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Sandy Hill (Bergsteigerin)

2015-12-13T07:30:54Z

Michaplot: /* Mountaineering */ updating geographic name

{{Infobox person
|name = Sandy Hill
|image =
|image_size = 204px
|caption =
|birth_name =
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1955|04|12|mf=yes}}
|birth_place = [[Los Gatos, California]], [[United States|U.S.]]
|other_names =
|known_for = [[1996 Everest disaster]], second American woman to ascend the [[Seven Summits]]
|occupation = Fashion editor, mountaineer and author
| status = Married
| title =
| family =
| spouse = [[Jerry Solomon]] (1977–1978), [[Robert W. Pittman]] (1979–1997), [[Thomas Dittmer]] (2001–2011)
|nationality = [[United States|American]]
| URL =
}}

'''Sandra Hill''' (born April 12, 1955,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://7summits.com/statistics/Hill%20(Pittman) |title=Statistics of 7 summits climber Hill (Pittman) |accessdate=December 4, 2011}}</ref> formerly '''Sandra Hill Pittman''') is a socialite, mountaineer, author, and former fashion editor. She survived the [[1996 Mount Everest disaster]] shortly after becoming the 34th woman to reach the [[Mt. Everest]] summit and the second American woman to ascend all of the [[Seven Summits]].<ref name="NY Talk">{{cite news|last=Haskell|first=Rob|title=The Talk; Sandy's Excellent Adventure|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70615FD385A0C758EDDAB0894DE404482|accessdate=20 September 2011|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 26, 2006}}</ref><ref name=People1>{{cite journal|last=Dowling|first=Claudia Glenn|title=After Everest|journal=[[People (magazine)|People]]|date=May 14, 2001|volume=55|issue=19|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20134410,00.html|accessdate=2 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The women Summiters on Everest (1975-2004)|url=http://www.everesthistory.com/women.htm|publisher=Everest History|accessdate=2 September 2011}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Sandy Hill grew up in [[Los Gatos, California]].<ref name=NYCD1>{{cite web|last=Columbia|first=David Patrick|title=Sandy Hill Pittman|url=http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/list/154.php|work=The List|publisher=New York Social Diary|accessdate=20 September 2011}}</ref> Her father ran a successful business that rented portable toilets to construction sites.<ref name=NYCD1 /> She graduated from [[UCLA]]<ref name="NY Talk" /> before moving to New York for her first job, working as a buyer for the now defunct [[Bonwit Teller]].<ref name=NYCD1 /> After meeting an editor at ''[[Mademoiselle (magazine)|Mademoiselle]]'', she landed her second job as Merchandising Editor of the magazine,<ref name="NY Talk" /><ref name=NYCD1 /> and then became beauty editor of ''[[Brides (magazine)|Brides]]'' magazine. Hill then served until 1986 as president of a division of [[RJR Nabisco]] called "In Fashion" where she produced television shows about fashion and style. One of those shows was ''[[Fashion America]]'', which was the first [[TV program]] to feature fashion commentary, videos and [[runway]] footage. Hill has also been a contributing editor to ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'' and ''[[Condé Nast Traveler]]'', and written feature articles for other publications.

Hill was briefly married to Jerry Solomon, who worked in the sport business and was a graduate student of Columbia at the time; the couple were divorced by the time she was 23.<ref name=NYCD1 /> Solomon later went on to marry figure skater [[Nancy Kerrigan]]. In July 1979, Hill married [[MTV]] co-founder and media executive [[Robert W. Pittman]];<ref name="NY Talk" /> they have one son, Robert T. "Bo" Pittman.<ref name=NYDaily /> The couple divorced in 1997, and Hill received a settlement of $20 million from Pittman.<ref name=NYDaily>{{cite news|last=Coleman|first=Chrisena|title=She's Climbing Back Everest Survivor's Next Stop Is Home|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/1996-05-22/news/18000468_1_mount-everest-climbing-hugs-and-kisses|accessdate=20 September 2011|location=New York|work=Daily News|date=22 May 1996}}</ref><ref name="Hill-v-Dittmer">''In re Marriage of Hill & Dittmer'', 202 Cal. App. 4th 1046 (Cal. App. 2d Dist. 2011).</ref>
Hill met snowboarder [[Stephen Koch]] while climbing Mt. Everest in April 1996, and they lived together in New York until 1997.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Rob Buchanan | title=Slave to the Quest |journal=Outside Magazine |date=May 2003 |url=http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/snow-sports/skiing-and-snowboarding/snowboarding/Slave-to-the-Quest.html}}</ref>

In 1997, Hill attended the [[Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation]] in New York to study architectural preservation and restoration. She graduated in 1999.

Hill married commodities trader [[Thomas Dittmer]] in April 2001, and they purchased a ranch and vineyard in the [[Santa Ynez Valley]]. Hill filed for divorce in 2008, and attempted unsuccessfully to legally invalidate the couple's [[prenuptial agreement]].<ref name=Hill-v-Dittmer />

==Mountaineering==
Hill began mountaineering as a teenager; her first summit at age 13 was [[Disappointment Peak (Wyoming)|Disappointment Peak]] in the [[Teton Range]]. In 1992 she began a quest to become the first American woman to scale the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each continent. She summitted [[Aconcagua]] (1992), [[Denali]] (1992), [[Vinson Massif]] (1993), [[Mount Elbrus]] (1993), [[Mount Kilimanjaro]] (1993), [[Mount Kosciuszko]] (1994), and [[Puncak Jaya]] (1995). Hill finally reached the [[Mount Everest]] summit in 1996, thus becoming the second American woman to the Seven Summits, following [[Mary "Dolly" Lefever]].

Hill had attempted Everest twice before her successful ascent in 1996. In 1993, she reached {{convert|23500|ft}} on a guided expedition following the traditional [[South Col]] route. Then in 1994 she raised corporate sponsorship for an attempt climbing the difficult [[Kangshung Face]], personally guided by [[Alex Lowe]], but the expedition was turned back by avalanche danger on the mountain.

===1996 Everest disaster===
Hill was one of the survivors of the [[1996 Mount Everest disaster]].<ref name=NYDaily /><ref name=HP>{{cite news|last=Losee|first=Stephanie|title=Return to Thin Air — Without Jon Krakauer?|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephanie-losee/return-to-thin-air-withou_b_27437.html|publisher=[[Huffington Post]] by [[Stephanie Losee]]|accessdate=19 September 2011|date=28 March 2008}}</ref><ref name=TIME>{{cite news|author=David Van Biema, John Colmey, Meenakshi Ganguly, Jennifer Mattos, Simon Robinson|title=Death Storm on Everest|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,984600-1,00.html|accessdate=20 September 2011|work=[[Time Magazine]]|date=May 27, 1996}}</ref> As part of the [[Mountain Madness]] expedition headed by [[Scott Fischer]], during what was her third attempt to climb [[Mount Everest]], she made an agreement with [[NBC|NBC Interactive Media]], which streamed the information to schoolchildren in the United States, to do a daily [[video blog]] and talk about her team's journey.<ref>{{cite news|last=Burns|first=John F.|title=Everest Takes Worst Toll, Refusing to Become Stylish|url=http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/05/18/reviews/960514everest-takes-worst.html|accessdate=20 September 2011|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 14, 1996}}</ref><ref name=EverstNews>{{cite web|title=Everest summiter Sandy Hill Pittman|url=http://www.everestnews.com/climbers/pittmaneverest1996.htm|publisher=Everest News|accessdate=20 September 2011}}</ref> Hill's team was moving through the Southeast Ridge when the storm hit them, making it impossible for her and her teammates, including Tim Madsen and Charlotte Fox, to find their camp (Camp IV). The three climbers were rescued by [[Anatoli Boukreev]].<ref name=EverstNews />

Much controversy around the 1996 climb to the top was disseminated in numerous magazines, through interviews with other survivors, and even in books, including [[Jon Krakauer]]'s ''[[Into Thin Air]]'' (1997),<ref name="NY Talk" /><ref name=People1 /><ref name=HP /><ref name=intoThinAir>{{cite book|last=Krakauer|first=Jon|authorlink=Jon Krakauer|title=Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster|publisher =New York: Anchor Books/Doubleday|year=1999|isbn=978-0-385-49478-6}}</ref> which has generated considerable criticism.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}} Hill rebutted all negative claims in various media outlets, including an interview with ''[[Newsweek]]'', wherein she stated, "We behaved like a team at all times,"<ref>{{cite web|title=A Case of Altitude Chicness?|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/1996/05/26/a-case-of-altitude-chicness.html|publisher=The Daily Beast|accessdate=20 September 2011}}</ref> and because she was the most visible person in the expedition, she believed she was "pigeonholed as a rich New Yorker", and that "painted such an easy picture of a villain right there."<ref name=PBS /><ref name=ABC1 />

In a 2006 interview with ''[[Outside (magazine)|Outside]]'', Hill defended Boukreev's decisions on Everest and attacked the media and various authors and journalists who covered the disaster, saying that "most of what was reported in 1996 was prejudiced, sensationalist, and overblown—thrilling fiction at best—but not journalism."<ref>{{cite news|title=The 1996 Expedition|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/everest/etc/links.html|accessdate=26 September 2011|newspaper=[[PBS]]}}</ref> Boukreev was given an award for heroism by the [[Alpine Club]], and he recounted his story in the book, ''[[The Climb (book)|The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest]]'' (1997), which was at least partly a response to Krakauer's account, in which Krakaeuer had laid some of the blame for the disaster on Boukreev, Hill, and a few others.

In the August 1997 issue of ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'', Hill wrote about the whole experience, and went into detail about her long history as a climber and her passion for mountain climbing that developed when she was young.<ref name=NYCD1 /> She talked about the difficulties she experienced during her climbs of the [[Seven Summits]] and about the real dangers she experienced during her final climb of Everest.<ref name=NYCD1 />

In the TV movie ''[[Into Thin Air: Death on Everest]]'' (1997), based on Krakauer's book, [[Pamela Gien]] portrays Sandy Hill.<ref name=imdb>{{cite web|title=Into Thin Air: Death on Everest|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118949/|publisher=[[IMDb]]|accessdate=20 September 2011}}</ref>

[[David Breashears]] interviewed Hill in the documentary film ''Storm Over Everest'' (2008), which was aired on [[PBS]] ''[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]]'' on May 13, 2008.<ref name=PBS>{{cite news|title=Storm Over Everest|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/everest/stories/media.html|accessdate=26 September 2011|newspaper=[[PBS]]}}</ref><ref name=ABC1>{{cite news|last=Jaffe|first=Matt|title=New Everest Doc Goes Beyond 'Into Thin Air'|url=http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=4844914&page=1|accessdate=26 September 2011|newspaper=[[ABC News]]|date=May 13, 2008}}</ref>

In the 2015 feature film ''[[Everest (2015 film)|Everest]]'', Hill is portrayed by [[Vanessa Kirby]].

==Books==
Hill is the main author of the book ''Fandango: Recipes, Parties, and License to Make Magic'' (2007), which talks about Sandy Hill's lifestyle and includes various recipes co-authored by [[Stephanie Valentine]] and advice on how to decorate and host, using 18 parties that Hill designed and hosted as examples.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hill|first=Sandy|title=Fandango: Recipes, parties, and license to make magic|year=2007|publisher=Artisian|isbn=978-1-57965-338-5}}</ref> The book received praise from ''[[The New York Times]]'' and other authors.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}

Hill's second book, ''Mountain: Portraits of High Places'' (2011), is a compilation of [[photographs]] and art with rarely seen images from prominent nature [[photographers]], including [[Galen Rowell]], [[Peter Beard]], [[Ansel Adams]], and [[Frank Smythe]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Mountain: Portraits of High Places|url=http://www.rizzoliusa.com/book.php?isbn=9780847834020|publisher=Rizzoliusa|accessdate=28 September 2011}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Persondata
| NAME = Hill, Sandy
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Pittman, Sandy Hill; Hill, Sandra (full name)
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American mountain climber
| DATE OF BIRTH = 12 April 1955
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Los Gatos, California]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Sandy}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Santa Clara County, California]]
[[Category:American mountain climbers]]
[[Category:American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni]]
[[Category:American summiters of Mount Everest]]
[[Category:Summiters of the Seven Summits]]
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area]]
[[Category:Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni]]

Leben auf dem Mars

2012-09-19T15:20:13Z

Michaplot: /* Shergotty meteorite */ writing fix

{{Other uses}}
[[File:TerraformedMars.jpg|thumb|An artist's impression of what Mars' surface and atmosphere might look like, if Mars were [[Terraforming of Mars|terraformed]].]]
[[File:TerraformedMarsGlobeRealistic.jpg|thumb|Another view of a terraformed Mars]]

For centuries people have speculated about the possibility of '''life on [[Mars]]''' owing to the planet's proximity and similarity to [[Earth]]. Serious searches for evidence of life began in the 19th century, and continue via telescopic investigations and landed missions. While early work focused on phenomenology and bordered on fantasy, modern [[Models of scientific inquiry|scientific inquiry]] has emphasized the search for chemical [[biosignature]]s of life in the soil and rocks at the planet's surface, and the search for [[biomarker]] gases in the atmosphere.<ref>[http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20120003707 The Search for Life on Mars] - Mumma, Michael J. Goddard Space Flight Center, January 08, 2012.</ref>
Fictional [[Martian]]s have been a recurring feature of [[popular entertainment]] of the 20th and 21st centuries, and it remains an open question whether life currently exists on [[Mars]], or has existed there in the past.

==Early speculation==
{{Double image|right|Karte Mars Schiaparelli MKL1888.png|220|Lowell Mars channels.jpg|220|Historical map of Mars from [[Giovanni Schiaparelli]].|Mars canals illustrated by astronomer [[Percival Lowell]], 1898.}}
[[Geology of Mars|Mars' polar ice caps]] were observed as early as the mid-17th century, and they were first proven to grow and shrink alternately, in the summer and winter of each hemisphere, by [[William Herschel]] in the latter part of the 18th century. By the mid-19th century, astronomers knew that [[Mars]] had certain other similarities to Earth, for example that the [[Timekeeping on Mars|length of a day on Mars]] was almost the same as a day on Earth. They also knew that its [[axial tilt]] was similar to Earth's, which meant it experienced seasons just as Earth does — but of nearly double the length owing to its [[Darian calendar|much longer year]]. These observations led to the increase in speculation that the darker [[albedo feature]]s were water, and brighter ones were land. It was therefore natural to suppose that Mars may be inhabited by some form of life.

In 1854, [[William Whewell]], a fellow of [[Trinity College, Cambridge|Trinity College]], Cambridge, who popularized the word ''scientist,'' theorized that Mars had seas, land and possibly life forms. Speculation about life on Mars exploded in the late 19th century, following telescopic observation by some observers of apparent [[Martian canal]]s — which were however soon found to be optical illusions. Despite this, in 1895, American astronomer [[Percival Lowell]] published his book ''Mars,'' followed by ''Mars and its Canals'' in 1906, proposing that the canals were the work of a long-gone civilization.<ref>''Is Mars habitable? A critical examination of Professor Percival Lowell's book "Mars and its canals''.", an alternative explanation, by Alfred Russel Wallace, F.R.S., etc.'' London, Macmillan and co., 1907.</ref> This idea led British writer [[H. G. Wells]] to write ''[[The War of the Worlds (novel)|The War of the Worlds]]'' in 1897, telling of an invasion by aliens from Mars who were fleeing the planet’s desiccation.

[[Spectroscopy|Spectroscopic]] analysis of Mars' atmosphere began in earnest in 1894, when U.S. astronomer [[William Wallace Campbell]] showed that neither water nor oxygen were present in the [[Martian atmosphere]].<ref name="chambers">{{Cite book|first=Paul|last=Chambers|author-link=|title=Life on Mars; The Complete Story|place=London|publisher=Blandford|year=1999|doi=|isbn=0-7137-2747-0}}</ref>
By 1909 better telescopes and the best perihelic opposition of Mars since 1877 conclusively put an end to the canal theory.

