March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010
August 2010
September 2010 October 2010
November 2010
December 2010 January 2011 February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013 January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014 January 2015 February 2015 March 2015 April 2015 May 2015 June 2015 July 2015 August 2015 September 2015 October 2015 November 2015 December 2015 January 2016 February 2016 March 2016 April 2016 May 2016 June 2016 July 2016 August 2016 September 2016 October 2016 November 2016 December 2016 January 2017 February 2017 March 2017 April 2017 May 2017 June 2017 July 2017 August 2017 September 2017 October 2017 November 2017 December 2017 January 2018 February 2018 March 2018 April 2018 May 2018 June 2018 July 2018 August 2018 September 2018 October 2018 November 2018 December 2018 January 2019 February 2019 March 2019 April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 August 2019 September 2019 October 2019 November 2019 December 2019 January 2020 February 2020 March 2020 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 July 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 December 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 August 2021 September 2021 October 2021 November 2021 December 2021 January 2022 February 2022 March 2022 April 2022 May 2022 June 2022 July 2022 August 2022 September 2022 October 2022 November 2022 December 2022 January 2023 February 2023 March 2023 April 2023 May 2023 June 2023 July 2023 August 2023 September 2023 October 2023 November 2023 December 2023 January 2024 February 2024 March 2024 April 2024 May 2024 June 2024 July 2024 August 2024 September 2024 October 2024
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
News Every Day |

Mars may have been habitable much more recently than thought

Science & Tech

Mars may have been habitable much more recently than thought

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

4 min read

Study bolsters theory that protective magnetic field supporting life-enabling atmosphere remained in place longer than estimates

Evidence suggests Mars could very well have been teeming with life billions of years ago. Now cold, dry, and stripped of what was once a potentially protective magnetic field, the Red Planet is a kind of forensic scene for scientists investigating whether Mars was indeed once habitable and, if so, when.

The “when” question in particular has driven researchers in Harvard’s Paleomagnetics Lab in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. A new paper in Nature Communications makes their most compelling case to date that Mars’ life-enabling magnetic field could have survived until about 3.9 billion years ago, compared with previous estimates of 4.1 billion years — so hundreds of millions of years more recently.

The study was led by Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences student Sarah Steele, who has used simulation and computer modeling to estimate the age of the Martian “dynamo,” or global magnetic field produced by convection in the planet’s iron core, like on Earth. Together with senior author Roger Fu, the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Natural Sciences, the team has doubled down on a theory they first argued last year that the Martian dynamo, capable of deflecting harmful cosmic rays, was around longer than prevailing estimates claim.

The researchers simulated the cooling and magnetization of large impact basins on Mars to defend a later dynamo shutdown.

Credit: Sarah Steele

Their thinking evolved from experiments simulating cooling and magnetization cycles of huge craters on the Red Planet’s surface. Known to be only weakly magnetic, these well-studied impact basins have led researchers to assume they formed after the dynamo shut down.

This timeline was hypothesized using basic principles of paleomagnetics, or the study of a planet’s prehistoric magnetic field. Scientists know ferromagnetic minerals in rock align themselves with surrounding magnetic fields when the rock is hot, but these small fields become “locked in” once the rock has cooled. This effectively turns the minerals into fossilized magnetic fields, which can be studied billions of years later.

Looking at basins on Mars with weak magnetic fields, scientists surmised they initially formed amid hot rock during a period in which there were no other strong magnetic fields present — in other words, after the planet’s dynamo had gone away.

But the Harvard team says this early shutdown isn’t necessary to explain those largely de-magnetized craters, according to Steele. Rather, they argue that the craters were formed while the dynamo of Mars was experiencing a polarity reversal — north and south poles switching places — which, through computer simulation, can explain why these large impact basins only have weak magnetic signals today. Magnetic pole flips also happen on Earth every few hundred thousand years.

“We are basically showing that there may not have ever been a good reason to assume Mars’ dynamo shut down early,” Steele said.

Their results build on previous work that first upended existing Martian habitability timelines. They used a famed Martian meteorite, Allan Hills 84001, and a powerful quantum diamond microscope in Fu’s lab, to infer a longer-persisting magnetic field until 3.9 billion years ago by studying different magnetic populations in thin slices of the rock.

Steele says poking holes in a long-held theory is a little nerve-wracking, but that they’ve been “spoiled rotten” by a community of planetary researchers who are open to new interpretations and possibilities.

