New Surprises From Mars

Few days ago Nikolina Benedikovic gave a very interesting link relating to the new starting discovery related to Mars. The scientists have measured the seasonal variation of methane CO₂ and oxygen O₂ in the Gale Crater of Mars.

Consider first the newest findings.

1. The largest amount of methane CO₂ hitherto, 21 parts per billion volume units has been measured in Mars by Curiosity Mars rover (see this).

The presence of high level of methane discovered by Curiosity has been known for years. Methane is associated with living organisms. At Earth it is produced by microbes but can be also created through interactions between rocks and water.

Curiosity cannot determine whether the source is local or is the methane present everywhere and whether the source is biology or geology. The recent measurement gave an increased level of methane but it is not known how long the transient lasts and whether there is a seasonal variation. The transient however suggests that the source of methane is local. Chemically reactive soil containing sources and sinks of methane has been considered.

• Also oxygen was observed to behave in an unexpected manner (see this). The knowledge of the surface chemistry allows to estimate the yearly variation of oxygen and the predictions confirm with measurements almost all the year. At spring time of Mars the rules of chemistry are however broken, and the concentration of oxygen rises as much as 30 per cent during spring and summer and the returns to the levels predicted by the chemistry. Something gives oxygen and then takes it back.

  TGD based explanation relies on the proposal of underground life in the underground oceans for which evidence exists (see this). For some time ago I developed a model for the strange behavior of the Martian magnetic field (see this).

•  
  1. One can start from the TGD based Expanding Earth model (see this). providing also a vision about the evolution of life at Earth generalizing to model applying to all planetary systems. Life would have evolved in underground oceans of Earth shielded from cosmic rays and meteor and able to preserve high enough oxygen level. It would have burst to the surface in Cambrian Explosion in a rather short geological time scale as the radius of Earth increased by a factor 2 in a phase transition decreasing cosmological constant by factor 1/4. The sequence of these phase transition would provide quantum counterpart for the cosmological expansion of astronomical objects in TGD Universe as jerks and would correspond to smooth expansion in GRT picture. This vision would also solve Fermi’s paradox. Most life in the cosmos would be still underground.
      
  2. In Mars same would occur (the radius of Mars is 1/2 of the recent radius of Earth!). The core of Mars has not split to inner core and rotating outer core and only the dark monopole part of magnetic field would be significant in Mars, and would explain the strange findings about Martial magnetic field. Multi-cellulars able to photo-synthesize and breath oxygen would develop below the crust shielded against cosmic rays and meteors. The life underground would receive solar radiation as dark photons along monopole flux tubes of dark part of magnetic field predicted by TGD. This would make possible photosynthesis and metabolism
      
  3. It is essential for life that oxygen in underground oceans does not leak out. At Earth ordinary magnetic field prevents this. At Earth Cambrian explosion meant decomposition of core of Earth to inner and outer core and the generation of the ordinary magnetic field of Earth by the charged currents in the outer core: this prevented the leakage of oxygen from the surface of Earth and the life could flourish at the surface of Earth. Same should happen also in Mars sooner or later.
      
  4. The observed largest and varying amount of methane and oxygen in Gale Crater would represent local leakages of methane and oxygen. Could some oxygen using life forms emerge at surface of Mars at spring time and survive the summer (Martian year is 687 days) and receive their oxygen feed from the interior of Mars? This would be like some birds emigrating from southern hemisphere to northern hemisphere during summer.
      

  See the article Could Mars have intra-planetary life?.

For a summary of earlier postings see Latest progress in TGD.

Articles and other material related to TGD.