==Missions==
===Mariner 4===
{{Double image|right|Mars m04 11e.jpg|220|Streamlined Islands in Maja Vallis.jpg|200|Mariner Crater, as seen by Mariner 4 in 1965. Pictures like this suggested that Mars is too dry for any kind of life.|Streamlined Islands seen by Viking orbiter showed that large floods occurred on Mars. Image is located in [[Lunae Palus quadrangle]].}}
{{Main| Mariner 4 }}

[[Mariner 4]] probe performed the first successful [[Planetary flyby|flyby]] of the planet Mars, returning the first pictures of the Martian surface in 1965. The photographs showed an arid Mars without rivers, oceans, or any signs of life. Further, it revealed that the surface (at least the parts that it photographed) was covered in craters, indicating a lack of plate tectonics and weathering of any kind for the last 4 billion years. The probe also found that Mars has no [[Magnetosphere|global magnetic field]] that would protect the planet from potentially life-threatening [[cosmic rays]]. The probe was able to calculate the [[atmospheric pressure]] on the planet to be about 0.6 kPa (compared to Earth's 101.3 kPa), meaning that liquid water could not exist on the planet's surface.<ref name="chambers"/> After Mariner 4, the search for life on Mars changed to a search for bacteria-like living organisms rather than for multicellular organisms, as the environment was clearly too harsh for these.

===Viking orbiters===
{{Main|Viking program}}
Liquid water is necessary for known life and [[metabolism]], so if water was present on Mars, the chances of it having supported life may have been determinant. The Viking orbiters found evidence of possible river valleys in many areas, erosion and, in the southern hemisphere, branched streams.<ref>Strom, R.G., Steven K. Croft, and Nadine G. Barlow, "The Martian Impact Cratering Record," Mars, University of Arizona Press, ISBN 0-8165-1257-4, 1992.</ref><ref>Raeburn, P. 1998. Uncovering the Secrets of the Red Planet Mars. National Geographic Society. Washington D.C.</ref><ref>Moore, P. et al. 1990. The Atlas of the Solar System. Mitchell Beazley Publishers NY, NY.</ref>

[[File:Sagan Viking.jpg|thumb|[[Carl Sagan]] poses next to a replica of the Viking landers.]]

===Viking experiments===
{{Main|Viking biological experiments}}

The primary mission of the [[Viking probes]] of the mid-1970s was to carry out experiments designed to detect microorganisms in Martian soil because the favorable conditions for the evolution of multicellular organisms ceased some four billion years ago on Mars.<ref name=BC>{{cite web | url = http://biocab.org/Astrobiology.html | title = Astrobiology | accessdate = 2011-01-17 | date = September 26, 2006 | publisher = Biology Cabinet}}</ref> The tests were formulated to look for microbial life similar to that found on Earth. Of the four experiments, only the Labeled Release (LR) experiment returned a positive result, showing increased 14CO2 production on first exposure of soil to water and nutrients. All scientists agree on two points from the Viking missions: that radiolabeled 14CO2 was evolved in the Labeled Release experiment, and that the GC-MS detected no organic molecules. However, there are vastly different interpretations of what those results imply.

[[File:Martian face viking cropped.jpg|thumb|left|The image taken by [[Viking probes]] [[Cydonia (region of Mars)|resembling a human face]] caused many to speculate that it was the work of an extraterrestrial civilization.]]
One of the designers of the Labeled Release experiment, [[Gilbert Levin]], believes his results are a definitive diagnostic for life on Mars.<ref name="chambers"/> However, this result is disputed by many scientists, who argue that [[superoxidant]] chemicals in the soil could have produced this effect without life being present. An almost general consensus discarded the Labeled Release data as evidence of life, because the gas chromatograph & mass spectrometer, designed to identify [[natural organic matter]], did not detect organic molecules.<ref name="Levin">The Carnegie Institution Geophysical Laboratory Seminar, "Analysis of evidence of Mars life" held 05/14/2007; Summary of the lecture given by Gilbert V. Levin, Ph.D. http://arxiv.org/abs/0705.3176, published by Electroneurobiología vol. 15 (2), pp. 39–47, 2007</ref> The results of the Viking mission concerning life are considered by the general expert community, at best, as inconclusive.<ref name="chambers"/><ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Viking Biological Investigation: Preliminary Results|journal=Science|date=October 1, 1976|first=HAROLD P.|last=KLEIN|coauthors=GILBERT V. LEVIN|volume=194|issue=4260|pages=99–105|doi=10.1126/science.194.4260.99|url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/194/4260/99|format=|accessdate=August 15, 2008|pmid=17793090|bibcode = 1976Sci...194...99K }}</ref>

In 2007, during a Seminar of the Geophysical Laboratory of the [[Carnegie Institution]] (Washington, D.C., USA), [[Gilbert Levin]]'s investigation was assessed once more.<ref name="Levin"/> Levin still maintains that his original data were correct, as the positive and negative control experiments were in order.<ref name="Bianciardi-2012">{{cite journal |last1=Bianciardi |first1=Giorgio |last2=Miller |first2=Joseph D. |last3=Straat |first3=Patricia Ann |last4=Levin |first4=Gilbert V. |title=Complexity Analysis of the Viking Labeled Release Experiments |url=http://ijass.org/PublishedPaper/year_abstract.asp?idx=132 |journal=IJASS |date=March 2012 |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=14–26 |id = |accessdate=15 April 2012}}</ref> Moreover, Levin's team, on 12 April 2012, reported a statistical speculation, based on old data —reinterpreted mathematically through [[complexity analysis]]— of the [[Viking biological experiments#Labeled Release|Labeled Release experiments]], that may suggest evidence of "extant microbial life on Mars."<ref name="Bianciardi-2012" /><ref name="Discovery-20120412">{{cite web |last=Klotz |first=Irene |title=MARS VIKING ROBOTS 'FOUND LIFE' |url=http://news.discovery.com/space/mars-life-viking-landers-discovery-120412.html |date=12 April 2012 |publisher=[[Discovery Channel|DiscoveryNews]] |accessdate=16 April 2012 }}</ref> Critics counter that the method has not yet been proven effective for differentiating between biological and non-biological processes on Earth so it is premature to draw any conclusions.<ref name="Discovery-20120412"/>

Ronald Paepe, an [[Edaphology|edaphologist]] (soil scientist), communicated to the European Geosciences Union Congress that the discovery of the recent detection of [[silicate minerals]] on Mars may indicate [[pedogenesis]], or soil development processes, extended over the entire surface of Mars.<ref name="Paepe">{{Cite journal|title=The Red Soil on Mars as a proof for water and vegetation|journal=Geophysical Research Abstracts|year=2007|first=Ronald|last=Paepe|coauthors=|volume=9|issue=1794|pages=|id=|url=http://www.cosis.net/abstracts/EGU2007/01794/EGU2007-J-01794.pdf?PHPSESSID=e|format=PDP|accessdate=August 14, 2008}}</ref> Paepe's interpretation views most of Mars surface as active soil, colored red by eons of widespread wearing by water, [[vegetation]] and microbial activity.<ref name="Paepe"/>

A research team from the [[National Autonomous University of Mexico]] headed by Rafael Navarro-González, concluded that the equipment (TV-GC-MS) used by the [[Viking program]] to search for organic molecules, may not be sensitive enough to detect low levels of organics.<ref name="Navarro">{{Cite journal|last=Navarro-González|first=R.|authorlink=|year=2006|month=|title=The limitations on organic detection in Mars-like soils by thermal volatilization–gas chromatography–MS and their implications for the Viking results|journal=[[PNAS]]|volume=103|issue=44|pages=16089–16094|doi=10.1073/pnas.0604210103|url= http://www.pnas.org/content/103/44/16089.full.pdf+html |accessdate=|quote=|pmid=17060639|pmc=1621051|bibcode = 2006PNAS..10316089N|display-authors=1|last2=Navarro|first2=K. F.|last3=Rosa|first3=J. d. l.|last4=Iniguez|first4=E.|last5=Molina|first5=P.|last6=Miranda|first6=L. D.|last7=Morales|first7=P.|last8=Cienfuegos|first8=E.|last9=Coll|first9=P. }}</ref> Because of the simplicity of sample handling, TV–GC–MS is still considered the standard method for organic detection on future Mars missions, so Navarro-González suggests that the design of future organic instruments for Mars should include other methods of detection.

==== ''Gillevinia straata'' ====

The claim for life on Mars, in the form of ''Gillevinia straata'', is based on old data reinterpreted as sufficient evidence of life, mainly by professors [[Gilbert Levin]],<ref name="Levin"/> Rafael Navarro-González<ref name="Navarro"/> and Ronalds Paepe.<ref name="Paepe"/> The evidence supporting the existence of ''Gillevinia straata'' microorganisms relies on the data collected by the two Mars ''Viking'' landers that searched for [[biosignature]]s of life, but the analytical results were, officially, inconclusive.<ref name="chambers"/>

In 2006, [[:es:Mario Crocco|Mario Crocco]], a neurobiologist at the [[Borda Hospital|Neuropsychiatric Hospital Borda]] in [[Buenos Aires]], [[Argentina]], proposed the creation of a new [[Taxonomy|nomenclatural rank]] that classified the Viking landers' results as 'metabolic' and therefore belonging to a form of life. Crocco proposed to create new biological ranking categories ([[taxon|taxa]]), in the new [[kingdom (biology)|kingdom]] system of life, in order to be able to accommodate the genus of Martian microorganisms. Crocco proposed the following taxonomical entry:<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Los taxones mayores de la vida orgánica y la nomenclatura de la vida en Marte:|journal=Electroneurobiología|date=April 14, 2007|first=Mario|last=Crocco|coauthors=|volume=15|issue=(2)|pages=1–34|id=|url=http://electroneubio.secyt.gov.ar/First_biological_classification_Martian_organism.htm|accessdate=August 14, 2008}} {{Es icon}}</ref>
* Organic life system: Solaria
* [[Biosphere]]: Marciana
* [[kingdom (biology)|Kingdom]]: Jakobia (named after neurobiologist Christfried Jakob)
* [[Genus]] et [[species]]: ''Gillevinia straata''

As a result, the hypothetical ''Gillevinia straata'' would not be a bacterium (which rather is a terrestrial taxon), but a member of the kingdom 'Jakobia' in the biosphere 'Marciana' of the 'Solaria' system. The intended effect of the new nomenclature was to reverse the burden of proof concerning the life issue, but the taxonomy proposed by Crocco has not been accepted by the scientific community and is considered a single ''[[nomen nudum]]''. Further, no Mars mission has found traces of [[biomolecules]].

[[File:Pia09344.jpg|thumb|left|An artist's concept of the Phoenix spacecraft]]

=== Phoenix lander, 2008 ===
{{Main|Phoenix (spacecraft)}}

The [[Phoenix (spacecraft)|Phoenix]] mission landed a robotic spacecraft in the polar region of Mars on May 25, 2008 and it operated until November 10, 2008. One of the mission's two primary objectives was to search for a "habitable zone" in the Martian [[regolith]] where microbial life could exist, the other main goal being to study the [[Geology|geological]] history of water on Mars. The lander has a 2.5 meter robotic arm that was capable of digging shallow trenches in the regolith. There was an electrochemistry experiment which analysed the [[ion]]s in the regolith and the amount and type of [[antioxidant]]s on Mars. The [[Viking program]] data indicate that oxidants on Mars may vary with latitude, noting that [[Viking 2]] saw fewer oxidants than [[Viking 1]] in its more northerly position. Phoenix landed further north still.<ref name="MarsDaily">[http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Piecing_Together_Life_Potential_999.html Piecing Together Life's Potential]</ref>
Phoenix's preliminary data revealed that Mars soil contains [[perchlorate]], and thus may not be as life-friendly as thought earlier.<ref>{{Cite news|first=|last=|coauthors=|authorlink=|title=NASA Spacecraft Confirms Perchlorate on Mars|date=August 5, 2008|publisher=NASA|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/multimedia/audioclips-20080805.html|work=NASA|pages=|accessdate=January 28, 2009|language=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-sci-phoenix6-2008aug06,0,4986721.story|title=Perchlorate found in Martian soil|date=August 6, 2008|publisher=Los Angeles Times|last=Johnson|first=John}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080805192122.htm|publisher=Science Daily|date=August 6, 2008|title=Martian Life Or Not? NASA's ''Phoenix'' Team Analyzes Results}}</ref> The [[pH]] and salinity level were viewed as benign from the standpoint of biology. The analysers also indicated the presence of bound water and CO2.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lakdawalla|first=Emily|title=''Phoenix'' sol 30 update: Alkaline soil, not very salty, "nothing extreme" about it!|work=[http://planetary.org/blog/ The Planetary Society weblog]|publisher=[[Planetary Society]]|date=June 26, 2008|url=http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001526/|accessdate=June 26, 2008}}</ref>

===Mars Science Laboratory===
{{main|Mars Science Laboratory|Curiosity rover}}
[[File:Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover.jpg|thumb|Curiosity rover art]]
The [[Mars Science Laboratory]] mission is a [[NASA]] spacecraft launched on November 26, 2011 that deployed the [[Curiosity rover]], a nuclear-powered robot bearing instruments designed to look for past or present conditions relevant to biological activity ([[planetary habitability]]).<ref>{{cite web | date=26 November 2011 | url =http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/launch/index.html |title = Mars Science Laboratory Launch | accessdate = 2011-11-26 }}</ref><ref name="NYT-MSL">{{cite web|author=[[Associated Press]] |title=NASA Launches Super-Size Rover to Mars: 'Go, Go!'|url=http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/11/26/science/AP-US-SCI-Mars-Rover.html|publisher=[[New York Times]] |date=26 November 2011|accessdate=2011-11-26 }}</ref> The ''Curiosity'' rover landed on Mars on [[Aeolis Palus]] in [[Gale (crater)|Gale Crater]], near [[Aeolis Mons]] (a.k.a.Mount Sharp),<ref name="IAU-20120516">{{cite web|author=USGS| title=Three New Names Approved for Features on Mars| url=http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/HotTopics/index.php?/archives/447-Three-New-Names-Approved-for-Features-on-Mars.html |date=16 May 2012| publisher=[[USGS]]| accessdate=28 May 2012}}</ref><ref name="NASA-20120327">{{cite web |author=NASA Staff|title='Mount Sharp' on Mars Compared to Three Big Mountains on Earth| url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia15292-Fig2.html |date=27 March 2012 |publisher=[[NASA]] |accessdate=31 March 2012}}</ref><ref name="NASA-20120328">{{cite web |last=Agle|first=D. C.|title='Mount Sharp' On Mars Links Geology's Past and Future| url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20120328.html| date=28 March 2012 |publisher=[[NASA]] |accessdate=31 March 2012}}</ref><ref name="Space-20120329">{{cite web|author=Staff |title=NASA's New Mars Rover Will Explore Towering 'Mount Sharp'| url=http://www.space.com/15097-mars-mountain-sharp-curiosity-rover.html|date=29 March 2012 |publisher=[[Space.com]] |accessdate=30 March 2012}}</ref> on August 6, 2012.<ref name="Gale Crater">{{cite web |last1=Webster |first1=Guy|last2=Brown |first2=Dwayne |title=NASA's Next Mars Rover To Land At Gale Crater |date=22 July 2011 |publisher=[[NASA JPL]] |url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-222#1 |accessdate=2011-07-22 }}</ref><ref name="Gale Crater2">{{cite web |last1= Chow |first1=Dennis| title=NASA's Next Mars Rover to Land at Huge Gale Crater| url=http://www.space.com/12394-nasa-mars-rover-landing-site-unveiled.html |date=22 July 2011 |publisher=[[Space.com]]| accessdate=2011-07-22 }}</ref><ref name="Gale Crater3">{{cite news |last1=Amos |first1=Jonathan |title=Mars rover aims for deep crater |date=22 July 2011| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14249524 |work=[[BBC News]] |accessdate = 2011-07-22}}</ref>

===Future missions===

* [[ExoMars]] is a European-led multi-spacecraft programme currently under development by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA for launch in 2016 and 2018.<ref name=split >{{Cite news|first=Michael A. Taverna|last=|coauthors=|authorlink=|title=ESA Proposes Two ExoMars Missions|date=October 19, 2009|publisher=[[Aviation Week]]|url=http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/Exomars101909.xml&headline=ESA%20Proposes%20Two%20ExoMars%20Missions|work=|pages=|accessdate=November 30, 2009|language=}}</ref> Its primary scientific mission will be to search for possible [[biosignature]]s on Mars, past or present. Two rovers with a 2 m core drill each will be used to sample various depths beneath the surface where liquid water may be found and where microorganisms might survive [[cosmic radiation]].<ref name="Dartnell, L.R. 2007"/><ref>{{cite news | first = Mike Wall | title = Q & A with Mars Life-Seeker Chris Carr | date = 25 March 2011 | url = http://www.space.com/11232-mars-life-evolution-carr-interview.html | work = Space.com | accessdate = 2011-03-25}}</ref>

* [[Mars Sample Return Mission]] — The best life detection experiment proposed is the examination on Earth of a soil sample from Mars. However, the difficulty of providing and maintaining life support over the months of transit from Mars to Earth remains to be solved. Providing for still unknown environmental and nutritional requirements is daunting. Should dead organisms be found in a sample, it would be difficult to conclude that those organisms were alive when obtained.

