Further Proof of Life on Mars
by Eric Leech, New York, NY 
on 12.22.08
Photo Credit to Bluedharma
For awhile now there has been talk of humans becoming the future inhabitants of Mars before the centuries end. With this in mind, recent evidence now shows that Mars may have indeed had life on its surface at some point in its existence.
This news comes to us from the discovery of carbonates by the (MRO) Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. In case you slept through that portion of your high school science lab, carbonates are one the results when you combine H2O with carbon dioxide and then either of the minerals, calcium, magnesium, or iron. All of these important components to life having been present on Mars at some point, produces a pretty strong argument in favor of its life-sustaining habitability. Especially when you combine this with other previously found evidence.
What Lifeforms Existed on Mars
The next question that is hanging in the balance, is exactly what are the types of life that might have existed on the red planet. So far there has been no evidence released to the public, which either means that they do not think that the people of the world are ready to see proof that we are not alone, or they have truly not found anything beyond just a few remnants of life-sustaining components on the planets surface.
Most of the evidence collected thus far suggest that the height of Mars life activity occurred some 3.6 Billion years ago, which is a bit beyond even our Great Great Great Grandparents reach. None-the-less, it still gives hope for what scientists are hoping to turn into a second earth. How could you take such a currently uninhabitable planet and make it habitable? Well, by doing something that us humans have become relatively good at over the past century... global warming!
How to Create a Life Sustaining Atmosphere on Mars
The two main issues to be dealt with in order for the red planet to be life sustainable, is to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and then warm the frigid planet. Some scientists believe that by kick starting an atmosphere, Mars would then be able to literally wake up from its Billion year hibernation and terraform into a second earth.
One such idea for how to warm Mars is to create an artificial greenhouse effect, perhaps by the release of either Chlorofluorocarbons or Ammonia onto the planet. As the chemical change in the atmosphere allowed the planet to gradually thaw over the course of one to three decades, certain types of hearty algae and bacteria harvested from the frigid regions of Antarctic could then be introduced to aid in oxygen production. Theoretically, with enough money and effort we could see a colony on Mars as soon as 2100.
In your opinion, should we consider the possibility of kick starting life on Mars, or leave such big decisions to the discretion of Mother Universe herself?
More wonders of the universe
Telescopes Capture First Images of Alien Planets
New Extrasolar Planet Photos to Shake Up Astronomy
Orion Nebula Research: Habitable Planets Could Be Rarer than Thought
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