The article discussed about the unique magnetic microscope and its possibilities of detecting living microorganisms in meteorites found in Mars. The microscope has been designed and built by the scientists of Vanderbilt’s Living State Physics Laboratory.
Vanderbilt microscope is a powerful microscope that can measure even the weakest magnetic fields. Such microscope has been used to examine the magnetic field of the meteorites found in Mars with precision. It is an exceptional and unique instrument.
The Vanderbilt microscope was designed and created in 1998 by scientists to be used in medical applications especially for examinations of the internal organs as well as other applications in earth and planetary sciences. It is the Ultrahigh Resolution Scanning SQUID Microscope or URSSM that can calculate the magnetic field generated by a living heart in sufficient detail to record the electrical currents that perform a vital role in cardiac functions. SQUID is an acronym for superconducting quantum interference device.
The microscope has been described in the article to have cylindrical body approximately with the size of a scuba tank and it erects at around six feet. Mainly the internal portion of the microscope is occupied by containers of liquid nitrogen and liquid helium, which are utilized to remain the crucial electronic factors at a freezing five degrees over absolute zero.
The scientists have been researching and experimenting in order to produce or discover a microscope with much higher spatial resolution and sensitivity.
The nucleus of the microscope is a SQUID, which is linked to a pickup coil wound from niobium wires that is only fiftieth of an inch wide. Such core of the microscope, which is a small piece of microelectronic circuit, is technically the most sensitive detector of magnetic change once cooled to very low temperatures.
The article narrated how the microscope has been associated with the discovery of the possible life inside the meteorites. There is a professor from California State University who has samples of Martian meteorites that have not yet been thoroughly examined because of inappropriateness of instruments being used. So when he heard about the Vanderbilt microscope, he had an idea that such microscope might be able to help him in order to study the said samples and to discover vital information regarding the meteorite’s thermal history. The use of the said microscope may be able to give important information to back up the theory that Martian meteorites transport microbial existence from Mars to Earth.
Two teams of scientists and researchers joined forces to study the samples of meteorites. They have reached the conclusion that the inside of the meteorites stayed sufficiently cool to permit life in it; however, they did not declare that microbial existence really journeyed from Mars to Earth inside the meteorite.
The article also cited that there were researches, which revealed that spores and microorganisms can possibly survive for many years in deep space. Moreover, the manner of entrance of the meteorites on Earth cannot destroy the microorganisms inside it. The scientists have discovered that the inside portion of the meteorite do not heat up in a degree that can kill the microbes.
Nevertheless, there is still doubt as to whether or not the meteorites once blasted in space through severe impacts can experience sufficient heat that will disinfect any living organisms in it.
A group of scientists found out that they can plot the fragile magnetic fields that have been solidified in the meteoritic particle through the use of the Vanderbilt microscope and to simply investigate if the internal portion of the meteorites were affected by the heat that is over forty degrees Celsius.
The specimens were studied through backward and forward scanning directions under the microscope. They have discovered that the magnetic fields of the internal portion of the meteorites were mixed up and its course varied each few millimeters. However, such activity could have happened in Mars prior to its explosion in space.
The article also explained the process of experimentation that the scientists performed in order to determine that the meteorites have not been subjected to over forty degrees Celsius of heat once blasted in space. This is in contrast to their first hypothesis. They have realized that the orders and conditions in space are suitable for microorganisms, if indeed really existing inside the meteorites or any low-temperature rocks to be transferred from Mars to Earth for the whole geological time.Read more