==Meteorites==
[[NASA]] maintains a catalog of 34 [[Mars meteorite]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/snc/index.html|title=Mars Meteorites|accessdate=February 16, 2010|publisher=NASA}}</ref> These assets are highly valuable since they are the only physical samples available of Mars. Studies conducted by NASA's [[Johnson Space Center]] show that at least three of the meteorites contain potential evidence of past life on Mars, in the form of microscopic structures resembling fossilized bacteria (so-called [[Organism|biomorphs]]). Although the scientific evidence collected is reliable, its interpretation varies. To date, none of the original lines of scientific evidence for the hypothesis that the biomorphs are of [[exobiological]] origin (the so-called biogenic hypothesis) have been either discredited or positively ascribed to non-biological explanations.<ref name="meteoritos-Bio">[http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/sci/fifthconf99/6142.pdf Evidence for ancient Martian life]. E. K. Gibson Jr., F. Westall, D. S. McKay, K. Thomas-Keprta, S. Wentworth, and C. S. Romanek, Mail Code SN2, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston TX 77058, USA.</ref>

Over the past few decades, seven criteria have been established for the recognition of past life within terrestrial geologic samples. Those criteria are:<ref name="meteoritos-Bio"/>
#Is the geologic context of the sample compatible with past life?
#Is the age of the sample and its stratigraphic location compatible with possible life?
#Does the sample contain evidence of cellular morphology and colonies?
#Is there any evidence of biominerals showing chemical or mineral disequilibria?
#Is there any evidence of stable isotope patterns unique to biology?
#Are there any organic biomarkers present?
#Are the features indigenous to the sample?

For general acceptance of past life in a geologic sample, essentially most or all of these criteria must be met. All seven criteria have not yet been met for any of the Martian samples, but continued investigations are in progress.<ref name="meteoritos-Bio"/>

As of 2010, reexaminations of the biomorphs found in the three Martian meteorites are underway with more advanced analytical instruments than previously available. The scientists conducting the study at Johnson Space Center believed that before the end of the year they would find in the meteorites definitive evidence for past life on Mars.<ref>http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1001/09marslife/</ref>

=== ALH84001 meteorite ===

[[File:ALH84001 structures.jpg|right|thumb|An electron microscope reveals bacteria-like structures in meteorite fragment [[ALH84001]]]]

The [[ALH84001]] meteorite was found in December 1984 in [[Antarctica]], by members of the [[ANSMET]] project; the meteorite weighs {{Convert|1.93|kg}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?sea=alh+84001&sfor=names&ants=&falls=&stype=contains&lrec=50&map=ge&browse=&country=All&srt=name&categ=All&mblist=All&phot=&snew=0&pnt=no&code=604|title=Allan Hills 84001|accessdate=August 21, 2008|month=April|year=2008|publisher=The Meteorolitical Society}}</ref> The sample was ejected from Mars about 17 million years ago and spent 11,000 years in or on the Antarctic ice sheets. Composition analysis by NASA revealed a kind of [[magnetite]] that on Earth, is only found in association with certain microorganisms.<ref name="meteoritos-Bio"/> Then, in August 2002, another NASA team led by Thomas-Keptra published a study indicating that 25% of the [[magnetite]] in ALH 84001 occurs as small, uniform-sized crystals that, on Earth, is associated only with biologic activity, and that the remainder of the material appears to be normal inorganic magnetite. The extraction technique did not permit determination as to whether the possibly biological magnetite was organized into chains as would be expected. The meteorite displays indication of relatively low temperature secondary mineralization by water and shows evidence of preterrestrial aqueous alteration. Evidence of [[polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons]] (PAHs) have been identified with the levels increasing away from the surface.

Some structures resembling the mineralized casts of terrestrial bacteria and their appendages (fibrils) or by-products (extracellular polymeric substances) occur in the rims of carbonate globules and preterrestrial aqueous alteration regions.<ref name=disbelief>{{Cite web|title=After 10 years, few believe life on Mars|url=http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/ap_060806_mars_rock.html|last=Crenson|first=Matt|publisher=[[Associated Press]] (on [http://www.space.com space.com])|date=August 6, 2006|accessdate=August 6, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Search for Past Life on Mars: Possible Relic Biogenic Activity in Martian Meteorite ALH84001|author=McKay, D.S., Gibson, E.K., ThomasKeprta, K.L., Vali, H., Romanek, C.S., Clemett, S.J., Chillier, X.D.F., Maechling, C.R., Zare, R.N.|journal=Science|volume=273|pages=924–930|year=1996|doi=10.1126/science.273.5277.924|pmid=8688069|issue=5277|bibcode = 1996Sci...273..924M }}</ref> The size and shape of the objects is consistent with Earthly [[fossil]]ized [[nanobacteria]], but the existence of nanobacteria itself is controversial.

In November 2009, NASA scientists said that a recent, more detailed analysis showed that the meteorite "contains strong evidence that life may have existed on ancient Mars".<ref>http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/releases/2009/J09-030.html</ref>

[[File:Nakhla meteorite.jpg|thumb|left|Nakhla meteorite]]

===Nakhla Meteorite===

The [[Nakhla meteorite]] fell on Earth on June 28, 1911 on the locality of Nakhla, [[Alexandria]], [[Egypt]].<ref name="NASA">{{Cite web|url=http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/snc/nakhla.html|title=The Nakhla Meteorite|accessdate=August 17, 2008|last=Baalke|first=Ron|year=1995|work=Jet Propulsion Lab|publisher=NASA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/virtual-wonders/vrmeteorite5.html|title=Rotating image of a Nakhla meteorite fragment|accessdate=August 17, 2008|year=2008|publisher=London Natural History Museum}}</ref>

In 1998, a team from NASA's Johnson Space Center obtained a small sample for analysis. Researchers found preterrestrial aqueous alteration phases and objects<ref>{{Cite news|first=Paul|last=Rincon|coauthors=|title=Space rock re-opens Mars debate|date=February 8, 2006|publisher=|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4688938.stm|work=BBC News|pages=|accessdate=August 17, 2008|language=}}</ref> of the size and shape consistent with Earthly [[fossil]]ized [[nanobacteria]], but the existence of nanobacteria itself is controversial.
Analysis with [[gas chromatography]] and [[mass spectrometry]] (GC-MS) studied its high molecular weight [[polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons]] in 2000, and NASA scientists concluded that as much as 75% of the organic matter in Nakhla "may not be recent terrestrial contamination".<ref name="meteoritos-Bio"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www-curator.jsc.nasa.gov/antmet/mmc/Nakhla.pdf|title=Mars Meteorite Compendium|accessdate=August 21, 2008|last=Meyer|first=C.|year=2004|format=PDF|publisher=NASA}}</ref>

This caused additional interest in this meteorite, so in 2006, NASA managed to obtain an additional and larger sample from the London Natural History Museum. On this second sample, a large dendritic [[carbon]] content was observed. When the results and evidence were published on 2006, some independent researchers claimed that the carbon deposits are of biologic origin. However, it was remarked that since carbon is the fourth most abundant element in the [[Universe]], finding it in curious patterns is not indicative or suggestive of biological origin.<ref>{{Cite news|first=David|last=Whitehouse|coauthors=|title=Life on Mars - new claims|date=August 27, 1999|publisher=|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/289214.stm|work=BBC News|pages=|accessdate=August 20, 2008|language=}}</ref><ref>Compilation of scientific research references on the Nakhla meteorite: http://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/antmet/marsmets/nakhla/references.cfm</ref>

===Shergotty meteorite===
The [[Shergotty meteorite]], a 4 kg Martian meteorite, fell on Earth on [[Sherghati|Shergotty]], [[India]] on August 25, 1865 and was retrieved by witnesses almost immediately.<ref>[http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/snc/shergotty.html Shergoti Meteorite - JPL, NASA]</ref> This meteorite is relatively young, calculated to have been formed on Mars only 165 million years ago from volcanic origin. It is composed mostly of [[pyroxene]] and thought to have undergone preterrestrial aqueous alteration for several centuries. Certain features in its interior suggest remnants of a biofilm and its associated microbial communities.<ref name="meteoritos-Bio"/> Work is in progress on searching for [[magnetite]]s within alteration phases.

==Liquid water==
[[File:History of water on Mars.jpeg|thumb|right|A series of artist's conceptions of hypothetical past water coverage on Mars.]]
{{Main|Water on Mars}}

No Mars probe since Viking has tested the Martian [[regolith]] specifically for metabolism which is the ultimate sign of current life. NASA's recent missions have focused on another question: whether Mars held lakes or oceans of liquid water on its surface in the ancient past. Scientists have found [[hematite]], a mineral that forms in the presence of water. Thus, the mission of the [[Mars Exploration Rovers]] of 2004 was not to look for present or past life, but for evidence of liquid water on the surface of Mars in the planet's ancient past.

Liquid water, necessary for Earth life and for metabolism as generally conducted by species on Earth, cannot exist on the surface of Mars under its present low atmospheric pressure and temperature, except at the lowest shaded elevations for short periods<ref>{{Cite journal|journal=Journal of Geophysical Research|date=May 7, 2005|last=Heldmann|first=Jennifer L.|title=Formation of Martian gullies by the action of liquid water flowing under current Martian environmental conditions|url=http://daleandersen.seti.org/Dale%20Andersen/Articles_files/Heldmann%20et%20al.2005.pdf|format= – [http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=author%3AHeldmann+et+al.+intitle%3AFormation+of+Martian+gullies+by+the+action+of+liquid+water+flowing+under+current+Martian+environmental+conditions&as_publication=Journal+of+Geophysical+Research&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&btnG=Search Scholar search]|volume=110|pages=Eo5004|doi=10.1029/2004JE002261|accessdate=August 12, 2007 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070925214245/http://daleandersen.seti.org/Dale+Andersen/Articles_files/Heldmann+et+al.2005.pdf |archivedate = September 25, 2007|bibcode=2005JGRE..11005004H|display-authors=1|author2=<Please add first missing authors to populate metadata.>}} {{Dead link|date=May 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|journal=Geophysical Research Letters|volume=33|pages=L11201|date=June 3, 2006|last=Kostama|first=V.-P.|last2=Kreslavsky|first2=M. A.|last3=Head|first3=J. W.|title=Recent high-latitude icy mantle in the northern plains of Mars: Characteristics and ages of emplacement|url=http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2006/2006GL025946.shtml|doi=10.1029/2006GL025946|accessdate=August 12, 2007|bibcode=2006GeoRL..3311201K|issue=11}} 'Martian high-latitude zones are covered with a smooth, layered ice-rich mantle'</ref> and liquid water does not appear at the surface itself.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Transient liquid water near an artificial heat source on Mars|journal=Mars, the International Journal of Mars Science and Exploration|date=December 14, 2006|first=Michael H.|last=Hecht|coauthors=Ashwin R. Vasavada|volume=2|issue=|pages=83–96|id=|url=|format=PDF}}</ref>

In June 2000, evidence for water currently under the surface of Mars was discovered in the form of flood-like gullies.<ref name=underground>Malin, Michael C., Edgett, Kenneth S., [http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;288/5475/2330 "Evidence for Recent Groundwater Seepage and Surface Runoff on Mars"]. [[Science (journal)|Science]] (2000) Vol. 288. no. 5475, pp. 2330–2335.</ref> Deep subsurface water deposits near the planet's liquid core might form a present-day habitat for life. However, in March 2006, astronomers announced the discovery of similar gullies on the Moon,<ref name=moon>[http://uanews.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/UANews.woa/1/wa/SRStoryDetails?ArticleID=12376 "University of Arizona Press Release"] March 16, 2006.</ref> which is believed never to have had liquid water on its surface. The astronomers suggest that the gullies could be the result of micrometeorite impacts.

In March 2004, NASA announced that its rover ''[[Opportunity rover|Opportunity]]'' had discovered evidence that Mars was, in the ancient past, a wet planet.<ref name=wet>[http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20040302a.html Opportunity Rover Finds Strong Evidence Meridiani Planum Was Wet"] - March 2, 2004, [[NASA]] Press release. URL accessed March 19, 2006.</ref> This had raised hopes that evidence of past life might be found on the planet today. ESA confirmed that the [[Mars Express]] orbiter had directly detected huge reserves of water ice at Mars' south pole in January 2004.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=13878|title=Mars Express Confirms Presence of Water at Mars' South Pole}}</ref>

On July 28, 2005, ESA announced that they had recorded photographic evidence of surface water ice near Mars' North pole.<ref>http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMGKA808BE_0.html</ref>

In December 2006, NASA showed images taken by the [[Mars Global Surveyor]] that suggested that water occasionally flows on the surface of Mars. The images did not actually show flowing water. Rather, they showed changes in craters and sediment deposits, providing the strongest evidence yet that water coursed through them as recently as several years ago, and is perhaps doing so even now. Some researchers were skeptical that liquid water was responsible for the surface feature changes seen by the spacecraft. They said other materials such as sand or dust can flow like a liquid and produce similar results.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Mars Orbiter's Swan Song: The Red Planet Is A-Changin'|journal=Science|date=2006 - 12 - 8|first=Richard|last=Kerr|coauthors=|volume=314|issue=5805|pages=1528–1529|doi=10.1126/science.314.5805.1528|url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/314/5805/1528|format=|accessdate=August 13, 2008|pmid=17158298}}</ref>

Recent analysis of Martian sandstones, using data obtained from orbital spectrometry, suggests that the waters that previously existed on the surface of Mars would have had too high a salinity to support most Earth-like life. Tosca ''et al.'' found that the Martian water in the locations they studied all had [[water activity]], aw ≤ 0.78 to 0.86—a level fatal to most Terrestrial life.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tosca|first=N. J.|authorlink=|coauthors=|year=2008|month=|title=Water Activity and the Challenge for Life on Early Mars|journal=Science|volume=320|issue=5880|pages=1204–1207|doi=10.1126/science.1155432|url=|accessdate=|quote=|pmid=18511686|last2=Knoll|first2=AH|last3=McLennan|first3=SM|bibcode = 2008Sci...320.1204T }}</ref> [[Haloarchaea]], however, are able to live in hypersaline solutions, up to the saturation point.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Extreme Halophiles Are Models for Astrobiology|journal=Microbe|year=2006|first=Shiladitya|last=DasSarma|volume=1|issue=3|pages=120–126|url=http://forms.asm.org/microbe/index.asp?bid=41227 Extreme Halophiles Are Models for Astrobiology}}</ref>

