More Martian Dust

[Karen Brattain]

This is a follow-up to an earlier post (Wind, Dust, Mars, and Microbes), and it has little to do with publishing, so I hope you forgive me.

The Viking missions to Mars (1970s) detected “chemical activity” that had scientists wondering. At first, it was hoped that some form of organic matter caused this activity. When that turned out not to be the case, the question remained: where did certain chemical products on Mars come from?

Well, those martian dust storms are at it again! Cyclones on Mars create electrical fields. Now scientists think that these electrical fields give rise to chemical products such as hydrogen peroxide.

So what? Well, the existence of hydrogen peroxide and related chemicals on Mars and elsewhere needs to be understood. These chemical products really could be indications of life—we have to find out!

Anyway, if you can tolerate the small print and the blatant advertising, indulge your nerdy impulses by reading this article on Discovery News. If nothing else, look at the pretty pictures from NASA.

This is the first time I’ve come across a mention of Astrobiology in a news article. The paper the article refers to is “Oxidant Enhancement in Martian Dust Devils and Storms: Storm Electric Fields and Electron Dissociative Attachment” (yep, it’s a mouthful) by Delroy et al., in the June 2006 issue. You can read the abstract for free.

Just as a side note, I try to understand and explain these ideas as best I can. If I make mistakes, please let me know.