This smart trick can help us discover life on Mars

Rovars sent to Mars so far to discover life, most likely because it is not on the red planet. But we cannot say certainty, so the research should continue, using constantly advanced techniques-including this idea outside the box from a team of scientists.

As is detailed in a Ticket Posted today in Borders in astronomy and space scienceAstrologists from Germany and Portugal showed that three types of microbes are attracted to and will move towards amino acid called L-Serine. A process known as Chemotaxis – the movement of the organism in response to chemicals – can be the basis for a simple new approach in our search for life outside the planet in places like Mars.

The researchers wrote in the study: “Given that the early land and Mars were bombed by carbon asteroids, it is possible that L-Serine is on Mars,” the researcher wrote in the study. Previous research It has already shown that L-Serine calls for chemist in some forms of life. “If life develops on Mars with biochemistry similar to a well-known life on Earth, it seems that it is reasonable that L-Serine can also be a powerful chemical contractor for virtual Meriki microbes.”

because of Extarious harsh conditions On the surface of Mars, researchers used “virtual microbes” known as the remaining harsh conditions – living organisms that are often called Extremophiles. The additional parking included bacteria Bacillus Subtilis and pseudoalteronas haloplanktisAs well as archaeological Haloferax Volcanii.

“Bacteria and archaeological are among the oldest forms of life on Earth, but they move in different ways and the movement systems have developed independently from each other.” Max Reclus, air space engineer at the Technical University in Berlin and the author’s co -author said in a border statement. Movement is the ability of a small object to move independently. “By testing both groups, we can make life discovery methods more reliable for space tasks.”

In order to give their approach the highest chances of success in future space tasks, another important aspect of study was simplicity. Their equipment (flat glass piece) included separated into two rooms with a thin membrane. They put the microbes in one room, L-Serine in the other, and waited.

“If the microbes are alive and are able to move, they swim towards L-Serine through the membrane,” Ricleles explained. Fortunately, this is exactly what happened, indicating that future astronauts can use this method to determine the presence of similar microorganisms in samples outside the planet. According to the study, this is usually difficult to achieve even with advanced microscopic techniques.

He added: “This method is easy and at reasonable prices and does not require strong computers to analyze the results.”

Although the true life applications of this method in future space tasks should benefit from an automatic system with smaller and stronger equipment, the study still highlights the capabilities of a cheaper and simpler way to search for life outside the planet based on stimulating the microbial movement. The point is that cheap and simple are not two words that we usually hear in cooperation with our search for strange civilizations.