The Phoenix Mars lander from NASA, which landed in the Mars Arctic plain in May 2008, confirmed the presence of frozen water near the surface. This was confirmed when bright material, exposed by the digging arm of the lander, was found to have vaporized and disappeared in 3 to 4 days. This has been attributed to sub-surface ice, exposed by the digging and sublimated on exposure to the atmosphere.<ref>[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080622001541.htm Phoenix Mars Lander Confirms Frozen Water On Red Planet]</ref>

==Methane==
{{See also|Atmosphere of Mars#Methane|l1=Atmosphere of Mars: Methane}}
Trace amounts of [[methane]] in the atmosphere of Mars were discovered in 2003 and verified in 2004.<ref>Mumma, M. J.; Novak, R. E.; DiSanti, M. A.; Bonev, B. P., [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2003DPS....35.1418M&db_key=AST&data_type=HTML&format= "A Sensitive Search for Methane on Mars"] (abstract only). American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #35, #14.18.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Mars Methane Boosts Chances for Life|author=Michael J. Mumma|publisher=Skytonight.com|url=http://www-mgcm.arc.nasa.gov/MGCM.html|accessdate=February 23, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Detection of Methane in the Atmosphere of Mars|author=V. Formisano, S. Atreya T. Encrenaz, N. Ignatiev, M. Giuranna|journal=Science|volume=306|issue=5702|pages=1758–1761|year=2004|url=|doi=10.1126/science.1101732|pmid=15514118|bibcode = 2004Sci...306.1758F }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Detection of methane in the martian atmosphere: evidence for life?|author=V. A. Krasnopolskya, J. P. Maillard, T. C. Owen|journal=Icarus|volume=172|issue=2|pages=537–547|year=2004|url=|doi=10.1016/j.icarus.2004.07.004|bibcode=2004Icar..172..537K}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Mars Express confirms methane in the Martian atmosphere|author=[[ESA]] Press release|publisher=[[ESA]]|url=http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMZ0B57ESD_0.html|accessdate=March 17, 2006}}</ref><ref>Moran, M., et al., "Desert methane: implications for life detection on Mars, Icarus, 178, 277-280, 2005.</ref> As methane is an unstable gas, its presence indicates that there must be an active source on the planet in order to keep such levels in the atmosphere. It is estimated that Mars must produce 270 ton/year of methane,<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Some problems related to the origin of methane on Mars|author=Vladimir A. Krasnopolsky|journal=Icarus|volume=180|issue=2|pages=359–367|month=February|year=2005|url=http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0019103505004161|doi=10.1016/j.icarus.October+1,+20055}}</ref><ref>[http://www.pfs-results.it/ Planetary Fourier Spectrometer website] (ESA, Mars Express)</ref>
but [[asteroid]] impacts account for only 0.8% of the total methane production. Although geologic sources of methane such as [[serpentinization]] are possible, the lack of current [[volcanism]], [[hydrothermal activity]] or [[Hotspot (geology)|hotspots]] are not favorable for geologic methane. It has been suggested that the methane was produced by chemical reactions in meteorites, driven by the intense heat during entry through the atmosphere. Although research published in December 2009 ruled out this possibility,<ref>[http://www.physorg.com/news179499648.html Life on Mars theory boosted by new methane study. Dec 8, 2009 (physorg.com)]</ref><ref>Court, R. and M. Sephton. 2009. Investigating the contribution of methane produced by ablating micrometeorites to the atmosphere. Earth and Planetary Science Letters</ref> research published in 2012 suggest that a source may be [[organic compound]]s on meteorites that are converted to methane by [[ultraviolet]] radiation.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Ultraviolet-radiation-induced methane emissions from meteorites and the Martian atmosphere | journal = Nature | date = Published online 30 May 2012 | first = Frank Keppler | coauthors = Ivan Vigano, Andy MacLeod, Ulrich Ott, Marion Früchtl, Thomas Röckmann.| id = {{doi | 10.1038/nature11203}} | url = http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature11203.html | accessdate = 2012-06-08}}</ref>

The existence of life in the form of [[microorganism]]s such as [[methanogen]]s is among possible, but as yet unproven sources. If microscopic Martian life is producing the methane, it likely resides far below the surface, where it is still warm enough for liquid water to exist.<ref>{{Cite news|first=Bill|last=Steigerwald|title=Martian Methane Reveals the Red Planet is not a Dead Planet|date=January 15, 2009|publisher=NASA|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/news/marsmethane.html|work=NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center|pages=|accessdate=January 24, 2009}}</ref>

Since the 2003 discovery of methane in the atmosphere, some scientists have been designing models and ''in vitro'' experiments testing growth of [[methanogen|methanogenic bacteria]] on simulated Martian soil, where all four methanogen strains tested produced substantial levels of methane, even in the presence of 1.0wt% [[perchlorate]] salt.<ref name=Kral >{{Cite book|first=T.A. Kral|last=T. Goodhart, K.L. Howe and P. Gavin.|contribution=CAN METHANOGENS GROW IN A PERCHLORATE ENVIRONMENT ON MARS?|title=72nd Annual Meteoritical Society Meeting (2009)|publisher=Lunar and Planetary Institute|year=2009|contribution-url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/metsoc2009/pdf/5136.pdf|format=PDF|accessdate=January 19, 2010}}</ref> The results reported indicate that the perchlorates discovered by the [[Phoenix Lander]] would not rule out the possible presence of methanogens on Mars.<ref name=Kral /><ref name=Howe >{{Cite journal|first=Howe, K. L.|last=|coauthors=Gavin, P., Goodhart, T. and Kral, T. A|contribution=METHANE PRODUCTION BY METHANOGENS IN PERCHLORATE-SUPPLEMENTED MEDIA.|title=40th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2009)|format=PDF|author1=<Please add first missing authors to populate metadata.>}}</ref>

A team led by Levin suggested that both phenomena—methane production and degradation—could be accounted for by an ecology of methane-producing and methane-consuming microorganisms.<ref name=Howe /><ref name='Levin 2009'>{{Cite journal|title=Methane and life on Mars|journal=Proc. SPIE|date=September 3, 2009|first=Gilbert V. Levin|last=|coauthors=Patricia Ann Straat|volume=7441|issue=74410D|pages=74410D|doi=10.1117/12.829183|format=|last1=Levin|series=Proceedings of SPIE}}</ref>

In June 2012, scientists reported that measuring the ratio of [[hydrogen]] and [[methane]] levels on Mars may help determine the likelihood of life on Mars.<ref name="PNAS-20120607">{{cite journal |last1=Oze |first1=Christopher |last2=Jones |first2=Camille |last3=Goldsmith |first3=Jonas I. |last4=Rosenbauer |first4=Robert J. |title=Differentiating biotic from abiotic methane genesis in hydrothermally active planetary surfaces |url=http://www.pnas.org/content/109/25/9750.abstract |date=June 7, 2012 |journal=[[PNAS]] |volume=109 no. 25 |pages=9750-9754 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1205223109 |accessdate=June 27, 2012 |bibcode = 2012PNAS..109.9750O }}</ref><ref name="Space-20120625">{{cite web|authors=Staff |title=Mars Life Could Leave Traces in Red Planet's Air: Study |url=http://www.space.com/16284-mars-life-atmosphere-hydrogen-methane.html |date=June 25, 2012 |publisher=[[Space.com]] |accessdate=June 27, 2012 }}</ref> According to the scientists, "...low H2/CH4 ratios (less than approximately 40) indicate that life is likely present and active."<ref name="PNAS-20120607" /> Other scientists have recently reported methods of detecting hydrogen and methane in [[extraterrestrial atmospheres]].<ref name="Nature-20120627">{{cite journal |last1=Brogi |first1=Matteo |last2=Snellen |first2=Ignas A. G. |last3=de Krok |first3=Remco J. |last4=Albrecht |first4=Simon |last5=Birkby |first5=Jayne |last6=de Mooij |first6=Ernest J. W. |title=The signature of orbital motion from the dayside of the planet t Boötis b |url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v486/n7404/full/nature11161.html?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20120628 |date=June 28, 2012 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=486 |pages=502-504 |doi=10.1038/nature11161 |accessdate=June 28, 2012 |arxiv = 1206.6109 |bibcode = 2012Natur.486..502B }}</ref><ref name="Wired-20120627">{{cite web |last=Mann |first=Adam |title=New View of Exoplanets Will Aid Search for E.T. |url=http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/06/tau-bootis-b/ |date=June 27, 2012 |publisher=[[Wired (magazine)]] |accessdate=June 28, 2012 }}</ref>

==Formaldehyde==
In February 2005, it was announced that the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) on the [[European Space Agency]]'s [[Mars Express Orbiter]], detected traces of [[formaldehyde]] in the [[atmosphere of Mars]]. Vittorio Formisano, the director of the PFS, has speculated that the formaldehyde could be the byproduct of the oxidation of methane, and according to him, would provide evidence that Mars is either extremely geologically active, or harbouring colonies of microbial life.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Formaldehyde has been found in the Martian atmosphere|journal=Nature - News|date=Published online February 25, 2005|first=Mark|last=Peplow|coauthors=|volume=|issue=|pages=|doi=10.1038/news050221-15|url=http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050221/full/news050221-15.html|format= – [http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=author%3APeplow+intitle%3AFormaldehyde+has+been+found+in+the+Martian+atmosphere&as_publication=Nature+-+News&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&btnG=Search Scholar search]|accessdate=August 18, 2008}} {{Dead link|date=May 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|first=Jenny|last=Hogan|coauthors=|title=A whiff of life on the Red Planet|date=February 16, 2005|publisher=New Scientist magazine|url=http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7014|work=|pages=|accessdate=August 18, 2008|language=}}</ref> NASA scientists consider the preliminary findings are well worth a follow-up, but have also rejected the claims of life.<ref name=PFS>[http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050905/full/050905-10.html "Martian methane probe in trouble"] - September 25, 2005 http://www.nature.com news story. URL accessed March 19, 2006.</ref><ref name='NASA Releasease : 05-052'>{{Cite news|first=|last=|coauthors=|title=NASA Statement on False Claim of Evidence of Life on Mars|date=February 18, 2005|publisher=NASA|url=http://www1.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/feb/HQ_05052_mars_claim.html|work=NASA News|pages=|accessdate=August 18, 2008|language=}}</ref>

==Silica==
In May 2007, the [[Spirit rover]] disturbed a patch of ground with its inoperative wheel, uncovering an area extremely rich in [[silica]] (90%).<ref>{{Cite news|first=|last=|coauthors=|title=Mars Rover Spirit Unearths Surprise Evidence of Wetter Past|date=May 21, 2007|publisher=NASA|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/mer-20070521.html|work=NASA Mission News|pages=|accessdate=August 18, 2008|language=}}</ref> The feature is reminiscent of the effect of [[hot spring]] water or steam coming into contact with volcanic rocks. Scientists consider this as evidence of a past environment that may have been favorable for microbial life, and theorize that one possible origin for the silica may have been produced by the interaction of soil with acid vapors produced by volcanic activity in the presence of water. Another possible origin could have been from water in a hot spring environment.<ref Name="20071210a">{{cite web | last = Webster | first = Guy | title = Mars Rover Investigates Signs of Steamy Martian Past | work = Press Release | publisher = Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California | date = December 10, 2007 | url = http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20071210a.html | format = Web | doi = | accessdate = December 12, 2007 }}</ref>

Based on Earth analogs, [[Hydrothermal vent|hydrothermal systems]] on Mars would be highly attractive for their potential for preserving [[Organic compound|organic]] and [[Inorganic compound|inorganic]] [[biosignature]]s.<ref name='Leveille'>{{cite journal | title = Mineralized iron oxidizing bacteria from hydrothermal vents: targeting biosignatures on Mars | journal = American Geophysical Union | date = Fall Meeting 2010 | first = Leveille, R. J. | issue = abstract #P12A–07| id = | bibcode = 2010AGUFM.P12A..07L | volume = 12 | pages = 07 | author1 = Leveille | first1 = R. J.}}</ref> For example, iron oxidizing bacteria are abundant in marine and terrestrial hydrothermal systems, where they often display distinctive cell morphologies and are commonly encrusted by minerals, especially bacteriogenic iron oxides and silica. [[Microfossils]] of iron oxidizing bacteria have been found in ancient Si-Fe deposits and iron oxidation may be an ancient and widespread metabolic pathway.<ref name='Leveille'/> If possible, future rover missions will target extinct hydrothermal vent systems on Mars.

==Geysers on Mars==
{{Double image|right|Geysers on Mars.jpg|{{#expr: (200 * (516 / 726)) round 0}}|Mars Global Surveyor 1.jpg|{{#expr: (200 * (321 / 537)) round 0}}|Artist concept showing sand-laden jets erupt from geysers on Mars. | Close up of dark dune spots, likely created by cold geyser-like eruptions.}}
{{Main|Geysers on Mars}}

The seasonal frosting and defrosting of the southern ice cap results in the formation of spider-like radial channels carved on 1 meter thick ice by sunlight. Then, sublimed CO2 – and probably water –increase pressure in their interior producing geyser-like eruptions of cold fluids often mixed with dark basaltic sand or mud.<ref name=2006-100 >{{Cite news|first=|last=|coauthors=|authorlink=|title=NASA Findings Suggest Jets Bursting From Martian Ice Cap|date=August 16, 2006|publisher=NASA|url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2006-100|work=Jet Propulsion Laboratory|pages=|accessdate=August 11, 2009|language=}}</ref><ref name=Kieffer2000 >{{Cite journal|first=H. H.|last=Kieffer|coauthors=|contribution=ANNUAL PUNCTUATED CO2 SLAB-ICE AND JETS ON MARS.|title=Mars Polar Science 2000|editor-first=|editor-last=|coeditors=|publisher=|place=|pages=|date=|year=2000|id=|contribution-url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/polar2000/pdf/4095.pdf|format=PDF}}</ref><ref name=Portyankina >{{Cite journal|first=|last=|coauthors=|contribution=SIMULATIONS OF GEYSER-TYPE ERUPTIONS IN CRYPTIC REGION OF MARTIAN SOUTH|title=Fourth Mars Polar Science Conference|editor-first=G. Portyankina|editor-last=|coeditors=|publisher=|place=|pages=|date=|year=2006|id=|contribution-url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/polar2006/pdf/8040.pdf|format=PDF}}</ref><ref name=Hugh2006 >{{Cite journal|title=CO2 jets formed by sublimation beneath translucent slab ice in Mars' seasonal south polar ice cap|journal=Nature|date=May 30, 2006|first=Hugh H.|last=Kieffer|coauthors=Philip R. Christensen and Timothy N. Titus|volume=442|issue=7104|pages=793–796|doi=10.1038/nature04945|url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v442/n7104/abs/nature04945.html|accessdate=September 2, 2009|pmid=16915284|bibcode = 2006Natur.442..793K }}</ref> This process is rapid, observed happening in the space of a few days, weeks or months, a growth rate rather unusual in geology - especially for Mars.