“We are trying to answer primary, important questions about how everything got to be like it is, even why the entire solar system is the way that it is,” Steele said. “Planetary magnetic fields are our best probe to answer a lot of those questions, and one of the only ways we have to learn about the deep interiors and early histories of planets.”

Симферополь

В центре Симферополя появится “Поэма” для комфортной жизни

Lindsay Hubbard's Baby Shower Details Revealed, Including Which 'Summer House' Co-Stars Attend

Revealed: SC Freedom Caucus leader had numerous electronics seized by federal officers

You need the eyes of a movie hero to spot the 5 horror villains lurking near the crime scene in under 90 secs

Inside the dark world of randy sex pest dolphins who terrorise swimmers & try to ROMP with humans

Ria.city






Read also

Alex Rodriguez has 'good news' for Yankees as Dodgers on brink of World Series title

Police investigating Monday night fatal shooting in New Iberia

Incumbents leading in crucial Hudson Valley congressional races: poll

News, articles, comments, with a minute-by-minute update, now on Today24.pro

News Every Day

Revealed: SC Freedom Caucus leader had numerous electronics seized by federal officers

Today24.pro — latest news 24/7. You can add your news instantly now — here


News Every Day

Bay Area high school football: Weekend scoreboard, how Top 25 fared



Sports today


Новости тенниса
ATP

Карен Хачанов выиграл девять из последних десяти матчей на турнирах ATP



Спорт в России и мире
Москва

Виктор Са: хорошо себя чувствую в «Краснодаре», рад работать и помогать команде



All sports news today





Sports in Russia today

Москва

На Кубке России по фитнес-аэробике в Москве выступят лучшие команды страны


Новости России

Game News

Cancel your weekend plans because this cozy cowboy life sim just went into open beta and you can play it for free


Russian.city



Губернаторы России
Сергей Собянин

Собянин поздравил команду Москвы с победой на чемпионате «Абилимпикс»


«Задача не из легких»: станет ли Владивосток городом–миллионником?

В Мытищах состоялась отчетно-выборная конференция профсоюза жизнеобеспечения

В Мытищах состоялась отчетно-выборная конференция профсоюза жизнеобеспечения

Пока в Якутии была ночь: повышение МРОТ, сделки по «Семейной ипотеке» и история сахалинского Хатико


Певица Бьянка станет новой участницей шоу «Звёзды в Джунглях»

Произошел конфуз: Ани Лорак расплакалась во время концерта в Москве

Международный масштаб и возвращение Александра Градского: чем удивит «Арт-футбол» в 2024 году

Цискаридзе на марафоне Знание.Первые поделится опытом и расскажет о просвещении


Стефанос Циципас одержал 100-ю победу на турнирах серии «Мастерс»

София Кенин впервые за 13 месяцев вышла в финал WTA и вернётся в топ-100

Вена (ATP). Хачанов и Дрэйпер разыграют титул

Карен Хачанов выиграл девять из последних десяти матчей на турнирах ATP



День рождения музея «АТОМ» при поддержке Детского радио

Слушатель «Авторадио» едет в Абу-Даби на «Формулу-1»

В Мытищах состоялась отчетно-выборная конференция профсоюза жизнеобеспечения

Органические удобрения от компании «БиоЭкоПро»


Погранслужба Литвы может столкнуться с дефицитом средств на плановое укрепление границы с РФ

Кабинет Артиста. Яндекс кабинет артиста. Яндекс музыка кабинет артиста.

Собянин рассказал о редевелопменте бывших промзон Воронцово и «Силикатные улицы»

Телеканал ТНТ объявляет дату премьеры сериала об эйджизме в личных отношениях «Макрон» с Алексеем Лукиным и Мариной Александровой


Улицы французского Марселя завалило горами мусора из-за забастовки уборщиков

МЧС: при разборе завалов от пожара в Долгопрудном нашли тело погибшего мужчины

МВД РФ сообщило о выдаче Алжиру разыскиваемого Интерполом мошенника

Психотравматолог Мансурова назвала плохой сон «первым звонком» хронического стресса



Путин в России и мире






Персональные новости Russian.city
Нюша

«Была с кем-то всегда»: от чего пришлось отказаться Нюше ради карьеры



News Every Day

You need the eyes of a movie hero to spot the 5 horror villains lurking near the crime scene in under 90 secs




Friends of Today24

Музыкальные новости

Персональные новости