Joop M. Houtkooper

A possible biogenic origin for hydrogen peroxide on Mars: the Viking results reinterpreted

The adaptability of extremophiles on Earth raises the question of what strategies putative life might have used to adapt to the present conditions on Mars. Here, we hypothesize that organisms might utilize a water–hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O–H 2 O 2 ) mixture rather than water as an intracellular liquid. This adaptation would have the particular advantages in the Martian environment of providing a low freezing point, a source of oxygen and hygroscopicity. The findings by the Viking experiments are reinterpreted in light of this hypothesis. Our conclusion is that the hitherto mysterious oxidant in the Martian soil, which evolves oxygen when humidified, might be H 2 O 2 of biological origin. This interpretation has consequences for site selection for future missions to search for life on Mars.

Effects of perceptual defensiveness, personality and belief on extrasensory perception tasks

Abstract In several experiments perceptual defensiveness as measured by the Defense Mechanism Test (DMT) has been found a useful tool to predict performance in extrasensory perception (ESP) tasks. Subjects with weak perceptual defensiveness have tended to obtain more hits in ESP tests than did subjects with strong defenses. Ten double-blind experiments involving a total of 462 subjects were conducted to test the replicability of the DMT-ESP relationship. Results of 2 of the experiments were independently significant. Meta-analysis of the 10 experiments yielded a significant relationship (z = 2.61, P = 0.0045). Meta-analysis of all 16 DMT-ESP experiments conducted so far revealed highly significant results (z = 3.87, P = 0.00006). Religiosity and belief in life after death were also found related to ESP performance. The often reported relationship between belief and interest in psychic phenomena and ESP performance was not confirmed nor the relationship with extraversion and neuroticism. Psychotism was negatively related to performance on ESP tasks.

Geophysical Variables and Behavior: LXXXVIII. Atmospheric Electromagnetism: The Possible Disturbing Influence of Natural Sferics on ESP

Sferics are electromagnetic impulses generated by electrical discharges during thunderstorms (lightning). One category is comprised of very low frequency electromagnetic waves, traveling over distances up to a thousand kilometers. Sferics have been shown to affect biological responses such as pain syndromes, reaction times, and power in the alpha band of the EEG. In the present study, in which 100 subjects took part, sferics have been studied in their relation to performance on a forced-choice extrasensory perception (ESP) task and to several secondary variables. The general finding is a negative correlation between ESP performance and sferics activity around the time of the session, most notably 24–48 hours prior to the session. Secondary variables appear to modulate this correlation, as has been found in previous research on sferics: the correlation tended to be stronger for persons who scored lower on Neuroticism and higher on the Openness scale of a Five-Factor Personality Questionnaire.

Testing the H2O2-H2O hypothesis for life on Mars with the TEGA instrument on the Phoenix lander.

In the time since the Viking life-detection experiments were conducted on Mars, many missions have enhanced our knowledge about the environmental conditions on the Red Planet. However, the martian surface chemistry and the Viking lander results remain puzzling. Nonbiological explanations that favor a strong inorganic oxidant are currently favored (e.g., Mancinelli, 1989; Plumb et al., 1989; Quinn and Zent, 1999; Klein, 1999; Yen et al., 2000), but problems remain regarding the lifetime, source, and abundance of that oxidant to account for the Viking observations (Zent and McKay, 1994). Alternatively, a hypothesis that favors the biological origin of a strong oxidizer has recently been advanced (Houtkooper and Schulze-Makuch, 2007). Here, we report on laboratory experiments that simulate the experiments to be conducted by the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) instrument of the Phoenix lander, which is to descend on Mars in May 2008. Our experiments provide a baseline for an unbiased test for chemical versus biological responses, which can be applied at the time the Phoenix lander transmits its first results from the martian surface.

The Biological Oxidant and Life Detection (BOLD) mission: an outline for a new mission to Mars

The Viking mission was the only mission to date that conducted life detection experiments. It revealed ambiguous and still controversial results. New findings and hypotheses urge a re-evaluation of the Viking results and a re-evaluation of the evidence for the possible presence of life on Mars in general. Recent findings of abundant water ice on Mars, the presence of liquid contemporary water on the Martian surface, and the detection of methane in the Martian atmosphere further support this possibility. Current missions to be launched focus on habitability considerations (e.g., NASA Phoenix, NASA Mars Science Laboratory), but shy away from directly testing for life on Mars, with the potential exception of the ESA ExoMars mission. If these currently planned missions collect positive evidence toward habitability and the possible existence of extraterrestrial (microbial) life on Mars, it would be timely to propose a new mission to Mars with a strong life detection component. We propose such a mission called BOLD: Biological Oxidant and Life Detection Mission. The BOLD mission objective would be to quantify the amount of hydrogen peroxide existing in the Martian soil and to test for processes typically associated with life. Six landing packages are projected to land on Mars that include a limited power supply, a set of oxidant and life detection experiments, and a transmitter, which is able to transmit information via an existing Mars orbiter back to Earth.

ATMOSPHERIC ELECTROMAGNETISM: ATTEMPTED REPLICATION OF THE CORRELATION BETWEEN NATURAL SFERICS AND ESP

In a previous study a negative correlation was found between the natural sferics activity and scores on an ESP task. We attempted a replication in three studies with 37, 100, and 68 participants. In these studies ESP scores and the level of sferics activity were not significantly correlated. The result for all combined data is significant but with a quite low effect size. Other trends in the data could not be confirmed.

The hydrogen peroxide-water hypothesis for life on Mars and the problem of detection

The conditions on Mars imply an evolutionary advantage for organisms employing a mixture of H2O2 and H2O in their intracellular fluid: the H2O2-H2O eutectic freezes at -56.5°C, is hygroscopic and a source of oxygen. Contrary to common belief, H2O2 is used for a variety of purposes in terrestrial biochemistry. The Viking Lander Biology Experiments have often been interpreted as the result of inorganic oxidants in the Martian soil. Here, we interpret the Viking findings as the result of the reactions of H2O2-H2O based life. Several hitherto puzzling findings are explained by the H2O2-H2O hypothesis. The lack of detected organics is the result of autooxidation of the organisms as these were gradually heated. Supportive observations were made in the PR and LR experiments. Our interpretation is that the addition of water vapor at a relatively high temperature could only be withstood by the organisms for a short time, as they perished due to hyperhydration. The evolution of oxygen in the GEx experiment is explained by the high oxidative content of the organisms as they perished in this experiment. The PR experimental conditions were most Mars-like and carbon assimilation could be detected but no growth. Particularly, the GEx experiment allows the calculation of biomass in the Martian soil based on measured evolution of reaction products. Further properties of the suggested organisms such as metabolic reactions and by-products may be detected by future Mars missions.

Retrocausation Or Extant Indefinite Reality

The possibility of retrocausation has been considered to explain the occurrence of anomalous phenomena in which the ostensible effects are preceded by their causes. A scrutiny of both experimental methodology and the experimental data is called for. A review of experimental data reveals the existence of such effects to be a serious possibility. The experimental methodology entails some conceptual difficulties, these depending on the underlying assumptions about the effects. A major point is an ambiguity between anomalous acquisition of information and retrocausation in exerted influences.A unifying theory has been proposed, based upon the fundamental randomness of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanical randomness may be regarded as a tenacious phenomenon, that apparently is only resolved by the human observer of the random variable in question. This has led to the “observational theory” of anomalous phenomena, which is based upon the assumption that the preference of a motivated observer is able to interac...