OOT - WOW - compelling argument for ancient microbial life on Mars

Submitted by superstringer on

Any other space geeks on the board?  Duh, of course...

There are always lots of morons looking at photos from Mars Curiosity or Opportunity and going, see, that's a face of a person or a paw print, etc.  But this is NOT one of those cases.  This is being reported by a reputable scientiest who is not in the space sciences, but an Earth scientist, who saw something in Martian photos.

This one article linked below from space.com (a serious science news website, not a "sky is falling, we're being visited by aliens" shop) lays it out -- although its being reported elsehwere.  Curiosity has photographed sediments in the Martian soil that look exactly like ancient sediments on Earth, all over the planet, formed by microbes living in wet environments.  The number of similarities is striking and the alternative, non-life explanation would require extraordinary coincidence.  The scientist discovered this after working for more than 20 years on Earth sediments, then she saw a picture from Mars last year and recognized instantly the shapes she was seeing.  Other scientists -- like, NASA-type guys -- are saying, it's not proof, but it's really compelling.

http://www.space.com/28194-mars-rover-curiosity-photos-ancient-life.html

Spooky.  But... utterly fascinating.

Will require a sample return mission to cut up the rocks in more detail, unless you can ship an electron microscope to the Martian surface.  (Although, Elon probably already has those plans drawn up.)

Abe Froman

January 8th, 2015 at 12:39 PM ^

A very recent NASA experiment tested and confirmed the ability of DNA to survive the trip to space and back on the outside of the spacecraft.  This led led to more than a few theories that hypothesize that life on earth may actually be a transplant carried here by an asteroid or meteor.

 

As one comes to appreciate the vastness of the universe relative to the statistical improbility of life (extreme negative entropy), you come to realize that it's almost a guarentee that life exists elsewhere, and likely many times over.  Think of it as life being a winning ticket to the entropy powerball with odds of 1 in a million, and the universe owns 1 billion of those lotto tickets.

it's Science

January 8th, 2015 at 1:35 PM ^

I love this question. Richard Dawkins explains this quite well using his "middle world" theory. He explains we are only given the necessary tools (senses) to help us navigate the environment of which we are presented. Obviously, a heavy indicator for evolution, but it speaks to your point. Their are probably other beings out there that we cannot perceive, because we do not have them proper tools to sense their presence. Our tools can only sense what is needed for the survival in our environment, not another.




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Monocle Smile

January 8th, 2015 at 1:41 PM ^

It's extremely hard to find sci-fi that adequately explores the potential magnitude of differences between life here on Earth and other forms of life. We look for water and oxygen because most life on our planet needs those, but who's to say life in some form couldn't survive in pretty much any environment?

Abe Froman

January 8th, 2015 at 2:55 PM ^

I teach my students all the time about how small of a fraction visible light is compared to all of eletromag radiation, and how something as simple as a sunset might appear completely different were we able to sense just a few more wavelengths like IR and UV.

I wish watching "COSMOS" was a mandatory class for all high school studnets....

Maized and Confused

January 8th, 2015 at 2:43 PM ^

Astronomers estimate 100 billion habitable Earth-like planets in the Milky Way, 50 sextillion in in the Universe. 

If you believe in God/creator, why would God make all these planets and only put life on one?

If you do not believe in God, what's the odds of life evolving on only 1 out of 100 billion planets?

I've always believed in the possibility of life on other planets.  I don't think it will be anything we find in my lifetime though. 

We were born too late to explore the Earth, but too early to explore the Universe.  

At least we can explore the internet...