Evidence of Present Life on Mars?

Comet Hunter · #1 17-02-2005, 11:06 AM

Quote:

WASHINGTON -- A pair of NASA scientists told a group of space officials at a private meeting here Sunday that they have found strong evidence that life may exist today on Mars, hidden away in caves and sustained by pockets of water. .....

Will be interesting how this turns out.

iceman (Mike) · #2 17-02-2005, 11:23 AM

To end a quote, use [ /quote]

Comet Hunter · #3 17-02-2005, 11:30 AM

All fixed!

ving (David) · #4 17-02-2005, 11:36 AM

its life jim but not as we know it...

figured there was a good chance of some basic life there. be interested to see what they cime up with

westsky · #5 17-02-2005, 01:19 PM

I,ve seen some very basic life forms on this planet ,
just go to an AFL game :-)))

janoskiss (Steve H) · #6 17-02-2005, 01:53 PM

A little more level-headed report on this is AS&T. The presence of methane is not "strong evidence" for life. Biological activity is just one possible explanation for the observed concentrations of methane.

ving (David) · #7 17-02-2005, 02:16 PM

as observed on titan...

is there volcanic activity on mars?

ballaratdragons (Ken) · #8 17-02-2005, 02:43 PM

And if they find microbes? How do you say "Take me to your leader" in Microbian.

I don't doubt that there could be something called 'life' on Mars whether it's bacteria or whatever. But what could we possibly learn from that? If we are to live on Mars one day, how does this knowledge help? (this is a serious question, I'm not trying to crack a joke).

silvinator · #9 17-02-2005, 03:03 PM

Ving, there is no volcanic activity on mars and has not been for many, many, many, many, many years. The only other active worlds (volcanically) in the solar system would be Venus and Io (can't remember if there are others but these two definitely spring to mind).

Ken, the search for life isn't just about whether we could live on other worlds one day but it is also about knowing whether we are alone in this universe. Finding life on other worlds might help us to make more sense of our place in this universe. If bacteria can live on other planets and moons, maybe that will bring us closer to discovering whether more intelligent life is out there that are similar to us or more advanced. Either way, we wouldn't feel so alone. I guess it's a scientific quest as well as a philosophical quest of sorts.

ving (David) · #10 17-02-2005, 03:52 PM

I feel alone!

janoskiss (Steve H) · #11 17-02-2005, 11:30 PM

Right on, Silvie! We still don't know what life is here at home! We have a feeling for it but can't pin it down. Check out any dictionary or http://www.answers.com/life, which will tell you sg like life is "The property or quality that distinguishes living organisms from dead organisms ..."; talk in circles. light is absence of darkness & vv. .......

We talk and talk about it but haven't the faintest what we're talking about. We humans are really infants feeling our way around in the unknown. We've gotta do a lot more observing what is going on. I say, yeah, let's look for Martians, Titanians and everyone else we can think of.

iceman (Mike) · #12 18-02-2005, 06:16 AM

Maybe I can help you find it Ken, and email him his name/pwd again..

Back on topic, some good conversation above.. I was having one of those deep and meaningfuls with my uncle and cousin at my birthday party, as we were standing around my dob looking up at carina and the milky way..

My cousin is only 17 or so, and is in the generation that is skeptical of the moon landings, and has a few other conspiracy theories in his head, but it was good fun discussing it anyway.