MarsSurfaceGlassCouldHoldAncientFossils.docVIP

Mars Surface Glass Could Hold Ancient Fossils 火星的玻璃藏有古化石 If youre looking for signs of past life on Earth, some of the evidence is obvious. Finding a trilobite fossil is a no-brainer, we all can understand that one, or a dinosaur bone. Jack Mustard, a Brown University geologist. 如果你想找地球上生命痕迹，可以很多显而易见的证据。“我们都知道，找个三叶虫化石或者找个恐龙骨头非常容易。”布朗大学地质学家杰克·马斯塔德说。 He says less obvious signs of ancient life can be found in glass. Specifically, impact glass--which forms when asteroids slam into the planet, rapidly heating and melting the rocks around them. Impact glass on the Earth can preserve biological material in a kind of capsule, a time capsule if you will. 他还说道，在玻璃中可以找到不太明显的远古生命的迹象。尤其是熔融玻璃——小行星撞击地球时，快速加热并熔化其周围岩石而形成的一种玻璃。“地球上的熔融玻璃可以将生物物质以一种胶囊——或许可以说是时间胶囊的形式保存起来。” Here on Earth, for instance, scientists have found impact glass containing ancient plant matter, and other chemical signatures of life. 比如，在地球上科学家们已发现熔融玻璃内含古老的植物物质以及其他生命的化学特征。 Jack and his colleague Kevin Cannon have now spotted the same sort of impact glass on Mars, using the spectrometer on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Which means Martian glass might also hold evidence of life. If the Red Planet ever harbored life, that is. 杰克和同事凯文·坎农利用火星勘测轨道飞行器上的光谱仪，在火星上发现了同样的熔融玻璃。这意味着火星上的熔融玻璃可能也拥有生命存在过的证据。当然前提是，这颗红色星球曾经存在过生命。 The glass is more than just a potential time capsule. Its mineral structure also makes it an attractive snack for certain microbes. Microbes eat geologic materials. But it can be a really slow process. Glass on the other hand is something that is kinda like having a Dorito for a microbe, because you can just start chewing away at it, and its quite delicious, and you just munch right through it. Meaning it also might be worth inspecting glass for anything living on it—not just trapped inside. The findings are in the journal Geology. 火星上的熔融玻璃不仅仅是一个潜在的时间胶囊。它的矿物结构也使它成为对某些微生物非常有吸引力的一种小吃。“微生物会吃地质材料，但食用的过程可能非常缓慢。从另一方面讲，玻璃对微生物来说有点像多力多滋玉米片，因为微生物所需做的就是去咀嚼，而且它们美味并且微生物只需对着它们大肆咀嚼。”这意味着不仅需要检查熔融玻璃是否有生物存，检查生物。该研究结果发表于《地质学