| archmage | Date: Tuesday, 03-September-2013, 9:17 PM | Message # 1 |
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-- dragon lord--
Group: lords
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| Washington, Sept 3: A chemical ingredient key for life may have been more abundant on ancient Mars than on early Earth, a new study has found.
Researchers at the University of Nevada have found that phosphate found in minerals on Mars, is far more soluble than it is in natural Earth minerals.
They synthesised mineral types found on Mars and then tested how well they dissolved in water releasing phosphate as compared to samples from natural Earth minerals.
Most scientists agree that phosphate is a key ingredient for life. Put another way, they believe that life couldn’t have evolved without it, researchers said.
Scientists have been studying ways in which minerals that contain phosphate could have broken down to allow the phosphate to escape.
Such studies have thus far found that minerals that hold phosphate on Earth are not very soluble – they don’t break down easily when soaked in sea water, ‘Phys.org’ reported.
Read more/Full article/source - http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news....448.ece
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