The search for how life began on Earth, and perhaps on other planets, is taking a detour in the endless night beneath the bottom of the sea.
December 14th, 1999
Meet Conan the Bacterium
Humble microbe could become “The Accidental (Space) Tourist” Like a muscle-bound movie hero, it withstands attacks from acid baths, high and low temperatures, and even radiation doses. Then, in a science fiction sequel, it dispenses lifesaving medications and reshapes a planet for new settlers.
December 13th, 1999
Hunting for ET
British scientists interested in searching for life in space are getting together to launch the UK Astrobiology Forum. It will allow British astronomers, biologists, geologists and engineers to pool their knowledge, and think up better ways of detecting extra-terrestrials.
December 12th, 1999
New ‘fingerprint’ of early life The Record Online
The earliest direct evidence of organisms pumping oxygen into Earth’s ancient atmosphere has been found in the fossilized remnants of bacterial slime, according to research that also gives scientists a new tool in the hunt for life on Mars.
December 9th, 1999
Life on Mars? Before We Go, We’ve Got To Know
MOD: The Mars Organic Detector The Mars Organic Detector is designed to test martian soil samples for compounds associated with organic life. The detector, which would take up the volume of about a dozen CD cases stacked together, is provisionally budgeted for $3 million. It is designed to heat a rock sample to vaporize any organic compounds that might be inside.
December 9th, 1999
Life Found Near Sub-Antarctic Lake, Fueling ET Hopes
The discovery of living microbes just above a hidden freshwater lake 2 miles deep in the frozen Antarctic extends the range of extreme conditions under which life is known to survive.
December 7th, 1999
CNN’s Miles O’Brien profiles Dr Chris McKay and the search for Life on Mars
[Video] Miles O’Brien interviews Dr Chris McKay, NASA Scientist and Mars Society member, on the search for life on Mars and in analogue environments here on Earth.
December 2nd, 1999
Idea of Alien Life Gaining Credibility: What If the Mars Probe Finds Something? San Francisco Chronicle
As the Mars Polar Lander spacecraft nears the Red Planet on its water- seeking mission, scientists are already discussing the societal implications of finding life elsewhere in the universe, a sign that a once-dubious idea has found new respectability.
November 22nd, 1999
Radiation-proof bug offers clue to cancer cells Telegraph
SCIENTISTS have deciphered the genetic code of a bacterium which can withstand radiation at 3,000 times the level fatal to humans. Typically, it is found in locations where most other bacteria have died, ranging from the shielding pond of a radioactive caesium source to granite in the Antarctic, where conditions are thought to resemble those on Mars.
November 8th, 1999
Your Ancestors May Be Martian
Suppose that billions of years ago life developed on Mars. Primitive, tiny organisms that thrived deep within rocks and made a living from water and chemicals seeping through those rocks.