A retired biologist NASA has no doubt that confirmed his discovery of 36 years ago on Mars is life

Secret shock

Last week NASA extremely intrigued by the world community, noting that the robot "Curiosity" (Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity) has found something else that caused scientists trembled. About a shocking discovery in an interview to radio (US National Public Radio) "blurtedJohn Grotzinger (John Grotzinger), chief research specialist Curiosity mission of the California Institute of technology:

- The data of those who fall into the history books. Look really good (This data is going to be one for the history books. It's looking really good").

According to the scientist, about what exactly has found a robot, will be announced December 3, 2012. But now the secret. Experts say, double-check the results.

It is no secret, however, that talking about the sensation after "Curiosity" (after several attempts) scooped scoop of Martian soil and sent it to yourself to chemical analysis, which was conducted using the onboard laboratory setup SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars).

Any ideas about what might get in the history books, naturally, have already appeared. The author of one of them is a retired biologist NASA Gilbert Levin (Gilbert Levin), who was looking for life on Mars in 1976 during a visit there by the American spacecraft Viking 1 and Viking 2".

Levin believes that life on Mars has found more then 36 years ago. Believe it and some of his colleagues. And I think that now it's about opening of the same size - on the signs of life that "Curiosity" found in the Martian soil.

What happened 36 years ago

Recall the essence. In 1976 the American spacecraft Viking 1 and Viking 2", arrived on a neighboring planet, held a unique experiments, the aim of which was to determine: whether there is at least some inhabitants. About complex forms - for example, worms or cockroaches are scientists and not dreaming. I wanted to find at least bacteria in the soil. They, in fact, was oriented experimental methods called Labeled Release (LR).

Soil samples - the same as now - produced mechanical arm with a bucket installed on the vehicle. She scooped up the ground and poured it into a Cup with a special nutrient medium, which its creators called chicken broth.

Fruitful debut idea was as follows: if the soil there are bacteria that, once in the broth", they are activated will start it there and release carbon dioxide. As it usually happens in bacteria. Gas will lock devices. And if this happens in fact, scientists guess that carbon dioxide has allocated bacteria. It means that life on Mars is.

Expectations were met. "The broth" provoked the process of allocating carbon dioxide. This was clearly signalled sensors. But as officially announced by NASA, was gotovili not bacteria. Allegedly, the carbon dioxide formed in the result, not biological, and chemical reactions of the soil and nourishing environment.

In the end it was concluded that conducted "Vikings" experiments, has not demonstrated the existence of life on Mars. Even then their author Dr. Gilbert Levin did not agree with the official conclusions. Protested all these years.

In early 2012 - before the start "Curiosity" - a new analysis of data obtained during those early biochemical experiments showed: Dr. Levin, perhaps, protested correctly.

With a sensational statement that the onboard "Viking" still gotovili Martian bacteria, was an American biologist Joseph Miller (Josheph Miller) from the medical school of the University of southern California (USC's Keck School of Medicine).

He went to the experiments LR mathematically - digitized them and appreciate the complexity of the resulting data. The idea biologist than they are - the data is more difficult, especially indicate a biological origin. As living systems are much more sophisticated than non-biological.

Miller turned out that the results of experiments LR carry not only characterized by the complexity, but also the high degree of order. What is inherent only biological, and not purely physical processes.

- I'm 99 percent sure that on Mars there is life, " said Miller. And now he doesn no doubt about that. Together with Levin.

And whether sensation?

The details of what results have been obtained using chemical laboratory SAM robot "Curiosity" NASA still hides. And individual experts from space agencies in response to the reaction of the public, anticipating their something out of the ordinary, already "otkrivaut ago". Supposedly, the hype that erupted in the last days, excessive.

- I think Internet users overestimate the discovery on Mars,told NewScientist magazine Chris McKay (Chris McKay of the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California) - the leading expert of the mission, responsible for the search for life on Mars.

Well... Probably, the scientists are right. Chemical analysis are unlikely to be happy. And shake the imagination of the citizens. The existence of life on Mars will witness only the microscope, which will transmit to Earth the image crawling bacteria.