Lava tubes on Mars could provide shelter for astronauts, according to a new study. Earlier studies have suggested the same could apply to the Moon.

An Army Intelligence Officer and Combat Veteran turned Ufologist and Astrophysicist, Antonio Paris, and other researchers have published a study suggesting astronauts could live in relative safety underground on Mars. 

Astronauts may arrive on Mars sooner than we think, with missions beginning in the 2030s. However, human survival would be impossible without shelter from cosmic radiation. Unlike Earth, Mars has no atmosphere to protect life. 

In areas where the ground has caved in, scientists have seen expansive structures that could serve as “ready-built” homes, reported BGR. 

Enormous Lava Tubes on Mars and the Moon

There is evidence of enormous lava tubes near Mar’s surface up to 1,000 times wider than lava tubes on Earth. In some cases, the tubes could be longer than 25 miles, reported CNN in 2019. Here on Earth, similar structures range from 33 to 98 feet in diameter. They can be found in Hawaii, Australia, Iceland, and the Canary Islands. 

Furthermore, the Moon may have lunar caves that reach one kilometer in diameter. To give you some idea, this would be large enough to hold the tallest buildings on Earth. A study coauthor that year suggested all of Padua, Italy’s city center, could fit inside a lava tube on the Moon.

Moreover, the study authors suggested astronauts could access lunar lava tubes and that they might hold water ice reservoirs.

“Lunar tubes on the moon and Mars could be longer than 25 miles, according to a new study using satellite images, radar data, spacecraft observations of features called skylights belonging to collapsed lava tubes, and digital terrain models of lava tubes on the moon and Mars,” reported Ashley Strickland.

Scientists discovered the lava tubes after spotting “skylights,” holes that revealed the caverns beneath. In the distant past, asteroid impacts created the skylights, revealing the recesses beneath.

Unlike on Earth, low gravity conditions may prevent the huge caves from collapsing. Since the tubes provide shelter from micrometeorites and Radiation, they could serve as niches for hosting life.

Since 2012, the European Space Agency’s CAVES and Pangaea programs have trained astronauts how to explore underground caves safely.

See more about how these lava tubes form from NASA:

Martian Caves Could Block 80% of Radiation 

In recent years, Paris and the researchers studied analogous lava tubes on Earth in Mojave, CA, El Malpais, NM, and Flagstaff, AZ. After taking radiation measurements inside and outside the tubes, they compared the findings to what is known about Mars. 

“It’s not a perfect comparison since we don’t know the exact properties of the lava tubes on Mars, but the researchers suggest that Martian caves could block over 80% of the radiation coming down from space,” reported BGR.

Although radiation would remain higher than on Earth, it could make long-term missions possible.

The Hellas Planitia on Mars

As part of the recent study, Antonio Paris and the other researchers chose to focus on the Hellas Planitia in Mars’ southern hemisphere. 

Its name translates to “Greek plain.” NASA notes the area is “one of the largest impact craters in the solar system.”

Recently, scientists found evidence of an ancient river system in the area. In 2017, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter found strange “squiggles” on the surface, possibly the “result of this dry ice breaking apart into blocks.”

“The crater inside Hellas has been filled with material, which may be related to volcanic activity on the basin’s northwestern rim. It also might be related to the presence of water and water ice. However, there is evidence elsewhere that the ground here is rich with ice,” states the NASA website.

At the Hellas Planitia, there is less cosmic and solar radiation, reports Popular Mechanics. 

Paris believes the site may be ideal for astronauts to seek shelter. Also, he says the lava tubes would be an ideal spot to search for any signs of ancient microbial life.

Today, NASA’s Perseverance Rover is exploring the Jezero Crater, north of the Martian equator. So, it won’t be exploring the Hellas Planitia, unfortunately. In the meantime, Paris is hoping to travel to the Moon. 

As an interesting (and bizarre) sidenote, recently, former Israeli space security chief Haim Eshed stated there has long been “a secret underground base on Mars, where there are American and alien representatives.” Notably, Eshed was head of Israel’s space program for nearly 30 years and is a three-time recipient of the Israel Security Award.

So, who knows what might be down there in the lava tubes on Mars and the Moon?

Related: Megaflood on Mars: Another Sign of Life on the Red Planet

More about the Hellas Planitia via Amaze Lab:

Featured image: Image by Pexels via Pixabay, Pixabay License

YouTube Video Here: https://www.youtube.com/embed/16SySpAWDpQ?start=4&feature=oembed

Scientists have found new important clues about the first domesticated wolves and dogs.

A small cave in Germany contained numerous ancient canine fossils. They could point to a possible origin of all modern dogs. However, researchers stress this remains open to debate and further evidence.

Dogs are considered the oldest domesticated animal in human history well before humans transitioned from hunter-gatherers to agriculture around 10,000 years ago.

