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.)

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aratman

January 8th, 2015 at 11:26 AM ^

Would take an extraordinary coincidence also.  The universe(s?) is/are so vast that almost anything is possible.  The more we learn the more we realize we don't know.

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xtramelanin

January 8th, 2015 at 11:55 AM ^

to take a scoop and let us know?

if not, which one of you is volunteering to be the first space-bound fed-ex driver?   we've got a package to pick up. 

Joined: 12/09/2014

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ChiBlueBoy

January 8th, 2015 at 12:23 PM ^

Saw this article recently, addressing the likelihood of life arising on its own. It suggests that where there is a warm, wet environment, life would be expected to arise automatically. If that's the case, in a planet that is the right distance from its star, and that has liquid water, we should be surprised, not to find life, but to not find it. Of course, it's still rudimentary, but now some chemists and others are looking at the study to see whether they could devise experiments to test the findings.

It's an interesting time to be alive.

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bluebyyou

January 8th, 2015 at 12:29 PM ^

Pretty neat stuff, as long as we don't have to worry about War of the Worlds type stuff.

That movie still scares me out of my freaking mind. The usual conundrum....are aliens friendly or are we going to be lunch?

Joined: 09/07/2009

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corundum

January 8th, 2015 at 12:38 PM ^

They somewhat resemble Stromatolites. Either way, trace fossils like these are hard to explain via aeolian processes. This is a significant find. We have evidence of life, evidence of water, and an atmosphere with limited oxygen. AKA, lemme get dat oil!

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