A team of Hungarian scientists proposes that the geysers' most visible features, dark dune spots and spider channels, may be colonies of [[photosynthetic]] Martian microorganisms, which over-winter beneath the ice cap, and as the [[sunlight]] returns to the pole during early spring, light penetrates the ice, the microorganisms photosynthesize and heat their immediate surroundings. A pocket of liquid water, which would normally evaporate instantly in the thin Martian atmosphere, is trapped around them by the overlying ice. As this ice layer thins, the microorganisms show through grey. When the layer has completely melted, the microorganisms rapidly desiccate and turn black, surrounded by a grey aureole.<ref name=Andras >{{Cite journal|title=Probable Evidences of Recent Biological Activity on Mars: Appearance and Growing of Dark Dune Spots in the South Polar Region|journal=32nd Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston, Texas, abstract no.1543|date=March 12–16, 2001|first=Tibor|last=Gánti|coauthors=András Horváth, Szaniszló Bérczi, Albert Gesztesi and Eörs Szathmáry|volume=|issue=|pages=|id=|url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2001/pdf/1543.pdf|format=PDF|accessdate=November 20, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first=|last=Pócs, T., A. Horváth, T. Gánti, Sz. Bérczi , E. Szathmáry|coauthors=|contribution=POSSIBLE CRYPTO-BIOTIC-CRUST ON MARS?|title=ESA SP-545|editor-first=|editor-last=|coeditors=|publisher=European Space Agency|place=|pages=|date=|year=2003|id=|contribution-url=http://www.colbud.hu/esa/publications/28CBC8ESASP-545pp265-266.pdf|format=PDF|accessdate=November 24, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Dark Dune Spots: Possible Biomarkers on Mars?|journal=Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres|date=October 31, 2003|first=Tibor|last=Gánti|coauthors=András Horváth, Szaniszló Bérczi, Albert Gesztesi and Eörs Szathmáry|volume=33|issue=4–5|pages=515–557|doi=10.1023/A:1025705828948|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/ut8r78131173254n/|format=|accessdate=November 18, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|first=Pócs, T|last=A. Horváth, T. Gánti, Sz. Bérczi, E. Szathmáry|coauthors=|contribution=ARE THE DARK DUNE SPOTS REMNANTS OF THE CRYPTO-BIOTIC-CRUST OF MARS?|title=38th Vernadsky-Brown Microsymposium on Comparative Planetology|editor-first=|editor-last=|coeditors=|publisher=|place=Moscow, Russia|pages=|date=October 27–29|year=2003|id=|contribution-url=http://www.colbud.hu/esa/publications/26MosCBC10color.pdf|format=}}</ref> The Hungarian scientists believe that even a complex sublimation process is insufficient to explain the formation and evolution of the dark dune spots in space and time.<ref name=Planetary >{{Cite journal|first=|last=|coauthors=|contribution=MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DARK DUNE SPOTS ON MARS: NEW ASPECTS IN BIOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION.|title=Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIII|editor-first=|editor-last=A. Horváth,T. Gánti, Sz. Bérczi, A. Gesztesi, E. Szathmáry|coeditors=|publisher=|place=|pages=|date=|year=2002|id=|contribution-url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2002/pdf/1108.pdf|format=PDF}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.monochrom.at/dark-dune-spots/|title=Dark Dune Spots - Could it be that it’s alive?|accessdate=September 4, 2009|last=András Sik|first=Ákos Kereszturi|publisher=Monochrom }} (Audio interview, MP3 6 min.)</ref> Since their discovery, fiction writer [[Arthur C. Clarke]] promoted these formations as deserving of study from an [[astrobiology|astrobiological]] perspective.<ref name=Orme >{{Cite journal|title=MARSBUGS|journal=The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter|date=June 9, 2003|first=Greg M.|last=Orme|coauthors=Peter K. Ness|volume=10|issue=23|pages=5|id=|url=http://www.lyon.edu/projects/marsbugs/2003/20030609.pdf|format=|accessdate=September 6, 2009 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070927032609/http://www.lyon.edu/projects/marsbugs/2003/20030609.pdf |archivedate = September 27, 2007}}</ref>

A multinational European team suggests that if liquid water is present in the spiders' channels during their annual defrost cycle, they might provide a niche where certain microscopic life forms could have retreated and adapted while sheltered from solar radiation.<ref name=Manrubia >{{Cite journal|title=COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF GEOLOGICAL FEATURES AND SEASONAL PROCESSES IN INCA CITY AND PITYUSA PATERA REGIONS OF MARS|journal=European Space Agency Publications (ESA SP)|year=2004|first=S. C.|last=Manrubia|coauthors=O. Prieto Ballesteros1, C. González Kessler1, D. Fernández Remolar1, C. Córdoba-Jabonero1, F. Selsis1, S. Bérczi, T.Gánti, A. Horváth, A. Sik, and E. Szathmáry|volume=|issue=|pages=545|id=|url=http://www.colbud.hu/esa/publications/29ProcCAB-3ESASP-545pp77-80.pdf|format=|accessdate=September 7, 2009}}</ref> A British team also considers the possibility that [[organic matter]], [[microbe]]s, or even simple plants might co-exist with these inorganic formations, especially if the mechanism includes liquid water and a [[geothermal]] energy source.<ref name=Ness >{{Cite journal|title=Spider-Ravine Models and Plant-like Features on Mars - Possible Geophysical and Biogeophysical Modes of Origin|journal=[[Journal of the British Interplanetary Society]] (JBIS)|year=2002|first=Peter K.|last=Ness|coauthors=Greg M. Orme|volume=55|issue=|pages=85–108|id=|url=http://spsr.utsi.edu/articles/ness.pdf|format=|accessdate=September 3, 2009}}</ref> However, they also remark that the majority of geological structures may be accounted for without invoking any organic "life on Mars" hypothesis.<ref name=Ness /> It has been proposed to develop the [[Mars Geyser Hopper]] lander to study the geysers up close. <ref name='design study'> {{cite web | url = http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20120004036 | title = Design Study for a Mars Geyser Hopper | accessdate = 2012-07-01 | first = Landis, Geoffrey A. | coauthors = Oleson, Steven J.; McGuire, Melissa | date = 9 January 2012 | work = NASA}}</ref><ref name='Geyser Hopper'> {{citation | first = Geoffrey A. Landis | coauthors = Steven J. Oleson, and Melissa McGuire. | contribution = Design Study for a Mars Geyser Hopper | title = 50th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Conference | publisher = Glenn Research Center, NASA | date = 9 January 2012 | year = AIAA-2012-0631| id = | contribution-url = http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20120004036_2012004260.pdf | format = PDF | accessdate = 2012-07-01}}</ref>

==Cosmic radiation==
In 1965, the [[Mariner 4]] probe discovered that Mars had no [[Magnetosphere|global magnetic field]] that would protect the planet from potentially life-threatening [[cosmic radiation]] and [[solar radiation]]; observations made in the late 1990s by the Mars Global Surveyor confirmed this discovery.<ref>[http://www-ssc.igpp.ucla.edu/personnel/russell/papers/mars_mag/ MARS: MAGNETIC FIELD AND MAGNETOSPHERE]</ref> Scientists speculate that the lack of magnetic shielding helped the [[solar wind]] blow away much of [[Atmosphere of Mars|Mars's atmosphere]] over the course of several billion years.<ref>[http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast31jan_1/ The Solar Wind at Mars]</ref>

After mapping cosmic radiation levels at various depths on Mars, researchers have concluded that any life within the first several meters of the planet's surface would be killed by lethal doses of cosmic radiation.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.space.com/3396-study-surface-mars-devoid-life.html | title = Study: Surface of Mars Devoid of Life | accessdate = 2011-08-22 | first = Ker Than | date = 29 January 2007 | work = Space.com}}</ref> In 2007, it was calculated that [[DNA]] and [[RNA]] damage by cosmic radiation would limit life on Mars to depths greater than 7.5 metres below the planet's surface.<ref name="Dartnell, L.R. 2007">Dartnell, L.R. et al., "Modelling the surface and subsurface Martian radiation environment: Implications for astrobiology," Geophysical Research Letters 34, L02207, {{doi|10.1029/2006GL027494}}, 2007.</ref> Therefore, the best potential locations for discovering life on Mars may be at subsurface environments that have not been studied yet.<ref>[http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20080215a.html NASA - Mars Rovers Sharpen Questions About Livable Conditions]</ref>

==Life on Earth under Martian conditions==
On 26 April 2012, scientists reported that [[lichen]] survived and showed remarkable results on the [[adaptive capacity|adaptation capacity]] of [[photosynthesis|photosynthetic activity]] within the [[simulation|simulation time]] of 34 days under Martian conditions in the Mars Simulation Laboratory (MSL) maintained by the [[German Aerospace Center]] (DLR).<ref name="Skymania-20120426">{{cite web |last=Baldwin |first=Emily |title=Lichen survives harsh Mars environment |url=http://www.skymania.com/wp/2012/04/lichen-survives-harsh-martian-setting.html |date=26 April 2012 |publisher=Skymania News |accessdate=27 April 2012 }}</ref><ref name="EGU-20120426">{{cite web |last1=de Vera |first1=J.-P. |last2=Kohler |first2=Ulrich |title=The adaptation potential of extremophiles to Martian surface conditions and its implication for the habitability of Mars |url=http://media.egu2012.eu/media/filer_public/2012/04/05/10_solarsystem_devera.pdf |date=26 April 2012 |publisher=[[European Geosciences Union]] |accessdate=27 April 2012 }}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Astronomy on Mars]]
* [[Colonization of Mars]]
* [[Extraterrestrial life]]
* [[Face on Mars]]
* [[List of artificial objects on Mars]]
* [[Planetary habitability]]
* [[Seasonal flows on warm Martian slopes]]
* [[Terraforming]]

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
* [http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060420_mars_water.html Study Reveals Young Mars Was A Wet World]
* [http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/overview/ NASA - The Mars Exploration Program]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3560867.stm Scientists have discovered that Mars once had saltwater oceans]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3896335.stm BBC News: Ammonia on Mars could mean life]
* [http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mars_microorganisms_040803.html Scientist says that life on Mars is likely today]
* [http://www.space.com/news/science_top10_041216.html Ancient salty sea on Mars wins as the most important scientific achievement of 2004 - Journal Science]
* [http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/snc/nasa1.html Mars meteor found on Earth provides evidence that suggests microbial life once existed on Mars]
* [http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&articleID=00073A97-5745-1359-94FF83414B7F0000 Scientific American Magazine (November 2005 Issue) Did Life Come from Another World?]
* [http://www.monochrom.at/dark-dune-spots/ Audio interview about "Dark Dune Spots"]

{{Mars}}
{{Extraterrestrial life}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Life On Mars}}
[[Category:Astrobiology]]
[[Category:Extraterrestrial life]]
[[Category:Mars]]

{{Link GA|ca}}
{{Link GA|ja}}


[[ca:Vida a Mart]]
[[cs:Život na Marsu]]
[[es:Vida en Marte]]
[[fr:Vie sur Mars]]
[[ga:Beatha ar Mhars]]
[[id:Kehidupan di Mars]]
[[it:Vita su Marte]]
[[hu:Élet a Marson]]
[[nl:Leven op Mars]]
[[ja:火星の生命]]
[[no:Liv på Mars]]
[[pt:Vida em Marte]]
[[ru:Жизнь на Марсе]]
[[si:අඟහරු මත ජීවය]]
[[sk:Život na Marse]]
[[sl:Življenje na Marsu]]
[[sv:Liv på Mars]]
[[vi:Sự sống trên Sao Hỏa]]
[[zh:火星生命]]

The Heartland Institute

2012-08-09T05:34:30Z

Michaplot: /* February 2012 document misappropriation */ fixing writing

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2012}}
{{Infobox Non-profit
| Non-profit_name = The Heartland Institute
| Non-profit_logo = [[File:The Heartland Institute logo.png|200px|center]]
| vector_logo =
| Non-profit_type = [[Libertarianism|Libertarian]] [[think tank]]
| founded_date =
| founder =
| location = [[One South Wacker]] Chicago, Illinois, USA
| area_served = Worldwide
| origins =
| key_people = President and CEO: Joseph L. Bast Executive VP: Kevin Fitzgerald Chairman: Herbert J. Walberg
| focus =
| method =
| revenue = US$6.8 million (2009)<ref name="IRS">{{cite web |url=http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990_pdf_archive/363/363309812/363309812_200912_990.pdf |title=IRS Form 990 (2009), The Heartland Institute |publisher=The Foundation Center |work=990 Finder}}</ref>
| num_volunteers =
| owner =
| Non-profit_slogan =
| homepage = [http://heartland.org/ heartland.org]
| dissolved =
| footnotes =
}}

'''The Heartland Institute''' is an American [[Conservativism in the United States|conservative]] and [[Libertarianism in the United States|libertarian]]<ref>[http://heartland.org/reply-to-critics Heartland: Reply to Our Critics]</ref> public policy [[think tank]] based in Chicago, which advocates [[free market]] policies.<ref>{{cite news |title=Back-yard Think Tanks|author=Michele Mohr|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-01-08/features/9501080156_1_tanks-policies-chicago-public-schools|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=January 8, 1995|quote = the Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank based in Palatine|accessdate=December 5, 2011}}</ref><ref>It also has been described as [[right-wing politics|right-wing]]. See, for example:
* {{Cite news |work=The Irish Times | title = Anti-Obama protesters march in Washington | url = http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0914/1224254474903.html | date = September 14, 2009 | accessdate =September 3, 2010 | first = Ed | last = Pilkington | quote = They include right-wing think tanks such as the Heartland Institute...}}
* {{Cite news |work=The Independent | title = Tobacco and oil pay for climate conference | first = Steve | last = Connor | date = March 3, 2008 | accessdate =September 2, 2010 | url = http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/tobacco-and-oil-pay-for-climate-conference-790474.html | quote = The first international conference designed to question the scientific consensus on climate change is being sponsored by a right-wing American think-tank which receives money from the oil industry.}}
* {{Cite news |publisher=BBC | title = Climate sceptics rally to expose 'myth' | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8694544.stm | first = Roger | last = Harrabin | date = May 21, 2010 | accessdate =September 3, 2010 | quote = At the world's biggest gathering of climate change sceptics, organised by the right-wing Heartland Institute...}}
* {{Cite news | work = [[Philadelphia City Paper]] | url = http://citypaper.net/articles/2009/12/17/pennsylvania-climate-change-action-plan | title = Shooting the Messenger | first = Julia | last = Harte | date = December 16, 2009 | accessdate =September 5, 2010 | quote = Jay Lehr, science director at the right-wing Heartland Institute, concurs.}}</ref><ref name="scrutiny"/><ref>Alasdair Scott Roberts, ''Blacked out: government secrecy in the information age'', [[Cambridge University Press]],[http://books.google.com/books?id=FtmydcQkMx0C&pg=PA253&dq=%22heartland+institute%22+libertarian&hl=en&ei=KHfATKmKJMO88gaB25TXBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CFAQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=%22heartland%20institute%22%20libertarian&f=false p. 253], 2006
ISBN 0-521-85870-4, ISBN 978-0-521-85870-0</ref> The Institute is designated as a [[501(c)(3)]] non-profit by the [[Internal Revenue Service]] and has a full-time staff of 40, including editors and senior fellows.<ref name="about">{{cite web | publisher = Heartland Institute | title = About Us | url = http://www.heartland.org/about/}}</ref> The Institute was founded in 1984 and conducts research and advocacy work on issues including [[government spending]], taxation, healthcare, [[tobacco smoking|tobacco]] policy, [[hydraulic fracturing]]<ref name="HF bans">{{Cite web | url = http://heartland.org/policy-documents/research-commentary-hydraulic-fracturing-bans | title = Research & Commentary: Hydraulic Fracturing Bans | first = Taylor | last = Smith | date = June 7, 2012 |publisher = [[Heartland Institute]] | accessdate =June 8, 2012}}</ref> [[global warming]], information technology, and [[free-market environmentalism]].

In the 1990s, the group worked with the tobacco company [[Philip Morris USA|Philip Morris]] to question the science linking [[passive smoking|secondhand smoke]] to health risks, and to lobby against government public-health reforms.<ref name="AJPH1">{{cite journal |author=Tesler LE, Malone RE |title="Our reach is wide by any corporate standard": how the [[tobacco industry]] helped defeat the Clinton health plan and why it matters now |journal=Am J Public Health |volume=100 |issue=7 |pages=1174–88 |year=2010 |month=July |pmid=20466958 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.2009.179150 |url=http://www.ajph.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2009.179150?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3dpubmed}}</ref><ref name="indy"/><ref name="merchants1"> {{cite book
| last = Oreskes | first= Naomi | authorlink = Naomi Oreskes | coauthors = Erik M. Conway | title= [[Merchants of Doubt]]
| publisher = [[Bloomsbury Press]] | year= 2010 | isbn = 978-1-59691-610-4}} pp. 233–234</ref> More recently, the Institute has focused on [[Climate change denial|questioning the science of climate change]], and was described by the ''[[New York Times]]'' as "the primary American organization pushing climate change skepticism."<ref name="nyt-clouds">{{cite news |work=New York Times | date = May 1, 2012 | accessdate =May 1, 2012 | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/01/science/earth/clouds-effect-on-climate-change-is-last-bastion-for-dissenters.html | title= ''Clouds’ Effect on Climate Change Is Last Bastion for Dissenters'' | first = Justin | last = Gillis}}</ref> The Institute has sponsored meetings of [[climate change skeptics]],<ref name="bbc"/> and has been reported to promote public school curricula challenging the scientific consensus on climate change.<ref name=Gillis/>

==History and leadership==
In its early years, Heartland Institute focused on policies relevant to the [[Midwestern United States]]. Since 1993 it has focused on reaching elected officials and opinion leaders in all 50 states. In addition to research, Heartland features an Internet application called "Policybot"<ref>[http://policybot.enginez.com/ PolicyBot]</ref> which serves as a clearinghouse for research from other conservative think tanks such as the [[Heritage Foundation]], the [[American Legislative Exchange Council]], and the libertarian [[Cato Institute]].

