Technological advances have finally allowed researchers to measure the amount of rare forms of nitrogen in our atmosphere.
In the future, these indicators can be used to search for life on other planets.
Most atoms have an atomic mass of 14, but less than one percent of the nitrogen atoms have one atom more 15N, isotope periodically two together and it turns out 15N15N, which makes the molecule even more rare.
Counting molecules in the atmosphere using a mass spectrometer Panorama showed that their number reaches two percent.
One of the possible sources of the appearance of these double molecules of nitrogen-15 — biological. Denitrifying bacteria are commonly found in soil and can selectively eat the nitrates and produce nitrogen gas. To prove that the bacteria can produce nitrogen, the researchers experimented with two types of denitrifying bacteria and nitrogen-fixing one.
“In biological experiments it was enrichment, but not enough to found in the atmosphere,” says Laurence young of rice University in Houston.
Further studies showed that the enrichment of 15N15N occurs in the upper atmosphere, at altitudes close to the ISS.
Now, scientists think that the ultimate indicator of 15N15N is a compromise between the types of microbes that absorb and release nitrogen, and chemistry in the upper atmosphere. For the geochemists this is a huge leap in understanding of the dynamics of chemical soup of our atmosphere.
“But it also gives us an idea of how to look for the signatures of the other planets, especially if they are able to support life as we know it,” says Jung.
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