May 1, 2013

Is there life on Mars? Again Microbes hold the key

Earliest life of single cell evolved into 3 branches having distinct traits. The branches further subdivide into more branches on the evolutionary tree of life called Phylogenetic tree of life. The first three branches are called Bacteria, archaea and Eucaryota. As we can see in this tree, there is a member of archaea family with the name Methanogen. This microbe holds the answer for presence of vast quantities of methane which is trapped inside the ice cages called methane hydrates. These hydrates are found on Earth in the permafrost regions having very low temperatures or under the deep sea floor.… Read More »Is there life on Mars? Again Microbes hold the key

The vegetable seller

I don’t know how old she is. She has been coming to our colony regularly for at least 25 year but seems to have not changed one bit. Carrying a load of vegetables on her head, dressed in Maharashtrian style attire, she is moving from one block to another. She never seem to tire. Whether it is blazingly hot or raining heavily, I don’t think she ever missed a single day. Her body has become immune and age seems to have stopped.