The Institute's president and CEO is Joseph L. Bast.

== Positions ==
=== Global warming ===

Heartland Institute questions the [[scientific opinion on climate change|scientific opinions on climate change]], arguing that [[Climate change denial|global warming is not occurring]] and, further, that warming might be beneficial if it did occur.<ref name="higw">
{{cite web | publisher = Heartland Institute | url = http://www.heartland.org/pdf/ieguide.pdf | format = PDF | title = Instant Expert Guide: Global Warming | accessdate =March 4, 2008|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20061201133847/http://www.heartland.org/pdf/ieguide.pdf |archivedate = December 1, 2006}}</ref> The institute is a member organization of the [[Cooler Heads Coalition]], which describes itself as "an informal and ad-hoc group focused on dispelling the myths of global warming."<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[Cooler Heads Coalition]] |title=About GlobalWarming.org |accessdate=August 22, 2008|url=http://www.globalwarming.org/about}}</ref> In ''[[Merchants of Doubt]]'', [[Naomi Oreskes]] and [[Erik M. Conway]] wrote that the Heartland Institute was known "for its persistent questioning of climate science, for its promotion of 'experts' who have done little, if any, peer-reviewed climate research, and for its sponsorship of a conference in New York City in 2008 alleging that the scientific community's work on global warming is fake."<ref name="merchants1"/>

In 2008 a bibliography written by [[Dennis T. Avery|Dennis Avery]] was posted on Heartland’s Web site, titled "500 Scientists with Documented Doubts of Man-Made Global Warming Scares”.<ref>[http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=21978 500 Scientists Whose Research Contradicts Man-Made Global Warming Scares], by Dennis T. Avery. From the Heartland Institute website; published September 14, 2007, accessed June 20, 2008.</ref><ref name="press release">{{cite press release | title = Controversy Arises Over Lists of Scientists Whose Research Contradicts Man-Made Global Warming Scares | publisher = Heartland Institute | date = May 5, 2008 | url = http://heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=23207 | accessdate =September 3, 2010}}</ref> In late April 2008, Heartland reported that the web site ''[[DeSmogBlog]]'' had "targeted The Heartland Institute in late April 2008, and in particular two lists posted on Heartland’s Web site of scientists whose published work contradicts some of the main tenets of global warming alarmism."<ref name="press release" /> ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'' reported that the work of [[Jim Salinger]], chief scientist at New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, was "misrepresented" as part of a "denial campaign".<ref name="smh"/> In response to criticism, The Heartland Institute changed the title of the list to “500 Scientists Whose Research Contradicts Man-Made Global Warming Scares.”<ref name="press release"/> Heartland did not remove any of the scientists' names from the list.<ref name="press release" /><ref name="smh" /> Dennis Avery explained, "Not all of these researchers would describe themselves as global warming skeptics"..."but the evidence in their studies is there for all to see.”<ref name="press release" />{{#tag:ref|Heartland’s president, Joseph Bast, wrote "They have no right – legally or ethically – to demand that their names be removed from a bibliography composed by researchers with whom they disagree. Their names probably appear in hundreds or thousands of bibliographies accompanying other articles or in books with which they disagree. Do they plan to sue hundreds or thousands of their colleagues? The proper response is to engage in scholarly debate, not demand imperiously that the other side redact its publications."<ref name="press release"/>|group="nb"}}

==== International Conferences on Climate Change ====
Between 2008 and 2012 the Heartland Institute sponsored seven [[International Conference on Climate Change|International Conferences on Climate Change]], bringing together hundreds of [[global warming skeptics]]. Convention speakers have included [[Richard Lindzen]], a professor of meteorology at MIT; [[Roy Spencer (scientist)|Roy Spencer]], a research scientist and climatologist at the University of Alabama at Huntsville; [[S. Fred Singer]], who is a senior fellow of the Heartland Institute<ref name="athink">{{cite web|publisher=[[American Thinker]] |title=Climategate Heads to Court |authorlink=S. Fred Singer |accessdate=April 7, 2012 |url=http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/04/climategate_heads_to_court.html}}</ref> and was founding dean of the School of Environmental and Planetary Sciences at the University of Miami and founding director of the National Weather Satellite Service; [[Harrison Schmitt]], a geologist and former NASA astronaut and Apollo 17 moonwalker; and Dr. John Theon, atmospheric scientist and former NASA supervisor. In the first conference, participants criticized the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]] and [[Al Gore]].<ref name="indy"/><ref> {{cite news | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/science/earth/04climate.html | title = Cool View of Science at Meeting on Warming | first = Andrew | last = Revkin | authorlink = Andrew Revkin |work=New York Times | date = March 4, 2008| accessdate =March 4, 2008}}</ref> The [[BBC]] reported that the heavily politicized nature of the Heartland conferences led some "moderate" climate skeptics to avoid them.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news |publisher=BBC| title = Climate sceptics rally to expose 'myth'| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8694544.stm | first = Roger | last = Harrabin | date = May 21, 2010 | accessdate =September 3, 2010}}</ref>

At the conclusion of the 2012 7th International Conference, held at the [[Chicago Hilton]], Heartland president Joseph Bast announced that the organization was discontinuing the conferences.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/may/24/heartland-institute-billboard-controversy|author=Suzanne Goldenberg|date=May 23, 2012|work=[[The Guardian]] |title=Heartland Institute in financial crisis after billboard controversy}}</ref>

====May 2012 billboard campaign====
On May 4, 2012, the institute launched a [[digital billboard]] ad campaign in the Chicago area featuring a photo of [[Ted Kaczynski]], (the "[[Unabomber]]" whose mail bombs killed three people and injured 23 others), and asking the question, “I still believe in global warming, do you?”<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2012/05/billboards-liken-belief-in-climate-change-to-mass-murder/1#.T9L_vt18V50 Climate wars heat up with pulled Unabomber billboards] May 04, 2012</ref> The institute planned for the campaign to feature murderer [[Charles Manson]], communist leader [[Fidel Castro]] and perhaps [[Osama bin Laden]], asking the same question. In a statement, the institute justified the billboards saying "the most prominent advocates of global warming aren’t scientists. They are murderers, tyrants, and madmen."<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/heartland-institute-launches-campaign-linking-terrorism-murder-and-global-warming-belief/2012/05/04/gIQAJJ3Q1T_blog.html| Accessed May 5, 2012</ref> The billlboard reportedly "unleashed a social media-fed campaign, including a petition from the advocacy group [[Forecast the Facts]] calling on Heartland’s corporate backers to immediately pull their funding," and prompted Rep. [[James Sensenbrenner Jr.]] (R-Wis.), to threaten to cancel his speech at the upcoming Heartland Institute Climate Change Conference.<ref name=unabomber>{{cite web |publisher=The Hill |title=Heartland Institute yanks Unabomber climate billboard |author=Ben Geman |date=May 5, 2012 |accessdate=May 5, 2012 |url=http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/225559-heartland-institute-yanks-unabomber-climate-billboard}}</ref> Within 24 hours Heartland canceled the campaign, although its President refused to apologize for it.{{#tag:ref|President Joseph Bast issued a statement saying: "We know that our billboard angered and disappointed many of Heartland’s friends and supporters, but we hope they understand what we were trying to do with this experiment. We do not apologize for running the ad, and we will continue to experiment with ways to communicate the ‘realist’ message on the climate."<ref name=unabomber/>|group="nb"}} The advertising campaign led to the loss of substantial corporate funding,<ref>{{cite news |title=Big donors ditch rightwing Heartland Institute over Unabomber billboard |author=Suzanne Goldenberg|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/may/09/heartland-institute-donors-lost-unabomber-ad |newspaper=The Guardian |date=May 9, 2012 |accessdate=May 23, 2012}}</ref> the resignation of Institute board members, and the resignation of almost the entire Heartland Washington D.C. office, taking the Institute's biggest project (on insurance) with it.<ref name=Guardian20052012/>

=== Smoking ===
In the 1990s, the Heartland Institute worked with [[Philip Morris USA|Philip Morris]] to question the link between [[passive smoking|secondhand smoke]] and health risks.<ref name="indy"/><ref name="merchants2"/> Philip Morris used Heartland to distribute tobacco-industry material, and arranged for the Heartland Institute to publish "policy studies" which summarized Philip Morris reports.<ref name="merchants2"/><ref>{{cite web | title = Roy Marden to Thomas Borelli et al. | url = http://www.pmdocs.com/PDF/2075574226D_4227_0.PDF | format = PDF | publisher = Philip Morris Documents Archive | date = April 22, 1997}}</ref> The Heartland Institute also undertook a variety of other activities on behalf of Philip Morris, including meeting with legislators, holding "off-the-record" briefings, and producing op-eds, radio interviews, and letters.<ref name="merchants2"/><ref>{{cite web | title = Opposition to Fedsuit | author = Roy Marden | url = http://www.pmdocs.com/PDF/2077575920A_5921_0.PDF | format = PDF | publisher = Philip Morris Documents Archive | date = October 26, 1999}}</ref> In 1994, at the request of Philip Morris, the Heartland Institute met with [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] Congressmen to encourage them to oppose increases in the [[excise|federal excise tax]]. Heartland reported back to Philip Morris that the Congressmen were "strongly in our camp", and planned further meetings with other legislators.<ref>{{cite web | title = FET Update | url = http://www.pmdocs.com/PDF/2046554465_4467_0.PDF | format = PDF | publisher = Philip Morris Documents Archive | date = January 28, 1994}}</ref>

=== Budgetary ===
The Heartland Institute is a critic of the current Federal budget and tax code. Several of Heartland Institute's budgetary views include privatization of Federal services to a competitive marketplace, changing the tax code to a more simplified version of the current code, and implementing Taxpayer Savings Grants.

=== Education ===
The Heartland Institute supports the availability of charter schools, providing education tax credits to attend private schools, expanding federal vouchers for low-income students to attend a public or private school of their family's choosing, and the Parent Trigger reform that started in California. The Heartland Institute argues that market reforms should be introduced into the public education system to increase competition and provide more options and greater choice for parents and their children.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://heartland.org/issues/education |title=Education | Heartland Institute |publisher=Heartland.org |accessdate=February 2, 2012}}</ref>

=== Healthcare ===
The Heartland Institute advocates for free-market reforms in healthcare and opposes federal control over the healthcare industry. Heartland supports Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), replacing federal tax deductions for employer-based healthcare with a refundable tax credit to allow individual choice over health insurance, removing state and Federal healthcare regulations aimed at providers and consumers of healthcare, and reducing litigation costs which are associated with malpractice suits.<ref name="Heartland Institute Website">{{cite web|url=http://heartland.org/issues/health-care|title="Health Care" on Heartland.org web page|accessdate=11/5/2011}}</ref>

== Publications ==
The Heartland Institute publishes five monthly public policy newspapers aimed at state legislators. These include: ''Budget and Tax News'', which advocates lower taxes and balanced budgets for states and the federal government; ''School Reform News'', which calls for greater competition and [[school choice]]; ''Environment & Climate News,'' which focuses on "market-based environmental protection"; ''Health Care News'', devoted to [[consumer-driven health care]] reform and edited by [[Ben Domenech]]; and ''Infotech and Telecom News,'' which covers the technology and telecommunications industries from a free market perspective. The five monthly publications have a circulation total of nearly 200,000.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Heartland Institute |url=http://www.heartland.org/about/profileresults.html?profile=6110DE2CC2614EF79267933376E6B380&directory=0490F571009CFDBBCAA4E62B8A3EBAE2 |title=Staff: Joseph Bast |accessdate=December 10, 2009}}</ref>

== Funding ==
The Heartland Institute does not disclose its funding sources. According to its brochures, Heartland receives money from approximately 1,600 individuals and organizations, and no single corporate entity donates more than 5% of the operating budget,<ref>[http://www.heartland.org/FAQArticle.cfm?faqId=7 ]{{dead link|date=February 2012}}</ref> although the figure for individual donors can be much higher, with a single anonymous donor providing $4.6 million in 2008, and $979,000 in 2011, accounting for 20% of Heartland's overall budget, according to reports of a leaked fundraising plan.<ref name=goldenberg>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/15/heartland-institute-microsoft-gm-money?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487|title=Climate science attack machine took donations from major corporations|author=Suzanne Goldenberg and Dominic Rushe|work=The Guardian |date=Feb 16, 2012|accessdate=February 16, 2012}}</ref> Heartland states that it does not accept government funds and does not conduct contract research for special-interest groups.<ref>{{cite web | last = Bast | first = Joseph | url = http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=10582 | title = Welcome to The Heartland Institute! | work = Heartlander | publisher = The Heartland Institute | date= April 13, 2007}}</ref>

[[MediaTransparency]] reported that Heartland received funding from [[conservatism in the United States|politically conservative]] foundations such as the [[Castle Rock Foundation]], the [[Sarah Scaife Foundation]], the [[John M. Olin Foundation]], and the [[Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation]].<ref>{{cite web | url =http://mediamattersaction.org/transparency/organization/Heartland_Institute | title = Heartland Institute Funding | publisher = [[MediaTransparency]] | accessdate=June 22, 2010}}</ref> In 2011, the Institute received $25,000 from the [[Charles G. Koch Foundation]].<ref name=Gillis/> The Charles Koch Foundation states that the contribution was "$25,000 to the Heartland Institute in 2011 for research in healthcare, not climate change, and this was the first and only donation the Foundation made to the institute in more than a decade".<ref name="Koch release">{{cite web|title=Foundation statement on Heartland Institute|url=http://www.charleskochfoundationfacts.org/2012/02/foundation-statement-on-heartland-institute/|publisher=Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation|accessdate=February 19, 2012}}</ref>

Oil and gas companies have contributed to the Heartland Institute, including over $600,000 from [[ExxonMobil]] between 1998 and 2005.<ref name="nyt-skeptics"/> [[Greenpeace]] reported that Heartland received almost $800,000 from ExxonMobil.<ref name="smh">{{cite news |work=[[Sydney Morning Herald]] | title = The climate change smokescreen | first = David | last = McKnight | date = August 2, 2008 | accessdate =December 28, 2009 | url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/global-warming/the-climate-change-smokescreen/2008/08/01/1217097533885.html}}</ref> In 2008, ExxonMobil said that they would stop funding to groups skeptical of climate warming, including Heartland.<ref name="nyt-skeptics"/><ref>Monica Heger, "[http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/environment/exxonmobil-cuts-back-its-funding-for-climate-skeptics ExxonMobil Cuts Back Its Funding for Climate Skeptics]," ''IEEE Spectrum,'' July 2008 (Retrieved Dec 27, 2011)</ref><ref>Kert Davies, "[http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/news-and-blogs/campaign-blog/exxon-continued-to-fund-climate-denial-in-200/blog/26100/ Exxon continued to fund climate denial in 2009]," [[Greenpeace]] Blog, July 19, 2010: "during the same period where Exxon bent to the pressure on its campaign of denial and cut all funding to hard core deniers like the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Heartland Institute, the George C. Marshall Institute and others..." (Retrieved Dec 27, 2011)</ref> Joseph Bast, president of the Heartland Institute, argued that ExxonMobil was simply distancing itself from Heartland out of concern for its public image.<ref name="nyt-skeptics">{{cite news |work=New York Times | title = Skeptics Dispute Climate Worries and Each Other | first = Andrew | last = Revkin | authorlink = Andrew Revkin | date = March 8, 2009 | accessdate =September 2, 2010 | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/09/science/earth/09climate.html}}</ref>

