Astrobiology is the scientific discipline dedicated to the search and study of life on other worlds. In spite of decades of research funding and dozens of dedicated spacecraft missions, astrobiology remains a “data-free” scientific discipline. It’s not that we have not learned anything, but that researchers have not found any “data” in the form of life. This continuing lack of data has profound scientific, philosophical, and spiritual implications.

A new, overlooked challenge to the quest to find life on other worlds was published in the April 2019 issue of Astrobiology.1 That challenge stems from wind-driven salt particles’ effect on spores.

Harmful Blasts of Salt
Several extremophile microbial species on Earth are resistant to high salt concentrations in their environment. However, astrobiologists have not previously considered what happens to life when it is blasted by salt particles. A team of six Danish and German astrobiologists performed experiments where they exposed the highly radiation-and-oxidizing-resistant bacterial endospores of Bacillus subtilis (see figure 1) to the saltating conditions known to exist on the surface of Mars. That is, the six astrobiologists created a laboratory experiment where they subjected the B. subtilis spores to the surface chemistry and wind velocity conditions normally present on the Martian surface.

 

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Figure 1: Bacillus subtilisThe short red cylinders are individual cells of B. subtilis bacteria. The long red strands are chains of multiple B. subtilis cells. The small green dots are B. subtilisspores. Image credit: public domain

In their laboratory experiment, the team of six observed that 50% of the spores were destroyed by abrasion from the wind-driven salt particles within one minute. Follow-up scanning electron micrographs revealed that the spores were not only severely damaged by the abrasion but completely eradicated.

Of all the bacterial species known to biologists, B. subtilis is the most resistant to Martian surface conditions. If B. subtilis cannot survive on Mars, no known life-form can. Since biologists cannot conceive of a possible bacterium more survivable to Martian conditions than B. subtilis, by implication no unknown life-form can survive on Mars either.

The researchers performed their experiment under normative Martian surface conditions. About once every 3 Martian years (5.5 Earth years) on average, Mars suffers a severe planet-wide dust storm (see figure 2). These dust storms can last from days to many weeks. When they occur, mineral and dust particles are picked up and blown at speeds ranging from 53 to 106 kilometers per hour (33 to 66 miles per hour). As devastating as the storms are to the planet, they will be even more destructive to life, the fossils of life, and biomolecular building blocks of life.

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Figure 2: Mars with and without a Dust Storm. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

For people who reason that Earth life might be transported to Mars, the astrobiologists concluded in their paper that there is no need to worry about microbes on board a Martian lander infecting Mars. The wind-driven salts on Mars will quickly kill any microbes that survive the transport from Earth to Mars.2 These same wind-driven salts will also destroy biomolecules and fossils of microbes that have been transported from Earth to Mars via debris and dust being ejected from Earth’s surface as a result of meteoroid impacts.3

In other words, astrobiologists may need to give up their quest to find life, or even the remains of life, on the Martian surface. The only way the remains of Earth-transported life could conceivably be discovered on Mars is if somehow it got driven deep underground by the impact of an Earth rock.

Implications Show Earth’s Rarity
Returning to the implications I mentioned above, the likelihood is high that many other extraterrestrial bodies besides Mars are subject to wind-driven salts. The research team argues that wind-driven saltation is an important factor for determining the possible habitability of planets and moons beyond the solar system. In particular, the abundance of corrosive salts and the surface wind velocity are two additional factors that must be fine-tuned to ensure a body’s habitability. In this respect, Earth is anomalous. For example, Earth’s abundance level of sulfur and sulfur salts is 60 times less than it is for Mars. We live on a specially designed planet where wind-driven saltation poses no significant threat to life. Such a rarity seems not accidental, but purposeful.

Featured image: True Color Image of Mars from the Rosetta Spacecraft During Its Flyby of Mars. Image credit: ESA/OSIRIS

 

Check out more from Reasons to Believe @Reasons.org

Endnotes
  1. E. N. Bak et al., “Wind-Driven Saltation: An Overlooked Challenge for Life on Mars,” Astrobiology 19, no. 4 (April 2019): 497–505, doi:10.1089/ast.2018.1856.
  2. Bak et al., 497, 502–503.
  3. Bak et al., 503, Roger E. Summons et al., “Preservation of Martian Organic and Environmental Records: Final Report of the Mars Biosignature Working Group,” Astrobiology 11, no. 2 (March 2011): 157–81, doi:10.1089/ast.2010.0506.

 

About The Author

Dr. Hugh Ross

Reasons to Believe emerged from my passion to research, develop, and proclaim the most powerful new reasons to believe in Christ as Creator, Lord, and Savior and to use those new reasons to reach people for Christ. I also am eager to equip Christians to engage, rather than withdraw from or attack, educated non-Christians. One of the approaches I’ve developed, with the help of my RTB colleagues, is a biblical creation model that is testable, falsifiable, and predictive. I enjoy constructively integrating all 66 books of the Bible with all the science disciplines as a way to discover and apply deeper truths. 1 Peter 3:15–16 sets my ministry goal, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience." Hugh Ross launched his career at age seven when he went to the library to find out why stars are hot. Physics and astronomy captured his curiosity and never let go. At age seventeen he became the youngest person ever to serve as director of observations for Vancouver's Royal Astronomical Society. With the help of a provincial scholarship and a National Research Council (NRC) of Canada fellowship, he completed his undergraduate degree in physics (University of British Columbia) and graduate degrees in astronomy (University of Toronto). The NRC also sent him to the United States for postdoctoral studies. At Caltech he researched quasi-stellar objects, or "quasars," some of the most distant and ancient objects in the universe. Not all of Hugh's discoveries involved astrophysics. Prompted by curiosity, he studied the world’s religions and "holy books" and found only one book that proved scientifically and historically accurate: the Bible. Hugh started at religious "ground zero" and through scientific and historical reality-testing became convinced that the Bible is truly the Word of God! When he went on to describe for others his journey to faith in Jesus Christ, he was surprised to discover how many people believed or disbelieved without checking the evidence. Hugh's unshakable confidence that God's revelations in Scripture and nature do not, will not, and cannot contradict became his unique message. Wholeheartedly encouraged by family and friends, communicating that message as broadly and clearly as possible became his mission. Thus, in 1986, he founded science-faith think tank Reasons to Believe (RTB). He and his colleagues at RTB keep tabs on the frontiers of research to share with scientists and nonscientists alike the thrilling news of what's being discovered and how it connects with biblical theology. In this realm, he has written many books, including: The Fingerprint of God, The Creator and the Cosmos, Beyond the Cosmos, A Matter of Days, Creation as Science, Why the Universe Is the Way It Is, and More Than a Theory. Between writing books and articles, recording podcasts, and taking interviews, Hugh travels the world challenging students and faculty, churches and professional groups, to consider what they believe and why. He presents a persuasive case for Christianity without applying pressure. Because he treats people's questions and comments with respect, he is in great demand as a speaker and as a talk-radio and television guest. Having grown up amid the splendor of Canada's mountains, wildlife, and waterways, Hugh loves the outdoors. Hiking, trail running, and photography are among his favorite recreational pursuits - in addition to stargazing. Hugh lives in Southern California with his wife, Kathy, and two sons.



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