A team of scientists has developed a “revolutionary” new method for determining whether there is life on Mars. The team reports that their test, which uses an artificial intelligence system, was unsuccessful. Accuracy close to 90% for assessing past and present life samples.
The technique has “the potential to revolutionize the search for extraterrestrial life and deepen our understanding of the origins and chemistry of the earliest life on Earth,” explained Robert Hazen of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington and co-leader of the study. . They called him “The Holy Grail of Astrobiology”.
The new “test” does more than just identify a molecule or specific groups of compounds in a sample. The researchers noted that thanks to artificial intelligence, they can distinguish between samples of biotic origin – plants, animals and bacteria – and abiotic origin – water, soil and atmosphere.
This analysis is achieved by identifying subtle differences in the molecular structures of the sample. “This paves the way for the use of smart sensors on robotic spacecraft, landers and rovers to search for signs of life before samples return to Earth,” Hazen added.
Artificial intelligence can now search for life on Mars
A new test could reveal the history of ancient and mysterious rocks on Earth. But also could evaluate samples already collected by the Curiosity rover, that NASA landed on Mars 11 years ago. The team explains that this analysis can be done using an analytical tool called SAM (Sample Analysis on Mars).
Curiosity, for example, has found signs that Mars likely has a cyclical climate similar to Earth’s. He also discovered carbon signatures. These are signs that there may be life on Mars.
“We’ll have to modify our method to fit SAM protocols, but we may already have data to determine whether there are molecules from the organic Martian biosphere on Mars,” said Jim Cleaves, lead author of the study published this week. . in a week Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “The search for extraterrestrial life remains one of the most tantalizing endeavors of modern science,” admits Cleeves.
How was the life search test created?
Artificial intelligence capable of searching for life on Mars was trained on a large volume of multidimensional data. They were extracted from Molecular analysis of 134 known abiotic or biotic carbon-rich samples.
They used the remains of living things such as shells, teeth, bones, insects, leaves and human hair. They also used remnants of ancient life altered by geological processing: coal, oil, amber and carbon-rich fossils. They also added samples of abiotic origin, such as pure laboratory chemicals and pieces of carbon-rich meteorites.
The origins of many ancient carbon samples have been difficult to determine. Collections of organic molecules, both biotic and abiotic, tend to decompose over time. However, its new A.I. Signs of biology have been discovered that persist in some cases for hundreds of millions of years.
“These results mean that it is possible that we could find a form of life from another planet, from another biosphere, even if it is very different from the life we know on Earth,” says Hazen. “And if we find signs of life in other places, we can learn whether life on Earth and other planets has common or different origins.”
They are not the only team to discover the potential of artificial intelligence to search for life on Mars. Researchers from NASA’s Astrobiology Institute combined environmental statistics with machine learning techniques into the model. To that another system gives an accuracy of 88%. This artificial intelligence was tested in the Atacama Desert in Chile and is capable of displaying “biosignatures”: any characteristic that indicates past or present life.
Source: Hiper Textual
