Is there Life in Mars?

Given the current freezing temperatures, lack of atmosphere and resulting irradiation from UV light there is unlikely to be any life on Mars anymore, at least not on the surface. However, Professor Brian Cox's final episode of Wonders of the Solar System, on Life, reveals some tantalsing evidence, in methane being released from below the Martian surface, that indicates there may just be Life below the surface. Watch the video clip, while the BBC still let you.

Turns out that the telegenic Brian Cox was formerly the keyboard player for D:Ream, of New Labour theme tune "Things can only get Better" fame. Which probably explains why he went back to science.

What this is all about

Darwin pretty well explained how life evolves in Origin of the Species, and the last 150 years have just been filling in the details. This blog will look at a rather more uncertain question, how the very first life forms came into being from non-living origins - a process known as abiogenesis.

A blog seems the right format for looking at this subject as it's fairly unstructured, full of opinions and doesn't have too many hard facts. There aren't really any hard facts when it comes to how life began: no molecular fossils, no clear idea of exactly when life evolved, or where (Earth, Mars...), or even agreement on the kinds of geological and chemical conditions around when life came into being. This all gives plenty of scope for wild speculation, but it's surprising how much we can conclude given that the events happened several billion years ago.

This blog was created mainly for me and Karen, but if anyone else is looking in please do leave a post so that I know I have another reader.