourishing continent that would become home to millions of people. You can read more about this discovery in this article.

If Jupiter were closer to the Sun, Earth's climate would be better

In general, there are many studies on the origin of life on Earth and Mars. Sometimes they can even contradict each other. Here is some of them:

  • Life on Earth could have appeared earlier than is commonly believed
  • Where and how life could have arisen on Mars
  • Life can exist on planets that are not similar to Earth

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