Oil on Mars
Essential Element of Crude Oil Just Discovered on Mars Source: Mars Stock Image Where There Is Oil, There Could be Life Two astrobiologists have found the basic elements of oil on Mars. Jacob Heinz of Berlin's Technische Universität and Dirk Schulze-Makuch of Washington State University in Saint Louis have found organic compounds called "thiophenes" that are present in crude oil and coal on Earth. The thiophenes were discovered in dried mud that NASA's Curiosity Rover dug up in Mars' Gale Crater. This is a remarkable scientific discovery that raises the intriguing question, once again, about life existing on Mars. Oil and Life Where there is oil, there many times is life. The issue now confronting the scientists is how the thiophenes on Mars were created. Most often the creation of thiophenes is a "biotic" process that involves living elements. If that is the case, according to scientist Schulze-Makuch, "there was early life on