Gnirshöhle Cave

A small cave called Gnirshöhle in the Hegau Jura region of southern Germany contained a wealth of canine fossils. Some date back to between 17,000 and 12,000 years old.

Thus, they predate other ancient canine fossils found in Europe by 3,000 years.

Scientists conducted DNA analysis on the fossils, which included dogs, wolves and fox remains. The fossils revealed clues about the animals’ diets. Humans were apparently feeding the canines a low protein diet.

Dr. Chris Baumann of the University of Tübingen said:

“We linked the morphology, genetics, and isotope characteristics, which led to the discovery that the examined bones originated from numerous different genetic lineages and that the new genomes sequenced from the samples cover the entire genetic range from wolf to domestic dog.”

Previous studies have found domesticated canines in two places: Asia and Europe. Eventually, dogs from Asia migrated with humans, largely replacing the western domesticated wolves.

Researchers discuss the study below:

Early Site of Domesticated Wolves

The study suggests that the Hegau Jura was a “potential center of early European wolf domestication.”

“The current research is unable to end this debate, but the genetic diversity discovered in southwestern Germany does suggest the early humans who live there tamed and reared animals from various wolf lineages,” write Science Alert.

By studying the dog and domesticated wolf haplotypes, the authors traced the last common ancestor. Amazingly, this ancestor existed 135,000 years ago in the Pleistocene. Could this suggest a possible “upper limit” for the first domestications?

Experts have long suggested that the first dogs may have diverged from wolves as long as 100,000 years ago. However, it’s generally agreed the first domesticated dogs emerged about 16,000 years ago in Europe and Siberia, reports Science Alert.

Obviously, there’s a big stretch between 100,000 and 16,000 years. Thus, much remains to be learned about domesticate wolves.

Siberian Wolf Hybrids

So far, the oldest found fossil considered a possible dog ancestor comes from Siberia and dates to 30,000 years ago. 

Found in a cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia, the fossil resembled a wolf’s teeth with a shortened dog’s snout, a hybrid wolf. DNA analysis found the skull most closely resembled Tibetian Mastiffs, Newfoundlands, and Siberian Huskies.

However, scientists suspect the Siberian dog might have gone extinct due to advancing glacial periods 26,000 years ago. Thus, independent domestication elsewhere may have ultimately led to the dogs we know today. On the other hand, a Siberian animal could have migrated instead of going extinct.

In 2019, a Siberian man found a perfectly preserved Ice Age wolf head in the permafrost of the Arctic region of Yakutia. The head was 40,000 years old and may have been a subspecies that went extinct along with the mammoths. Judging by the head, it may have been 25% bigger than today’s wolves.

See more from Bloomberg Quicktake: Now:

Dogor the Prehistoric Puppy

Also in 2019, researchers exploring Yakutsk, Siberia found a perfectly preserved 18,000-year-old puppy. 

Scientists were baffled by the specimen, which they named Dogor. Interestingly, DNA tests could not show whether the animal was a dog or a wolf. 

“We have a lot of data from it already, and with that amount of data, you’d expect to tell if it was one or the other. The fact that we can’t might suggest that it’s from a population that was ancestral to both – to dogs and wolves,” researcher David Stanton told CNN.

Due to climate change, more prehistoric creatures are being found in the permafrost all the time.

See more from Amazing Facts:

Oldest Undisputed Dog Fossil

The oldest undisputed dog fossil dates back to 14,000 years. It’s called the Bonn-Oberkassel dog found near Bonn, Germany. In 1914, workers found a grave that contained a puppy, a woman, and a man. It was the oldest known grave where humans and dogs were buried together, dating to the Paleolithic.

Analysis of the grave indicated the puppy was well-cared for. Thus, it became one of the first examples of early pet-human bonding.

Evidence suggests humans were caring for the sick puppy for weeks, which may have died from canine distemper.

Ancient Singing Dogs

Recently, we shared the story about the rediscovery of wild New Guinea Singing Dogs. Although considered extinct, DNA testing revealed the dogs were surviving in Papua New Guinea. For years, residents considered them feral strays. Hiding out in the rugged highlands of the island, they remained elusive.

New Guinea Singing Dogs are cat-like and sing with vocalizations compared to whales.

The dogs have genomic variants different from all other dogs today. Singing Dogs could be relatives of Australian dingoes and Asian dogs that humans brought to Oceania around 3,500 years ago.

New Guinea Singing Dogs may share a common ancestor with the Akita and Shiba Inu breeds.

As you can see, the story of how domesticated wolves led to modern dogs is highly complex. As you might expect, given our bonds today, ancient humans and canines developed tight bonds in many places.

Now the question is, did people first domesticate wolves, or did they decide to tame us?

Featured image: Image by Thomas Bohlen via Pixabay, Pixabay License