Waspie_Dwarf Posted March 7, 2013 #1 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Mars in a Minute: Why is Curiosity Looking for Organics?Has Mars ever had the right ingredients for life? What are organic molecules, and what can they tell us about the history of Mars? Learn more in this 60-second video from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Source: JPLnews - YouTube Channel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bison Posted March 7, 2013 #2 Share Posted March 7, 2013 (edited) The video doesn't mention this, but life preferentially uses carbon 12. An overabundance of it inside Martian rocks would strongly suggest that life once existed there. The normal proportion of carbon 12 to carbon 13 on Earth is about 99:1. The comparable ratio for Mars has carbon 13 at about 46 % higher, plus or minus 8 % , so roughly 98.5:1.5. Anything outside this margin of error should make us sit up and take notice. Edited March 7, 2013 by bison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey14 Posted March 7, 2013 #3 Share Posted March 7, 2013 I would not be surprised if life did once exist on mars. Now how complex it may have been who knows but Mars has in the past had the right conditions to be habitable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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