DailyDirt: Mounting Evidence For Life On Mars
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
A warmer, wetter Mars might have been a habitable world, but it's not clear exactly how the conditions on Mars changed and became so different. Our neighboring planet had the best chances for harboring life as we know it, even if it doesn't anymore. There's really no proof that Mars supported life (yet?), but it's not impossible to think that things once lived there. Here are just a few clues that could lead to finding alien lifeforms.- NASA's Curiosity rover measured a spike of methane gas that could indicate biological activity. Of course, this methane plume might have non-biological origins, but it's very interesting to see fluctuations of organic molecules. [url]
- Sediment found on Mars might have been home to microbial colonies, analogous to life on Earth, forming microbially-induced sedimentary structures (MISS). Similar-looking rock structures don't necessarily mean microbes lived on Mars, but it would be an extraordinary coincidence. [url]
- An ancient freshwater lake likely existed on Mars for at least 100,000 years. The presence of fine-grained sedimentary rocks and their chemical composition point to a sizable body of water that might have been common on the red planet in its distant past. [url]
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: astrobiology, curiosity, et, extraterrestrial life, life, mars, microbes, space, space exploration
Companies: nasa
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
"Opportunity rover in 2004 took an image of a fascinating structure on Mars that shows structural features that are consistent with organisms on Earth known as crinoids . . . Crinoids are echinoderms, like starfish . . . so these are animals! And I’m saying that Opportunity took a photograph on Mars that shows features that are consistent with what we know of crinoids . . . Now, the fascinating thing is here you have a possible fossil of a very interesting organism in a rock on Mars, and three hours and a half after that photograph was done, that rock was destroyed by the rock abrasion tool."
"Hoover claims that he asked NASA astrobiologist David McKay to explain why such an interesting structure was destroyed. He was told that it was done “to look at the inside looking for carbon.” But Hoover has a problem with this answer. He explains, “Well, the problem is, anyone who does much in the field of paleontology knows that you don’t have to find carbon to find fossil.” To further explain his confusion by the decision to destroy a potential fossil, Hoover offered this analogy: “If a paleontologist finds on Earth a rock containing an interesting fossil, they collect it. You would never have a paleontologist say, ‘Gee. That may represent a new genus of life on Earth. Where’s my rock hammer? I want to smash that to bits."
http://www.openminds.tv/scientist-believes-evidence-alien-life-mars-destroyed/26012
I find quite a few things interesting about Mars. Such as how many probes and rovers countries from around the world are sending there. I believe NASA has sent no less than three rovers to the planet. Something interesting must be there for them to keep sending more and more rovers.
I don't think there's still life on Mars, probably just fossils of early life. Perhaps even evidence of aliens visiting the planet. Pyramids? Maybe etched faces?
Another thing I find interesting, is less than a year ago Pope Francis hinted at the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Which is quite extraordinary coming from the head of a conservative religious group.
"Speaking on Monday during the homily at his daily morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta inside Vatican City where he lives, he told his mostly clerical audience that they should keep an open mind to anyone—or anything—seeking God. “If—for example—tomorrow an expedition of Martians came, and some of them came to us, here... Martians, right? Green, with that long nose and big ears, just like children paint them... And one says, ‘But I want to be baptized!’ What would happen?” he asked parishioners. “When the Lord shows us the way, who are we to say, ‘No, Lord, it is not prudent! No, let’s do it this way...’”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/13/pope-francis-church-would-baptize-alien s.html
I know there's a lot of people who laugh at the "crazy" idea of aliens. But given the size of the universe. I laugh at the idea that earth is the only planet out there with lifeforms on it, and that we're the most technologically advanced species in the universe.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: a rock that appeared to contain what looked like a fossilized star fish
“All our conspiracy theories are guaranteed hole-free!”
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
But he wasn't a paleontologist, now, was he? And that's just it - people who think they know what they're doing destroy priceless finds all the time here on Earth. What makes you think Mars would be any different? My dad's a geologist, and one site he had the privilege of visiting, they had a "professional" who showed up and started using explosives to "unearth" several fossils... which were reduced to a fine powder.
Anywho, I wouldn't worry about it. If it really was a fossil, there'll be many more. The odds of that being the ONLY fossil on Mars are... astronomical. Thank you! I'll be here all week, ladies and gents!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
But, But, The Bible ... !
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: But, But, The Bible ... !
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Why would God make so many planets
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Why would God make so many planets
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]