On this day in 1996, NASA announced the discovery of
potential evidence of an early life form on Mars. It came in the form of an
alleged tiny fossil found on a meteorite in Antarctica, which was believed to
have come from Mars. The fossil could only been seen as a highly magnified
image, as a microscopic tube-like form, less than 1% of the width of a human
hair. Some believed that it could perhaps represent a simple Martian organism
that lived over 3.6 million years ago. A huge impact 16 million years ago could
have blasted the rock into space, and it landed in Earth’s Antarctica only 13,000
years ago. The meteorite ‘ALH 84001’ also carried organic molecules and mineral
features which are characteristics of biological activity. At best, the
evidence is inconclusive, and other scientists often entirely dispute the
interpretation. Wednesday 6 August 2014
ON THIS DAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY - 6TH AUGUST
On this day in 1996, NASA announced the discovery of
potential evidence of an early life form on Mars. It came in the form of an
alleged tiny fossil found on a meteorite in Antarctica, which was believed to
have come from Mars. The fossil could only been seen as a highly magnified
image, as a microscopic tube-like form, less than 1% of the width of a human
hair. Some believed that it could perhaps represent a simple Martian organism
that lived over 3.6 million years ago. A huge impact 16 million years ago could
have blasted the rock into space, and it landed in Earth’s Antarctica only 13,000
years ago. The meteorite ‘ALH 84001’ also carried organic molecules and mineral
features which are characteristics of biological activity. At best, the
evidence is inconclusive, and other scientists often entirely dispute the
interpretation. 
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