Alex_Krycek Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Not sure if this article has been shared yet. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jul/25/huge-underground-lake-discovered-on-mars-say-astronomers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moontanman Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 Now if they could just give us some good pics of nessie swimming around in the mars lake... Just kidding, I'm getting skeptical in my old age... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex_Krycek Posted July 26, 2018 Author Share Posted July 26, 2018 (edited) some kind of aquatic, bipedal organism with venomous spines that glow in the dark would be interesting. barring that, I'll settle for a few colonies of extremophile bacteria. Edited July 26, 2018 by Alex_Krycek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moontanman Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 3 minutes ago, Alex_Krycek said: some kind of aquatic, bipedal organism with venomous spines that glow in the dark would be interesting. barring that, I'll settle for a few colonies of extremophile bacteria. I would as well, not being related to earth life at all would be nice too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex_Krycek Posted July 26, 2018 Author Share Posted July 26, 2018 6 hours ago, Moontanman said: I would as well, not being related to earth life at all would be nice too... What if it is? Would you see that as fodder for exogenesis? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moontanman Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 Just now, Alex_Krycek said: What if it is? Would you see that as fodder for exogenesis? Yes, evidence for a separate genesis on Mars would raise the odds of life occuring in the universe, so far we only have one example of life, two in the same solar system would be highly indicative of life being common... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beecee Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 I cringed last night when a news TV station was saying that it is the first sign of water on Mars. Of course that honour actually goes to the Phoenix Polar lander a few years ago with the discovery of water ice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Fabian Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 10 hours ago, Moontanman said: Yes, evidence for a separate genesis on Mars would raise the odds of life occuring in the universe, so far we only have one example of life, two in the same solar system would be highly indicative of life being common... If bits of Mars have reached Earth as meteorite fragments, it seems likely (even if less commonly) that fragments of Earth also reached Mars. If life is found in underground water on (in?) Mars and it has enough biochemistry in common to conclude a common origin we will still be left with the question of which planet it originated on (in) - or if they both came from elsewhere. I'd still put my bets on Earth over Mars and both over interstellar - but that could be my Earthocentrism. Or just the abundance of life on Earth in comparison to Mars. A mile/1.6km down will need a serious (custom engineered) drill rig plus what it takes to get it there. Could be a very long time before any samples can be examined. I doubt I'll be around to see, but luck to any future efforts to find out if there is life in that water. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Externet Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 Still have to find out what chemicals are dissolved, what temperature has, and zero sunlight... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koti Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 Okay, so we need to build a solar (or hydrogen for that matter since theres H2O on Mars) powered laser contraption that would melt through the mile of ice to take samples of the water underneath. I feel I need to find out more about this bipedal, venomous, glow in the dark creature. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moontanman Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 13 hours ago, koti said: Okay, so we need to build a solar (or hydrogen for that matter since theres H2O on Mars) powered laser contraption that would melt through the mile of ice to take samples of the water underneath. I feel I need to find out more about this bipedal, venomous, glow in the dark creature. Well i guess it was inevitable... https://www.theonion.com/world-eating-leviathan-awoken-from-500-million-year-slu-1827928509 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MigL Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 I see very little chance of our type of life being found; not even bacteria. The report suggests large amounts of perchlorate salts dissolved in this water. Now I'm no chemist, but perchlorates are strong oxidizers; and strong oxidizers tend to sterilize and kill our type of life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moontanman Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 7 minutes ago, MigL said: I see very little chance of our type of life being found; not even bacteria. The report suggests large amounts of perchlorate salts dissolved in this water. Now I'm no chemist, but perchlorates are strong oxidizers; and strong oxidizers tend to sterilize and kill our type of life. Some bacteria actually eat perchlorates, I guess the concentration is important. https://www.livescience.com/28444-ancient-life-breathes-rocket-fuel.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T. McGrath Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 (edited) The actual paper should be the reference to this thread, not the Guardian. Radar Evidence of Subglacial Liquid Water on Mars - Science, July 25, 2018, DOI: 10.1126/science.aar7268 Furthermore, "discovered" is not the correct term. "Interpreted" would be more accurate. Based upon the radar information in a 20 km wide, 100 km long area they are interpreting the data to mean that liquid water may be present at a depth of ~1.5 km. There is something a bit odd, however. All the data collected and every reference made is dated 2015 or earlier. Why did it take three years to publish the paper? Edited July 29, 2018 by T. McGrath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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