The Heartland Institute has also received funding and support from tobacco companies [[Philip Morris USA|Philip Morris]],<ref name="merchants2"> {{cite book |last= Oreskes | authorlink = Naomi Oreskes | first= Naomi |coauthors= Erik M. Conway
|title= [[Merchants of Doubt]] |publisher= [[Bloomsbury Press]] |year= 2010 |isbn= 978-1-59691-610-4}}{{Page needed|date=October 2010
}}</ref> [[Altria]] and [[Reynolds American]], and [[pharmaceutical industry]] firms [[GlaxoSmithKline]], [[Pfizer]] and [[Eli Lilly]].<ref name=goldenberg/> ''[[The Independent]]'' reported that Heartland's receipt of donations from Exxon and Philip Morris indicates a "direct link"..."between anti-global warming sceptics funded by the oil industry and the opponents of the scientific evidence showing that passive smoking can damage people's health."<ref name="indy"> {{cite news |work=The Independent | title = Tobacco and oil pay for climate conference | first = Steve | last = Connor | date = March 3, 2008 | accessdate =September 2, 2010 | url = http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/tobacco-and-oil-pay-for-climate-conference-790474.html}}</ref>

As of 2006, the Walton Family Foundation (run by the family of the founder of [[Wal-Mart]]) had contributed approximately $300,000 to Heartland. The Heartland Institute published an op-ed in the ''[[Louisville Courier-Journal]]'' defending Wal-Mart against criticism over its treatment of workers. The Walton Family Foundation donations were not disclosed in the op-ed, and the editor of the ''Courier-Journal'' stated that he was unaware of the connection and would probably not have published the op-ed had he known of it.<ref name="sp-times"> {{cite news | work = [[St. Petersburg Times]] | title = Corporate spin can come in disguise | date = September 10, 2006 | accessdate =September 3, 2010 | first = Bill | last = Adair | url = http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/10/Worldandnation/Corporate_spin_can_co.shtml}}</ref> The ''[[St. Petersburg Times]]'' described the Heartland Institute as "particularly energetic defending Wal-Mart."<ref name="sp-times"/> Heartland has stated that its authors were not "paid to defend Wal-Mart" and did not receive funding from the corporation; it did not disclose the $300,000+ received from the Walton Family Foundation.<ref name="sp-times"/>

In 2012, following the February 2012 document leak (see below) and a controversial advertising campaign, the institute lost substantial funding as corporate donors sought to dissociate themselves from the institute. According to the advocacy group [[Forecast the Facts]], Heartland lost more than $825,000, or one third of planned corporate fundraising for the year. The shortfall led to the Illinois coal lobby sponsoring the institute's May 2012 climate conference – the "first publicly acknowledged donations from the coal industry".<ref name=Guardian20052012>Suzanne Goldenberg, [[guardian.co.uk]], May 20, 2012, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/may/20/heartland-institute-future-staff-cash Heartland Institute facing uncertain future as staff depart and cash dries up]</ref>

===February 2012 document misappropriation===
In February 2012 environmentalist scientist and president of the [[Pacific Institute]] [[Peter Gleick]] fraudulently obtained internal Heartland Institute documents and divulged them, together with an additional document he later claimed to have received from an unknown source, to public websites.<ref name="Peter Gleick Statement">{{cite web|author=[[Peter Gleick]] |work=[[Huffington Post]] |title=The Origin of the Heartland Documents |accessdate=February 24, 2012|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-h-gleick/-the-origin-of-the-heartl_b_1289669.html}}</ref> The documents contained the 2012 Heartland budget, a fundraising plan and board materials.<ref>{{cite news | title=Heartland Institute documents published|url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/02/18/Heartland-Institute-documents-published/UPI-57751329549148/?spt=hs&or=tn | accessdate =February 18, 2012 | newspaper = [[UPI.com]] | date = February 18, 2012}} </ref> The documents disclosed the names of a number of donors to the institute – including the [[Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation]], tobacco companies [[Altria]] and [[Reynolds American]], drug firms [[GlaxoSmithKline]], [[Pfizer]] and [[Eli Lilly and Company|Eli Lilly]], [[Microsoft]], liquor companies, and an anonymous donor who had given $13 million over the past five years.<ref name="scientific american"/><ref name="scrutiny">{{cite news
| last = Goldenberg | first = Suzanne | title = Heartland Institute faces fresh scrutiny over tax status | url =http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/17/heartland-institute-fresh-scrutiny-tax?INTCMP=SRCH | accessdate =February 18, 2012
| newspaper = The Guardian | date = February 17, 2012}}</ref> Some of the documents also contained details of payments to climate skeptics and financial support to skeptics' research programs, namely the founder of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change [[Craig Idso]] ($11,600 per month), physicist [[Fred Singer]] ($5,000 plus expenses per month), geologist [[Robert M. Carter]] ($1,667 per month) and a pledge of $90,000 to meteorologist [[Anthony Watts (blogger)|Anthony Watts]]. Carter and Watts confirmed receiving payments.<ref name="scientific american">{{cite web |publisher=Scientific American |title=Leaked: Conservative Group Plans Anti-Climate Education Program |accessdate=February 15, 2012 |url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=leaked-conservative-group}}</ref> The documents also indicated that the institute planned to provide materials to teachers in the United States to undercut the teaching of [[global warming]] in schools.<ref name="scientific american"/><ref name=Gillis/> The documents also appeared to disclose Heartland's plans for "Operation Angry Badger", in which $612,000 was to be allocated for activities related to [[Wisconsin gubernatorial election, 2012|Wisconsin's recall elections]].<ref name=Gillis/> None of the leaked documents were independently authenticated.<ref>{{cite news|last=Goldenberg|first=Suzanne|title=Leak exposes how Heartland Institute works to undermine climate science|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/15/leak-exposes-heartland-institute-climate|accessdate=February 15, 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=February 15, 2012}}</ref>

Heartland maintained that the documents, which were first published on Desmogblog, were fraudulently acquired and declared that the last document was a fake that had been fabricated with the purpose of defaming and discrediting the institute.<ref> {{cite news | last = Goldenberg | first = Suzanne | title = Heartland Institute 'fights back' over publication of confidential documents | url =http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/16/heartland-institute-fundraising-drive-leaked?INTCMP=SRCH | accessdate =February 18, 2012 | newspaper = The Guardian | date = February 16, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |publisher=Heartland Institute |title=Leaked: Heartland Institute Responds to Stolen and Fake Documents |accessdate=February 24, 2012|url=http://heartland.org/press-releases/2012/02/15/heartland-institute-responds-stolen-and-fake-documents}}</ref> The Heartland Institute asserted that one in particular of the released documents, the "Climate Strategy Memo", was "forged."<ref>{{cite news | title=Heartland Institute President Joe Bast on why global warming activist Peter Gleick stole and forged documents from his organization. | url=http://online.wsj.com/video/opinion-the-purloined-climate-papers/F3DAA9D5-4213-4DC0-AE0D-5A3D171EB260.html | date = February 21, 2012 | accessdate =February 23, 2012}}</ref><ref name=Gillis>Gillis, Justin & Kaufman, Leslie.[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/science/earth/in-heartland-institute-leak-a-plan-to-discredit-climate-teaching.html?ref=science&pagewanted=all#h Leak Offers Glimpse of Campaign Against Climate Science], retrieved from NYTimes.com, February 16, 2012. Also published on [[The New York Times]], pg. A23 with the title: "In Documents, a Plan to Discredit Climate Teaching".</ref> Following an inquiry, the Pacific Institute reinstated Gleick, an action that "implicitly backed Gleick's assertion that he was not responsible for creating a document labeled a fake by Heartland."<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/science/earth/scientist-peter-gleick-is-reinstated-after-deceit.html Scientist Is Reinstated After Deceit] June 8, 2012</ref>

In support of Heartland's claims of forgery, ''[[The Atlantic]]'' editor [[Megan McArdle]] concluded that the offending document's mismatched metadata, unprofessional writing style and references to specific individuals made its authenticity extremely unlikely.<ref>{{cite news |author= [[Megan McArdle]] |publisher = [[The Atlantic]] | title=Heartland Memo Looking Faker by the Minute | url=http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/02/heartland-memo-looking-faker-by-the-minute/253276/ | date = February 17, 2012 | accessdate =February 23, 2012}}</ref>

In the wake of the release, several environmental organizations called on General Motors and Microsoft – companies that had donated to the institute in the past – to sever their ties with Heartland; additionally, scientists previously attacked by Heartland called on it to "recognise how its attacks on science and scientists have poisoned the debate about climate change policy."<ref name="scrutiny"/>

On February 20, 2012, Gleick said he was mailed the disputed strategy memo from an anonymous source. He admitted obtaining the other documents from Heartland by deceptive means, "in a serious lapse of my own professional judgment and ethics", and stated that "My judgment was blinded by my frustration with the ongoing efforts – often anonymous, well-funded, and coordinated – to attack climate science and scientists and prevent this debate, and by the lack of transparency of the organizations involved."<ref name="Peter Gleick Statement"/> On February 16, Gleick resigned as chair of [[American Geophysical Union]]'s Task Force on Scientific Ethics.<ref>[[American Geophysical Union]], February 21, 2012, [http://www.agu.org/news/press/pr_archives/2012/2012-11.shtml AGU Encourages Integrity in all Aspects of Climate Change Discourse]</ref>

On February 22, 2012, Congressman [[Raúl Grijalva]] requested a [[United States House Committee on Natural Resources|House Committee on Natural Resources]] hearing to investigate whether alleged Heartland payments to [[Indur Goklany]], a senior adviser to the [[United States Department of the Interior|Interior Department]], violated Federal ethics rules. Greenpeace also requested an investigation into this allegation on the same date.<ref>[http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/02/heartland-docs-indicate-it-paid-govt-scientist-work Heartland Docs Indicate It Paid Gov't Scientist for Work], ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]'', Feb. 22, 2012 </ref> Golklany told [[Politico]] he had previously cleared his activities with his department's ethics unit. On February 28, 2012, the Committee announced that it was planning to ignore Congressman Grijalva's request.<ref>http://freebeacon.com/Grijalvas-climate-witch-hunt/ [[The Washington Free Beacon]]</ref>

==See also==
* [[Climate change policy of the United States]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group="nb"}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://heartland.org/}}
* [http://climateconference.heartland.org/ International Conference on Climate Change] website at Heartland Institute

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heartland Institute, The}}
[[Category:Political and economic think tanks in the United States]]
[[Category:Libertarian think tanks]]
[[Category:Libertarian organizations based in the United States]]
[[Category:Organizations of environmentalism skeptics and critics]]
[[Category:Non-profit organizations based in Chicago, Illinois]]
[[Category:501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations]]
[[Category:Global warming]]
[[Category:Climate change controversies]]

[[fr:Institut Heartland]]

Wurzeltrüffelverwandte

2011-07-07T05:14:11Z

Michaplot: grammar ce

{{Taxobox
| name = Rhizopogonaceae
| image = Rhizopogon rubescens.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = ''[[Rhizopogon rubescens]]''
| regnum = [[Fungi]]
| divisio = [[Basidiomycota]]
| classis = [[Agaricomycetes]]
| ordo = [[Boletales]]
| familia = '''Rhizopogonaceae'''
| familia_authority = Gäum. & C.W. Dodge (1928)
| type_genus = ''Rhizopogon''
| type_genus_authority = [[Elias Magnus Fries|Fr.]] & Nordholm
| subdivision_ranks = [[Genus|Genera]]
| subdivision = ''[[Fevansia]]'' 
''[[Rhizopogon]]'' 
''[[Rhopalogaster]]''
}}
'''''Rhizopogonaceae''''' are a [[family (biology)|family]] of [[fungi]] in the order [[Boletales]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Cannon PF, Kirk PM. |title=Fungal Families of the World |publisher=CABI |location=Wallingford |year=2007 |pages=313–14 |isbn=0-85199-827-5}}</ref> The family, first named and described by botanists [[Ernst Albert Gäumann]] and [[Carroll William Dodge]] in 1928,<ref name=Gaumann1928>{{cite book |title=Comparative Morphology of Fungi |author=Gäumann EA, Dodge CW. |year=1928 |publisher=McGraw-Hill Book Company |location=New York |url=http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/26604#488 |accessdate=2010-03-23 |page=468}}</ref> contains 3 [[genera]] and 152 species.<ref name=Kirk2008>{{cite book |author=Kirk PM, Cannon PF, Minter DW, Stalpers JA. |title=Dictionary of the Fungi |edition=10th |publisher=CABI |location=Wallingford |year=2008|page=599|isbn=978-0-85199-826-8}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Boletales-stub}}

[[category:Boletales]]

[[es:Rhizopogonaceae]]
[[it:Rhizopogonaceae]]
[[nl:Rhizopogonaceae]]
[[ja:ショウロ科]]
[[pl:Piestrówkowate]]
[[ru:Ризопогоновые]]

Limnanthes floccosa

2010-03-31T04:43:39Z

Michaplot:

{{Taxobox
| image = Limnanthesfloccosapumila.jpg
| image_caption = ''L. floccosa'' subsp. ''pumila''
|regnum = [[Plantae]]
|unranked_divisio = [[Angiosperms]]
|unranked_classis = [[Eudicots]]
|unranked_ordo = [[Rosids]]
| ordo = [[Brassicales]]
| familia = [[Limnanthaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Limnanthes]]''
|section = [[Inflexae]]
|species = '''''L. floccosa'''''
| binomial = ''Limnanthes floccosa''
| binomial_authority = [[Thomas Jefferson Howell|Howell]]
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision =
''L. floccosa ''subsp.'' californica''
''L. floccosa ''subsp.'' floccosa'' 
''L. floccosa ''subsp.'' grandiflora'' 
''L. floccosa ''subsp.'' pumilla''
}}
'''''Limnanthes floccosa''''', or '''woolly meadowfoam''', is a [[species]] of [[meadowfoam]] found in [[Northern California]] and [[Southern Oregon]], in the [[United States]]. The species is uncommon everywhere. Most of the subspecies have highly restricted distributions and are listed as [[critical]] or [[endangered]].<ref>California Native Plant Society (CNPS). 2009. Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants (online edition, v7-09b). California Native Plant Society. Sacramento, CA. Accessed on Mon, Apr. 27, 2009 from http://www.cnps.org/inventory | http://cnps.web.aplus.net/cgi-bin/inv/inventory.cgi/Go?_id=limnanthes_floccosa_ssp._bellingeriana&sort=DEFAULT&search=floccosa</ref><ref>http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/CONSERVATION/profile_liflpu.shtml</ref><ref>http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/CONSERVATION/profile_liflgr.shtml</ref><ref>California Native Plant Society (CNPS). 2009. Inventory of ''Rare'' and Endangered Plants (online edition, v7-09b). California Native Plant Society. Sacramento, CA. Accessed on Mon, Apr. 27, 2009 from http://www.cnps.org/inventory | http://cnps.web.aplus.net/cgi-bin/inv/inventory.cgi/Go?_id=limnanthes_floccosa_ssp._californica&sort=DEFAULT&search=floccosa</ref><ref>http://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/Species/Data/LargeFloweredWoollyMeadowfoam/</ref>

Perhaps the most familiar subspecies of woolly meadowfoam is ''californica'' as this taxon has been the focus of a significant conflict. The subspecies is found only in Butte County and is legally protected as endangered. Conflict has arisen between those who would protect the few remaining populations and those who would rather use its critical habitat for economic activities.

