美科学家研究发现火星存在生命（双语）

 

    研究者们发现，火星岩石中可能包含着早期火星远古生命的化石残骸。 Researchers have discovered rocks that could contain the fossilised remains of ancient life on early Mars.

    该研究小组在火星表面的尼利•福萨远古岩石群中获得这一发现。他们表示该地区的岩石十分接近于澳大利亚西北部皮尔巴拉地区的岩石，这些岩石中保存着地球早期生命存在的证据。 The team made their discovery in the ancient rocks of Nili Fossae on the planet’s surface, which they say are almost identical to rocks in the Pilbara region of north-west Australia where some of the earliest evidence of life on Earth has been preserved.

    该发现意味着约40亿年前生活在火星上的有机生命体可能掩埋在该星球表面之下。 The findings could mean that is evidence of living organisms on Mars around 4 billion years ago buried on the planet's surface.

    地外文明搜索协会((Seti)的科学家们使用火星轨道勘测器上的红外观测仪器对尼利•福萨岩石群进行了研究。 Scientists from the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (Seti) used infrared light from an instrument on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to study the Nili Fossae rocks.

    之后他们使用相同的仪器来研究澳大利亚皮尔巴拉地区的岩石。 They then used the exact same instrument to study the Pilbara rocks in Australia.

    2008年，科学家首次发现尼利•福萨岩石群中含有碳酸盐成份。 Scientists had first discovered that the Nili Fossae rocks contained carbonate in 2008.

    碳酸盐类正是动物尸体或外壳在掩埋保存过程中形成的。 Carbonate is formed when the shells and bodies of dead animals are buried and preserved.

    现在，他们在火星和澳大利亚的远古岩石群中均发现很多类似的矿物质。 Now they have discovered that the ancient rocks on Mars and in Australia share many similar minerals.

    两组岩石群所含有的碳酸盐十分相近，而这一点对于研究来说十分关键，因为皮尔巴拉地区的岩石被用于研究35亿年前地球早期阶段的生命。 The similarities between the two sets of rocks in terms of carbonates is important because Pilbara is used to study the early stages of life on Earth 3.5 billion years ago.