Re: Life on Mars?
David Campbell (bivalve@email.unc.edu)
Thu, 15 Aug 1996 19:58:56 -0500>1) the objects believed to be microfossils in the Martian rock are 100
>times smaller than similar structures we interpret as fossilized bacteria
>here on earth. Thus, since we don't find microbes this small on earth, it
>is hard to see how life on Mars, which came from earth could be so
>different.
>
Robert Folk (of sedimentary rock classification fame) has recently promoted
the idea that many sedimentary rock structures were produced by tiny (by
bacteria standards) bacteria. I think there's some evidence for modern
bacteria in this size range, but some "bacterial structures" in rocks
aren't-for example, someone showed that gold treated with acids has a
surface sculpture just like supposedly bacterially deposited gold.