While testing Mars rover sensors in the Atacama desert, researchers inadvertently found a variety of unclassifiable microorganisms called “the dark biome”
at the Spanish Astrobiology Centre in Madrid and his colleagues took samples in a region of the desert called Red Stone, where the dust is red because it is full of hematite, the same mineral that gives Mars its rusty colour. “This is probably the most Mars-like place on Earth,” says Azua-Bustos. “Being there is almost like being on Mars, except for the colour of the sky.”
When they used state-of-the-art scientific instruments – the sort only available in laboratories on Earthto analyse the makeup of their samples, they found up to 1 microgram of DNA per gram of soil. This included DNA from 19 species of bacteria and two fungi.didn’t match anything in the genetic databases we have, leading the researchers to refer to those microbes as “the dark microbiome”.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
China silent on fate of Zhurong Mars rover on 2nd anniversary of Tianwen 1 missionTianwen 1, China's first interplanetary mission, marked its second anniversary in orbit around Mars on Feb. 10, but there was no update on the status of the mission's Zhurong rover.
Read more »
Follow Perseverance on Its Mars Journey With This Two-Year TimelapseHard to believe, but the Perseverance Rover has begun its third year exploring Mars. On Feb. 18, 2021, Perseverance rover survived the harrowing landing at Jezero Crater, and almost immediately, began an expedition to collect a geologically diverse set of rock samples, ones that could help answer the question if Mars once had ancient microbial … Continue reading 'Follow Perseverance on Its Mars Journey With This Two-Year Timelapse'
Read more »
This Week @NASA: Naming a Moon Mountain, Mars Sample Collection, Webb Unveils Pandora’s ClusterNaming a mountain on the Moon … Watching and helping from space … And a sample wide shot from Mars … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA! https://youtu.be/T65lg3ykbC8 Moon Mountain Named in Honor of NASA Mathematician A mesa-like mountain near the Moon’s South P
Read more »
Mars Wrigley slapped with OSHA fine after workers fell into chocolate tankThe Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited The Mars Wrigley Confectionary with a 'serious citation' for an incident involving two workers falling into a vat of chocolate last year.
Read more »
NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Enters Third Year in Search for Signs of Life at Jezero CraterAfter completing the first sample depot on another world, the rover continues its hunt for Mars rocks worthy of study on Earth. NASA’s Perseverance rover will celebrated its second anniversary on the surface of Mars on Saturday, February 18. Since arriving at Jezero Crater in 2021, the six-wheele
Read more »
Deliver Us Mars: Are we there yet? Red Planet game takes patience and dexterityYou won't arrive at your destination for several hours after beginning Deliver Us Mars, but the world-building makes it worth the wait.
Read more »