Vita in Meridiani Planum, Marte

We performed a quantitative image analysis to compare microstructures of microbialites with the images photographed by the Rover Opportunity (25,000/15,000 microstructures, Earth/Mars). Terrestrial and Martian textures present a multifractal aspect. Mean values and confi dence intervals from the Martian images overlapped perfectly with those from the terrestrial samples (p<0.004). Terrestrial abiogenic pseudostromatolites showed a simple fractal structure and different morphometric values with a less ordered texture (p<0.001). Our work shows the presumptive evidence of microbialites in the Martian outcroppings: the presence of unicellular life widespread on the ancient Mars

Mars Exploration Rover’s image analysis: Evidence of Microbialites on Mars

The Mars Exploration Rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, investigated Martian plains, where sedimentary rocks are present. The Mars Exploration Rover's Athena morphological investigation showed microstructures organized in intertwined filaments of microspherules: a texture we have also found on samples of terrestrial (biogenic) stro-matolites and other microbialites. We performed a quantitative image analysis to compare images of microbialites with the images photographed by the Rovers (corresponding, approximately, to 25,000/25,000 microstructures, Earth/Mars). Contours were extracted and morphometric indexes were obtained: geometric and algorithmic complexities , entropy, tortuosity, minimum and maximum diameters. Terrestrial and Martian textures present a multi-fractal aspect. Mean values and confidence intervals from the Martian images overlapped perfectly with those from the terrestrial samples. The probability of this occurring by chance is 1/2ˆ8, less than p<0.004. Terrestrial abiogenic pseudostromatolites showed a simple fractal structure and different morphometric values from those of the terrestrial biogenic stromatolite images or Martian images with a less ordered texture (p<0.001). Our work shows the presumptive evidence of microbialites in the Martian outcroppings: the presence of unicellular life widespread on the ancient Mars

Opportunity Rover’s image analysis: Microbialites on Mars?

The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity investigated plains at Meridiani Planum, where laminated sedimentary rocks are present. The Opportunity rover’s Athena morphological investigation showed microstructures organized in intertwined filaments of microspherules: a texture we have also found on samples of terrestrial (biogenic) stromatolites and other microbialites. We performed a quantitative image analysis to compare images (n=45) of microbialites with the images (n=30)photographed by the rover (corresponding, approximately, to 25,000/15,000 microstructures). Contours were extracted and morphometric indexes were obtained: geometric and algorithmic complexities, entropy, tortuosity, minimum and maximum diameters. Terrestrial and Martian textures present a multifractal aspect. Mean values and confidence intervals from the Martian images overlapped perfectly with those from the terrestrial samples. The probability of this occurring by chance is 1/28,less than p<0.004. Terrestrial abiogenic pseudostromatolites showed a simple fractal structure and different morphometric values from those of the terrestrial biogenic stromatolite images or Martian images with a less ordered texture (p<0.001). Our work shows the presumptive evidence of microbialites in the Martian outcroppings: i.e., the presence of unicellular life on the ancient Mars

Life on Mars: Clues, Evidence or Proof?

The search for life on Mars is one of the main objectives of space missions. At “Pahrump Hills Field Site” (Gale Crater, Mojave target), inside the mudstones of the Murray lacustrine sequence, Curiosity rover found organic materials and lozenge shaped laths considered by NASA as pseudomorphic crystals. Besides it detected mineral assemblages suggesting both oxidizing (hematite) and reducing (magnetite) environments, as well as acidic (diagenetic and/or authigenic jarosite) and neutral (apatite) conditions, that might suggest bacterially mediated reactions. Our morphological and morphometrical investigations show that such diagenetic microstructures are unlikely to be lozenge shapes and, in addition to several converging features, they suggest the presence of remnants of complex algal-like biota, similar to terrestrial procaryotes and/or eukaryotes; possible microorganisms that, on the base of absolute dating criteria used by other scholars, lived on Mars about 2.12 +/−0.36 Ga ago

Nonlinear analysis of the Viking lander 2 labeled release data

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2004ESASP.545..169

Manipolazione Bioenergetica: la Via Orientale per il Benessere

La Medicina Tradizionale Cinese (MTC) indica una via alternativa (e complementare alla nostra Medicina Occidentale) per il trattamento di numerosissimi disturbi che possono colpirci, nel corpo o nella psiche o per prevenirli, evitando i tremendi effetti collaterali dell'uso/abuso di farmaci quali gli antiinfiammatori/antidolorifici o gli ansiolitici. Nel presente libro, dopo un’ampia presentazione delle basi della MTC, necessarie per una piena comprensione della sua applicazione, letta secondo l’Energetica dei sistemi viventi di M. Mussat, vengono descritti in modo particolareggiato i Meridiani e i Punti più efficaci per il trattamento delle diverse patologie, trattamenti che possiamo effettuare su noi stessi o su chi vive intorno a noi mediante la semplice digitopressione o la moxibustione, o, ancora, per fare prevenzione mediante l’automassaggio cinese.La Medicina Tradizionale Cinese è un grande alleato del nostro benessere psico-fisic

Segni di vita su Marte: e se li avessimo già trovati?

La ricerca della vita su Marte. Le ultime acquisizioni che puntano verso una conferma della vita sul pianeta rosso

Origin(s) of life in the primitive Earth and chaos science. Probability of spontaneous emerging of a biosphere

Living structures may be described as beings in a self-organizing, fluctuating steady-state far from equilibrium: concepts arisen from the physics of chaos. The new model of living systems permits some considerations on the probability of the spontaneous creation of a biosphere. Even if it's not possible, at present, to know the way(s) from which life born, and plausible pathways of prebiotic evolution remain obscure, it's possible to consider the emerging of life as the transition from disorder to order in a population of mutually catalytic molecules undergoing random mutations (Dyson, 1982). Here we present data concerning the fractal structure of the oldest information polymers (tRNA of Archaea and viroid nucleotide sequences). Our data show high values of fractal dimension, placing these ancient polymers very close to the border between order and disorder. These data may be explained with the model presented by Dyson. The Dyson model, as well the thermodynamic considerations by Svirezhev (1999), gave the probability of emerging of a biosphere close to one, if we have enough time to produce sufficiently large number of attempts

Alla ricerca di vita su Marte: il ruolo della Fisica del Caos

L'analisi caotica/frattale dei dati dell'esperimento LR dei Viking e delle immagini dei Rover Marziani hanno dato nelle nostre mani indizi molto forti della vita presente e passata su Marte, suggerendoci la presenza di microrganismi sul Pianeta Rosso. Ad oggi, la possibile presenza di esseri viventi su Marte è una domanda ancora aperta che non può esse-re rifiutata

Extrasolari: stiamo per vedere Terra!

Search of life beyond the Earth. Exoplanets search