Certain subspecies ''L. floccosa'' have been used to improve a meadowfoam cultivar derived from ''Limnanthes alba''..<ref>Meadowfoam in Alternative Field Crops Manual, University of Wisconsin Extension, University of Minnesota Center for Alternative Plant and Animal Products http://www.hort.purdue.edu/NEWCROP/AFCM/meadowfoam.html</ref> The crop is grown for its seed oil, which contains long chain fatty acids (greater than 20 carbons), has high oxidative stability, does not have any odor and is highly emollient. The oil is currently used in cosmetics manufacturing. ''Limnanthes'' is cultivated in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and elsewhere.

==Taxonomy==
Woolly meadowfoam ''Limnanthes floccosa'' is a member of the genus section ''inflexae'' (wherein the petals curve over the fruit when it is mature). Most populations of this species are at least partially autogamous (self-pollinating).

The species is easily distinguished from other members of ''inflexae'' by the fact that its petals are not much longer and often shorter than the sepals. The flowers may remain closed even at maturity.

The most widespread subspecies (''floccosa'') occurs in both California and Oregon.

Two subspecies (''pumila'' and ''grandiflora'') are endemic to southern Oregon.

The Jepson Manual (flora of California) recognizes only one California endemic subspecies (''californica'')<ref>http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?4945,4948,4958</ref> but the Flora of North America recognizes a second (''bellingeriana'').<ref>http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250094631</ref> (The Jepson Manual notes a putative subspecies (''bellingeriana'') has been, "reported from Cascade Range Foothills but requires further study".)

===Woolly meadowfoam===
''L. f.'' subsp. ''floccosa'' is found throughout northern California and southern Oregon. Its range overlaps the highly restricted ranges of all the other subspecies. Thus at most locations where a rare subspecies occurs it is also possible to find this subspecies, making accurate identification critical.

Although widespread, the taxon is not common anywhere.

It differs from the two endemic Oregon subspecies ''pumila'' and ''grandiflora'' and the northern CA ''bellingeriana'' in that it has densely hairy sepals and herbage. (Subspecies ''pumila'', ''grandiflora'' and ''bellingeriana'' all have hairless or only sparsely hairy herbage and have sepals that are either hairless or hairy on only one side.)

Woolly meadowfoam can be distinguished from the endangered Butte County meadowfoam by the shape of the flower and the fact that woolly meadowfoam lacks hairs along the base of the petal margins. Technical features of the nutlet are also useful,.

===Bellinger's meadowfoam ===
''L. f. ''subsp.''bellingeriana'' (M. Peck) C. T. Mason was named for Dr. and Mrs. Bellinger who first collected a sample of the [[herbaceous]] [[plant]] in 1936. It can be found in the foothills of northern [[California]].<ref>http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=4831</ref><ref name="arroyo">{{cite magazine|title=A taximetric study of infraspecific variation in autogamous Limnanthes floccosa (Limnanthaceae) |author=Arroyo, Mary T Kalin |url=http://www.ieb-chile.cl/publications/pdf/Arroyo1973%20Brittonia.pdf |work=Brittonia Volume 25, Number 2 |date=Apr-Jun 1973 |page=177–191}}</ref> Bellinger's meadowfoam can be distinguished from other woolly meadowfoam subspecies by the bell or urn shaped flowers, hairless (or only sparsely hairy) sepals, and petals without hairs on the margins of the base. The leaves and stems are hairless.

===Big-flowered woolly meadowfoam===
''Limnanthes floccosa'' subsp. ''grandiflora'' Arroyo is only known from [[vernal pool]]s in the [[Agate Desert]], an area near [[White City, Oregon|White City]], [[Oregon]]. These plants, unlike subspecies ''floccosa'', have leaves and stems that are only sparsely hairy, not woolly.<ref name="bigflower">{{cite web |url=http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/CONSERVATION/profile_liflgr.shtml |title=Big-flowered wooly meadowfoam |publisher=[[Oregon Department of Agriculture]] |accessdate=2009-04-28 }}</ref> This meadowfoam can further be distinguished from other woolly meadowfoam subspecies by the cup shaped flowers with sepals that have very little hair on their outer (bottom) surface but are densely hairy on the inside (top) surface. The petals have hairs along the margins of the base.

===Dwarf woolly meadowfoam===
Unlike other subspecies of ''Limnanthes floccosa'', the subspecies ''pumila'' (Howell) Arroyo inhabits the edges of vernal pools and wetter areas on [[Upper and Lower Table Rock]], lava formations in the [[Rogue Valley, Jackson County, Oregon]].<ref name="dwarf">{{cite web |url=http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/CONSERVATION/profile_liflpu.shtml |title=Dwarf meadowfoam |publisher=[[Oregon Department of Agriculture]] |accessdate=2009-04-28 }}</ref> The {{convert|3.9|in|cm}} plant are distinguished by their cup shaped flowers with sepals that are hairless on the both surfaces and petals that have hairs along the margins at the base. Like, Bellinger's meadowfoam, the leaves and stems are hairless.

===Butte County or Shippee Meadowfoam===
''Limnanthes floccosa'' subsp. ''californica'' Arroyo is an [[endangered]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=4832 |title=Limnanthes floccosa Howell ssp. californica |publisher=[http://www.calflora.org/ Calflora] |accessdate=2009-05-09}}</ref> plant endemic to [[Butte County, California|Butte County]], [[California]].<ref name="butte">{{cite web |url=http://www.fws.gov/sacramento/es/plant_spp_accts/butte_county_meadowfoam.htm |title=Butte County Meadowfoam Species Account |publisher=[[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]], Sacramento |accessdate=2009-05-09 }}</ref> <ref>Dole, J. A. and M. Sun. 1992. Field and genetic survey of the endangered Butte County meadowfoam - Limnanthes floccosa subsp. californica (Limnanthaceae), Conservation Biology 6, p 549-558</ref>Development of land in the Chico, CA area, including highway improvements and construction of a school and a church, has been impacted by the federal and state protected status of the plant. <ref>http://www.newsreview.com/chico/content?oid=3578</ref> Local celebrity and global warming skeptic [[Anthony Watts]] became involved in the conflict by suggesting that the endangered meadowfoam could be "farmed out of danger".<ref>"My Life With Meadowfoam" in the Chico News and Review, May 03, 2001 http://www.newsreview.com/chico/content?oid=3918</ref>

It is possible that this plant could provide genetic resources for the ongoing development of meadowfoam as a crop. The plant's critical habitat is steadily declining due to development.<ref name="butte"/>

Butte County meadowfoam can be distinguished from other woolly meadowfoam subspecies by the cup shaped flowers with sepals that are densely hairy and petals with hairs along the margin at the base. The leaves and stems are densely hairy.

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|+ Comparison of characteristics of woolly meadowfoam subspecies.
!
!''floccosa''
!''californica''
!''bellingeriana''
!''grandiflora''
!''pumila''
|-
| '''Herbage'''
| Woolly
| Woolly
| Hairless
| Hairless
| Hairless (or only sparsely hairy)
|-
| '''Flower Shape'''
| Bell or Urn
| Cup
| Bell or Urn
| Cup
| Cup
|-
| '''Sepals'''
| Woolly
| Woolly
| Hairless (or only sparsely hairy)
| Hairless
| Woolly on inner (top) surface only
|-
| '''Petal Base Margins'''
| Hairless
| With hairs
| Hairless
| With hairs
| With hairs
|}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Limnanthes Floccosa}}
[[Category:Brassicales]]
[[Category:Flora of California]]
[[Category:Flora of Oregon]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1897]]

Limnanthes floccosa

2010-03-26T18:38:36Z

Michaplot:

{{Taxobox
| image = Limnanthesfloccosapumila.jpg
| image_caption = ''L. floccosa'' subsp. ''pumila''
|regnum = [[Plantae]]
|unranked_divisio = [[Angiosperms]]
|unranked_classis = [[Eudicots]]
|unranked_ordo = [[Rosids]]
| ordo = [[Brassicales]]
| familia = [[Limnanthaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Limnanthes]]''
|section = [[Inflexae]]
|species = '''''L. floccosa'''''
| binomial = ''Limnanthes floccosa''
| binomial_authority = [[Thomas Jefferson Howell|Howell]]
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision =
''L. floccosa ''subsp.'' californica''
''L. floccosa ''subsp.'' floccosa'' 
''L. floccosa ''subsp.'' grandiflora'' 
''L. floccosa ''subsp.'' pumilla''
}}
'''''Limnanthes floccosa''''', or '''woolly meadowfoam''', is a [[species]] of [[meadowfoam]] found in [[Northern California]] and [[Southern Oregon]], in the [[United States]]. The species is uncommon everywhere. Most of the subspecies have highly restricted distribution and are listed as [[critical]] or [[endangered]].<ref>California Native Plant Society (CNPS). 2009. Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants (online edition, v7-09b). California Native Plant Society. Sacramento, CA. Accessed on Mon, Apr. 27, 2009 from http://www.cnps.org/inventory | http://cnps.web.aplus.net/cgi-bin/inv/inventory.cgi/Go?_id=limnanthes_floccosa_ssp._bellingeriana&sort=DEFAULT&search=floccosa</ref><ref>http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/CONSERVATION/profile_liflpu.shtml</ref><ref>http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/CONSERVATION/profile_liflgr.shtml</ref><ref>California Native Plant Society (CNPS). 2009. Inventory of ''Rare'' and Endangered Plants (online edition, v7-09b). California Native Plant Society. Sacramento, CA. Accessed on Mon, Apr. 27, 2009 from http://www.cnps.org/inventory | http://cnps.web.aplus.net/cgi-bin/inv/inventory.cgi/Go?_id=limnanthes_floccosa_ssp._californica&sort=DEFAULT&search=floccosa</ref><ref>http://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/Species/Data/LargeFloweredWoollyMeadowfoam/</ref>

One subspecies (''californica'') has caused a significant conflict between those who would protect it and those who would rather use its habitat for economic activities.

Some subspecies of ''L. floccosa'' have been crossed with ''Limnanthes alba'' to create a meadowfoam that is suitable as a crop plant. The seed oil contains long chain fatty acids (greater than 20 carbons) and is used in cosmetics. It is currently cultivated in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.

==Taxonomy==
Woolly meadowfoam ''Limnanthes floccosa'' is a member of the genus section ''inflexae'' (wherein the petals curve over the fruit when it is mature). Most taxa of this species are at least partially autogamous (self-pollinating).

The species is easily distinguished from other members of the ''inflexae'' by the fact that its petals are not much longer and often shorter than the sepals. The flowers may remain closed even at maturity.

Two subspecies (''pumila'' and ''grandiflora'' are endemic to Oregon.

Another subspecies (''floccosa'') occurs in both California and Oregon.

The Jepson Manual (flora of California) recognizes only one California endemic subspecies (''californica'')<ref>http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?4945,4948,4958</ref> but the Flora of North America recognizes a second (''bellingeriana'').<ref>http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250094631</ref> The Jepson Manual suggests subspecies (''bellingeriana'') has been, "reported from Cascade Range Foothills but requires further study"

===Woolly meadowfoam===
''L. f.'' subsp. ''floccosa'' is the most widespread subspecies of woolly meadowfoam, and its range overlaps the highly restricted ranges of all the other subspecies. Thus at most locations where a rare subspecies occurs, it is also possible to find this subspecies, making accurate identification critical.

Although widespread in northern California and southern Oregon, the taxon is not common anywhere.

It differs from the two endemic Oregon subspecies ''pumila'' and ''grandiflora'' and the northern CA ''bellingeriana'' in that it has densely hairy sepals and herbiage. (Subspecies ''pumila'', ''grandiflora'' and ''bellingeriana'' all have hairless or only sparsely hairy herbiage and have sepals that are either hairless or hairy on only one side.)

Woolly meadowfoam can be distinguished from the endangered Butte County meadowfoam by the shape of the flower and the fact that woolly meadowfoam lacks hairs along the base of the petal margins. Features of the nutlet are also useful.

===Bellinger's meadowfoam ===
''L. f. ''subsp.''bellingeriana'' (M. Peck) C. T. Mason was named for Dr. and Mrs. Bellinger who first collected a sample of the [[herbaceous]] [[plant]] in 1936. It can be found in the foothills of northern [[California]].<ref>http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=4831</ref><ref name="arroyo">{{cite magazine|title=A taximetric study of infraspecific variation in autogamous Limnanthes floccosa (Limnanthaceae) |author=Arroyo, Mary T Kalin |url=http://www.ieb-chile.cl/publications/pdf/Arroyo1973%20Brittonia.pdf |work=Brittonia Volume 25, Number 2 |date=Apr-Jun 1973 |page=177–191}}</ref> Bellinger's meadowfoam can be distinguished from other woolly meadowfoam subspecies by the bell or urn shaped flowers with hairless (or only sparsely hairy) sepals and petals without hairs on the margins of the base. The leaves and stems are hairless.

===Big-flowered woolly meadowfoam===
''Limnanthes floccosa'' subsp. ''grandiflora'' Arroyo is only known from [[vernal pool]]s in the [[Agate Desert]], an area near [[White City, Oregon|White City]], [[Oregon]]. It is not as "woolly" as Bellinger's meadowfoam but sparse [[trichome]]s can be seen on the leaves and stems.<ref name="bigflower">{{cite web |url=http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/CONSERVATION/profile_liflgr.shtml |title=Big-flowered wooly meadowfoam |publisher=[[Oregon Department of Agriculture]] |accessdate=2009-04-28 }}</ref> This meadowfoam can be distinguished from other woolly meadowfoam subspecies by cup shaped flowers with sepals that have very little hair on their outer (bottom) surface and are densely hairy on the inside (top) surface and petals that have hairs along the margins of the base. The leaves and stems are sparsely hairy.

===Dwarf woolly meadowfoam===
Unlike the rest of ''Limnanthes floccosa'', subspecies ''pumila'' (Howell) Arroyo inhabits the edges of vernal pools and wetter areas on the [[Upper and Lower Table Rock]] lava formations in the [[Rogue Valley, Jackson County, Oregon]].<ref name="dwarf">{{cite web |url=http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/CONSERVATION/profile_liflpu.shtml |title=Dwarf meadowfoam |publisher=[[Oregon Department of Agriculture]] |accessdate=2009-04-28 }}</ref> The {{convert|3.9|in|cm}} plant are distinguished by their cup shaped flowers with sepals that are hairless on the both surfaces and petals that have hairs along the margins at the base. Like, Bellinger's meadowfoam, the leaves and stems are hairless.

===Butte County or Shippee Meadowfoam===
''Limnanthes floccosa'' subsp. ''californica'' Arroyo is an [[endangered]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=4832 |title=Limnanthes floccosa Howell ssp. californica |publisher=[http://www.calflora.org/ Calflora] |accessdate=2009-05-09}}</ref> plant endemic to [[Butte County, California|Butte County]], [[California]].<ref name="butte">{{cite web |url=http://www.fws.gov/sacramento/es/plant_spp_accts/butte_county_meadowfoam.htm |title=Butte County Meadowfoam Species Account |publisher=[[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]], Sacramento |accessdate=2009-05-09 }}</ref> Development of land in the Chico, CA area, including highway improvements, construction of a school and a church, has been impacted by the federal and state protected status of the plant. <ref>http://www.newsreview.com/chico/content?oid=3578</ref> It has been of particular interest to agronomists because it could provide genetic resources for the ongoing development of meadowfoam as a crop. Meadowfoam seed oil has been suggested as a substitute for [[sperm whale]] oil<ref>Dole, J. A. and M. Sun. 1992. Field and genetic survey of the endangered Butte County meadowfoam - Limnanthes floccosa subsp. californica (Limnanthaceae), Conservation Biology 6, p 549-558</ref> and is used in cosmetics. The plant's critical habitat is steadily declining due to development.<ref name="butte"/>

Butte County meadowfoam can be distinguished from other woolly meadowfoam subspecies the cup shaped flowers with sepals that are densely hairy and petals with hairs along the margin at the base. The leaves and stems are densely hairy.

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Limnanthes Floccosa}}
[[Category:Brassicales]]
[[Category:Flora of California]]
[[Category:Flora of Oregon]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1897]]