Mars 'has life's building blocks'

[dipsydoodle]

New evidence from meteorites suggests that the basic building blocks of life are present on Mars.

The study found that carbon present in 10 meteorites, spanning more than four billion years of Martian history, came from the planet and was not the result of contamination on Earth.

Details of the work have been published in the journal Science.

But the research also shows the Martian carbon did not come from life forms.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18196353

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. We already knew this, didn't we?

Those 'basic building blocks' are the same ones that created earth

What Mars really needs is a thicker atmosphere, which it used to have..

Mars' atmosphere is believed to have changed over the course of the planet's lifetime, with evidence suggesting the possibility that Mars had large oceans a few billion years ago.[7] As stated in the Mars Ocean Hypothesis, atmospheric pressure on the present day Martian surface only exceeds that of the triple point of water (6.11 hectopascals (0.0886 psi)) in the lowest elevations; at higher elevations water can exist only in solid or vapor form. Annual mean temperatures at the surface are currently less than 210 K (?63 °C; ?82 °F), significantly lower than what is needed to sustain liquid water. However, early in its history Mars may have had conditions more conducive to retaining liquid water at the surface.

Possible causes for the depletion of a previously thicker Martian atmosphere include:

Catastrophic collision by a body large enough to blow away a significant percentage of the atmosphere;[8]
Gradual erosion of the atmosphere by solar wind;[9] and
On-going removal of atmosphere due to electromagnetic field and solar wind interaction.[8]
Mars low gravity allowed the atmosphere to "blow off" into space by gas-kinetic escape. [10]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Mars

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Reduced carbon ? Big schmeal.

Let's see something a tad more complex and specific before we start calling it a "building block of life" -- there are endless amounts of C-H compounds on Titan, all the Jovian planets, even nebulae. Carbon is a multiple-use element.

To be fair, the scientist who referred to "organic chemistry" was correct in the sense that that term is used *by chemists* -- organic chemistry is the chemistry of carbon compounds, regardless of whether living organisms are involved. Not sure journos understand this restricted usage.

[n2doc]

3. No, that is not what the article said

Mars has evidence for reduce carbon from high temperature reactions that take place in Magma. The carbon is mostly graphite, and polycyclic aromatics. This is a far, far cry from amino acids, lipids and other 'building blocks' of life.

[freethought]

4. What it also needs is a much stronger magnetic field.

One of the earth's advantages is a strong magnetic field generated by the spin the earth's core. The magnetic field creates protection against harmful solar radiation.
For whatever reason, Mars's magnetic field is much weaker than the earth's, about 1/10th as powerful, and from what I have read it does not cover the planet evenly. From what I understand it is patchy, stronger in some places than in others. Scientists tend to think that the martian magnetic field is generated from minerals in its crust vs. the spinning dynamo that generates the earth's field.
Just because the "building blocks" are there does not mean life eventually arises.