BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy Martian meteor - evidence for life on Mars?

This month an international team of experts published a paper with the results of their study of a Martian meteorite. They have analyzed the organic carbon in the Tissint meteorite and concluded that it's probably of biological origin. The meteor was flung into space by a collision on Mars about 700,000 years ago.

Interestingly, the the Natural History Museum in London has a piece of the Tissint meteorite on display. I saw it last week. In 2012 another international team studied the meteorite and found evidence that it had been weathered by water. (This was very important, and cheaper than sending Curiosity to Mars!) When this team reported, Dr Caroline Smith, the museum's curator of meteors, said that they hadn't found any evidence of life in the meteor.

What next, I wonder.

The Tissint meteorite analysis has been made even more interesting by the findings of the Mars Science Laboratory. A few days ago they announced the results of 20 months of analysis of data from the Curiosity rover. They have discovered organic compounds in the soil and in the atmosphere of Mars. They are not however claiming this as evidence of life, past or present.

Curiosity hasn't been looking for life on Mars. it has been looking for the essential ingredients for life as we understand it from our earthly experience. The evidence from three of the rovers is that there was once large amounts of surface water that was fairly neutral, i.e., not too acidic or alkaline. They have found minerals that could be an energy source for chemical metabolism, as happens in some extreme environments on Earth. Now it's clear that there are organic compounds that could be the building blocks for life.