ABU DHABI // Even by the cosmic standards of Nasa, its latest mission to Mars is a triumph. After an eight-month voyage across the abyss of space, the car-sized Curiosity rover plunged through the Martian atmosphere, before being slowed to a hover over its landing site by a parachute and rocket motors.
It was then gently winched down to the surface and cut free - just a few thousand metres from its target after a journey of more than half a billion kilometres. Last week it began trundling round in search of evidence that Mars once harboured life.
No one is more delighted than Nasa's engineers, who have learned the hard way how best to reach the Red Planet. Almost half of their first 14 probes there failed before they could send back any data, prompting jokes about Martians resenting human interest in their planet.
Nasa's engineers have now succeeded in every one of their last seven missions, suggesting the occupants of the Red Planet have decided resistance is futile.
Where and what they are may now be revealed by Curiosity. At least, that's the plan. The question is: would we recognise them even if we saw them?
It's a question with special poignancy to Nasa, following perplexing discoveries made by the two probes it sent to Mars in the mid-1970s.
The Viking missions were equipped with on-board labs, and carried out a series of tests on Martian soil. Some gave positive results, consistent with the existence of living organisms.
But others were negative or inconsistent - and, most tellingly, there seemed a lack of organic molecules expected from living organisms.
Officially the conclusion was that Viking had found evidence of weird chemical reactions on Mars, not life.
Yet some scientists, including Dr Gilbert Levin, who helped design Viking's lab tests, have long insisted the results cannot be so easily dismissed.
Their cause was boosted in 2008 when another Nasa lander, Phoenix, found so-called perchlorates in Martian samples. These could have destroyed all trace of life-related organic molecules in the Viking test.
It's an argument backed by research published in 2010, where perchlorates were mixed with soil from the Atacama Desert in Chile - the closest we have to Martian soil. The results were similar to those detected by Viking.
In April this year, Dr Levin also co-authored a study re-analysing the original Viking results, and found them consistent with the existence of life.
Now Curiosity will add its own insights, searching for organic molecules linked to life, and for the perchlorates capable of destroying them. The rover made a start last week, by zapping a nearby rock with its ChemCam laser "gun", and analysing the light for telltale signs of organic chemicals. It also has a drill to get deep inside any promising samples.
What Curiosity cannot do, however, is any biological testing. This has annoyed some scientists, while others suspect it may be a ruse.
Bluntly, Nasa is struggling to win funding from the US Congress, and knows the idea of finding life on Mars is a good way to keep the money coming in. That might change if the $2.5 billion price tag for Curiosity leads only to another Viking-style debacle.
So Curiosity's mission is really to find out whether Mars is - or ever was - habitable. It's an aim more likely to deliver hard facts capable of justifying future missions.
But it also helps overcome the problem highlighted by Viking: designing biological experiments requires assumptions about alien life - and these could prove very wide of the mark.
Life here on Earth has given biologists enough lessons in humility. Once, it was thought every organism ultimately derived its energy from the sun - either directly, like plants, or indirectly, via consuming those that do.
Then in the mid-1990s, scientists found bacteria living in total darkness far below the surface, off nothing but chemical reactions between water and rock.
Bacteria have also been found thriving in supposedly lethal environments from glaciers to the Dead Sea, and even in irradiated food.
Biologists once believed reproduction needed genetic material like DNA to carry the instructions down the generations.
Then they discovered prions - "infectious proteins" that make copies of themselves without the need for genes (and which cause mad cow disease and a range of similar, deadly ailments).
It seems likely that alien life will still have some features in common with life on Earth - such as reproducing structures made from relatively complex organic molecules. Some scientists think the parallels may run much deeper, because they suspect that life on Earth actually originated on the Red Planet.
This astonishing possibility has been explored in detail by the British astrobiologist Professor Paul Davies at Arizona State University, who argues that meteors from Mars may have seeded life on Earth.
His reasoning is that following the formation of the solar system around 4.5 billion years ago, Mars would have cooled down faster than the Earth, because of its smaller size. That would have made it a more hospitable place for the formation of life than the still-molten Earth. It may even have harboured water - whose presence is also being sought by Curiosity.
According to Prof Davies, simple Martian lifeforms may then have left the planet inside meteors catapulted off the Red Planet by cosmic impacts.
These meteors would then travel in towards the Earth, dumping their microbial cargoes on our planet where they evolved into us.
Far-fetched? Perhaps not: scientists have found around 100 meteorites from Mars, their origins proven by the fact they contain tiny pockets of gas identical to the atmosphere of Mars.
As for microbes surviving the journey from Mars to Earth, we already know of bugs well-able to live inside rock blasted by heat, cold and radiation.
So over the coming months, Curiosity may do more than reveal whether Mars has ever harboured life. It may also uncover evidence of our own origins long ago on that distant world.
- Robert Matthews is visiting reader in science at Aston University, Birmingham, England
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
More coverage from the Future Forum
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
RESULTS
Bantamweight: Victor Nunes (BRA) beat Azizbek Satibaldiev (KYG). Round 1 KO
Featherweight: Izzeddin Farhan (JOR) beat Ozodbek Azimov (UZB). Round 1 rear naked choke
Middleweight: Zaakir Badat (RSA) beat Ercin Sirin (TUR). Round 1 triangle choke
Featherweight: Ali Alqaisi (JOR) beat Furkatbek Yokubov (UZB). Round 1 TKO
Featherweight: Abu Muslim Alikhanov (RUS) beat Atabek Abdimitalipov (KYG). Unanimous decision
Catchweight 74kg: Mirafzal Akhtamov (UZB) beat Marcos Costa (BRA). Split decision
Welterweight: Andre Fialho (POR) beat Sang Hoon-yu (KOR). Round 1 TKO
Lightweight: John Mitchell (IRE) beat Arbi Emiev (RUS). Round 2 RSC (deep cuts)
Middleweight: Gianni Melillo (ITA) beat Mohammed Karaki (LEB)
Welterweight: Handesson Ferreira (BRA) beat Amiran Gogoladze (GEO). Unanimous decision
Flyweight (Female): Carolina Jimenez (VEN) beat Lucrezia Ria (ITA), Round 1 rear naked choke
Welterweight: Daniel Skibinski (POL) beat Acoidan Duque (ESP). Round 3 TKO
Lightweight: Martun Mezhlumyan (ARM) beat Attila Korkmaz (TUR). Unanimous decision
Bantamweight: Ray Borg (USA) beat Jesse Arnett (CAN). Unanimous decision
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
The biog
Favourite food: Tabbouleh, greek salad and sushi
Favourite TV show: That 70s Show
Favourite animal: Ferrets, they are smart, sensitive, playful and loving
Favourite holiday destination: Seychelles, my resolution for 2020 is to visit as many spiritual retreats and animal shelters across the world as I can
Name of first pet: Eddy, a Persian cat that showed up at our home
Favourite dog breed: I love them all - if I had to pick Yorkshire terrier for small dogs and St Bernard's for big
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
SPECS
Nissan 370z Nismo
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 363hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh184,500
LIVING IN...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Australia (15-1): Israel Folau; Dane Haylett-Petty, Reece Hodge, Kurtley Beale, Marika Koroibete; Bernard Foley, Will Genia; David Pocock, Michael Hooper (capt), Lukhan Tui; Adam Coleman, Izack Rodda; Sekope Kepu, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Tom Robertson.
Replacements: Tolu Latu, Allan Alaalatoa, Taniela Tupou, Rob Simmons, Pete Samu, Nick Phipps, Matt Toomua, Jack Maddocks.
