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Paulos23
Skeptic Friend
USA
446 Posts |
 Posted - 02/16/2005 : 15:09:53
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This would be cool, but I have seen it in a few scifi stories.
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mars_life_050216.html
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You can go wrong by being too skeptical as readily as by being too trusting. -- Robert A. Heinlein
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. -- Aldous Huxley |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 02/16/2005 : 17:08:31 [Permalink]
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How cool is that?
If it turns out to be true... wow.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2005 : 10:22:14 [Permalink]
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| Kickass! That would be so damn cool. |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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furshur
SFN Regular
USA
1536 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2005 : 12:36:40 [Permalink]
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It's interesting that if we do not find life on Mars that means nothing about how common life may be, however if we do find life on Mars that means that live is probably very common on other planets.
I would be surprised not to find life on Mars based on 2 facts:
1. Water use to exist on Mars in liquid form.
2. Life started on Earth very soon after it's formation.
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If I knew then what I know now then I would know more now than I know. |
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Starman
SFN Regular
Sweden
1613 Posts |
Posted - 02/18/2005 : 01:47:10 [Permalink]
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BA made this post on his board. quote:
Originally posted by The Bad Astronomer
Basically, the story is, now get this, a fabrication. Yes, you read that correctly.
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Paulos23
Skeptic Friend
USA
446 Posts |
Posted - 02/18/2005 : 05:19:11 [Permalink]
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| Drat, I was hoping it was true. |
You can go wrong by being too skeptical as readily as by being too trusting. -- Robert A. Heinlein
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. -- Aldous Huxley |
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 02/18/2005 : 08:17:50 [Permalink]
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| Poo... |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 02/18/2005 : 08:39:56 [Permalink]
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Whilst I too entertained high hopes, I suspected that it might be something like this. It all came too fast and easy.
And the thought occured, the rovers are solar powered. Would they risk one in a dark cave just on batteries that might go flat, thereby jepordizing the remainder of the mission?
In short, while it's nice to know my bullshit dector was functioning again after a serious breakdown a short while ago, this does not mean there's no microbal life on Mars. I just don't think it'll be found on this mission.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 02/18/2005 : 09:50:13 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Ricky
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
And the thought occured, the rovers are solar powered. Would they risk one in a dark cave just on batteries that might go flat, thereby jepordizing the remainder of the mission?
quote:
Technically, there is no really, "remainder of the mission", as the rovers were planned to die out a long time ago, but haven't.
That is true, but, if I were running the show (Whatever Powers that Might Be forbid), I'd want to milk the last, sour drop out of it. I've little doubt that those in charge think the same. It's well into the profit margin now, and they want to keep it there as long as possible, yes?
Like the BA, I too am wondering if NASA will issue a statement.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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chaloobi
SFN Regular
1620 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2005 : 11:50:13 [Permalink]
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| Life on Mars, what does it mean? It says something about how rare life is in the universe. But, if they do find microbes on Mars and they find they have a lot in common - say, their genetic code is DNA, for example - with Earth Microbes, what does that say? Because Mars and Earth have exchanged meteors quite freqently over the ages, it may be that life was seeded here or there. So, it would actually ad ambiguity to our understanding of the history of life. And it would say nothing at all about how common life is in the rest of the galaxy/universe. However, if the life on Mars is completely different from Earth microbes - using a different set of amino acides and some other genetic material than RNA/DNA, now that would be something. |
-Chaloobi
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no1important
New Member
Canada
4 Posts |
Posted - 03/13/2005 : 19:59:53 [Permalink]
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| Mars could be where earth was millions of years ago. Earth was not always habitable either. |
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 03/14/2005 : 08:10:10 [Permalink]
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| Um habitable by humans? Because last I checked bacteria can live in ridiculous extremes, not to mention 3 billion years of living... |
"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 03/14/2005 : 08:36:38 [Permalink]
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Indeed. The more I read of extremophile life forms, the more convinced I become that if life can form under given conditions, it surely will.
And not just single-celled life. There are giant tube worms thriving around deep-sea, hydorthermal vents that are boiling on one end and fridgid on the other.
Amazing, and I suspect that we don't yet know the least of it. I don't think that we even know for sure the limits for the genesis of life, even here on earth.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 03/14/2005 : 09:56:16 [Permalink]
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| Clearly we do not know the limits on earth, considering we find new unthought of creatures all the time, then we determine the best way to kill them. |
"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9687 Posts |
Posted - 03/14/2005 : 14:17:33 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by filthy
And not just single-celled life. There are giant tube worms thriving around deep-sea, hydorthermal vents that are boiling on one end and fridgid on the other.
Not only that, the kind of gasses solved in the water...
The proximity of extreme warmth and cold makes for an abundance of heat transfer, increasing entropy, which is one prime sources of energy for live. |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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