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bmnb123
New Member
USA
21 Posts |
 Posted - 07/31/2008 : 16:04:55
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I found this on slahdot
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has identified water in a soil sample. Hopefully this exciting news will boost interest in the space program and further exploration of the Martian surface." Clearly, this has long been suspected, but now Martian water's been (in the words of William Boynton, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer) "touched and tasted."
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20080731.html
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9687 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2008 : 13:30:40 [Permalink]
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As such, it is good news.
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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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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2008 : 22:51:00 [Permalink]
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At least astronauts can go skinny-dipping and wash up when they get there. After being cooped up all those months, they'll need it.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Chippewa
SFN Regular
USA
1496 Posts |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13476 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2008 : 12:00:30 [Permalink]
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| And how can you argue with a film that is "Scientifically Authentic?" |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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pleco
SFN Addict
USA
2998 Posts |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2008 : 13:28:03 [Permalink]
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Gotta love it.
"This film is scientifically authentic. It is only one step ahead of present reality."
"The scorching fire-swamp that is Mars!"
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2008 : 13:31:52 [Permalink]
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Interesting! Rumors of a forthcoming announcement (after due peer review) concerning possible past life on Mars!
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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bngbuck
SFN Addict
USA
2437 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2008 : 14:14:55 [Permalink]
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| I hope to christ that the forthcoming announcement is that they've found vodka on Mars. It beats the hell out of water! |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13476 Posts |
 Posted - 08/04/2008 : 14:15:51 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
Interesting! Rumors of a forthcoming announcement (after due peer review) concerning possible past life on Mars!
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The only living microbe left on Mars is accidentally killed by the Phoenix Mars Lander. News at eleven.
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Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2008 : 15:42:43 [Permalink]
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Turns out the whole flap was about the question of whether or not the perchlorate ion (ClO4) was or was not detected in Martian soil. Separate analyses have indicated both its absence and its presence. Significantly, if perchlorate is present in the soil, it might essentially preclude there EVER having been Martian life, as it kills living things. (The very soil of Mars may -- or may not -- be hostile to life.)
Here's a link: http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001586/ |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 08/04/2008 15:43:30 |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2008 : 16:29:40 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
Turns out the whole flap was about the question of whether or not the perchlorate ion (ClO4) was or was not detected in Martian soil. Separate analyses have indicated both its absence and its presence. Significantly, if perchlorate is present in the soil, it might essentially preclude there EVER having been Martian life, as it kills living things. (The very soil of Mars may -- or may not -- be hostile to life.)
Here's a link: http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001586/
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I dunno. We have extremeophiles on Earth that thrive in conditions that only a few decades ago whould have been thought to be impossible. I'm with holding opinion until something definitive comes along.
Another thought: there could be microbal life there but we might never come across it. It's a big planet and thus far, on the basis of scale, out efforts have been pretty puny.
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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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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2008 : 00:32:39 [Permalink]
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Right, Filthy. It may be that one man's (or microbe's) poison is another man's vitamin supplement.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Chippewa
SFN Regular
USA
1496 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2008 : 00:40:35 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
...The very soil of Mars may -- or may not -- be hostile to life... |
Mars keeps doing this to us (in a sense.) There are many back & forth, bait & switch results from the red planet over the years.
I pointed out in the blog over at Bad Astronomy: The first probe on Mars did a different experiment with the gas chromatograph mass spectrometer that basically relayed that something ate all the nutrients but left no waste, thereby dividing opinion between Mars microbes and Mars chemical reactions. Same story with the Mars rock found on Earth. Fossil microbes or just chemistry? Verdict is still out on that too. One thing for sure, we need more experiments to land there and eventually humans living there for months or several years at a stretch. |
Diversity, independence, innovation and imagination are progressive concepts ultimately alien to the conservative mind.
"TAX AND SPEND" IS GOOD! (TAX: Wealthy corporations who won't go poor even after taxes. SPEND: On public works programs, education, the environment, improvements.) |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2008 : 02:32:47 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Chippewa
Originally posted by HalfMooner
...The very soil of Mars may -- or may not -- be hostile to life... |
Mars keeps doing this to us (in a sense.) There are many back & forth, bait & switch results from the red planet over the years.
I pointed out in the blog over at Bad Astronomy: The first probe on Mars did a different experiment with the gas chromatograph mass spectrometer that basically relayed that something ate all the nutrients but left no waste, thereby dividing opinion between Mars microbes and Mars chemical reactions. Same story with the Mars rock found on Earth. Fossil microbes or just chemistry? Verdict is still out on that too. One thing for sure, we need more experiments to land there and eventually humans living there for months or several years at a stretch.
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Mars loves to drive us crazy.
Like with its "canals." For a very long time, before the first probes, the verdict among astronomers was mixed on those, though most (correctly, in the main, aside from a few real linear features) assumed they were optical illusions.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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NASA Announces Water Found On Mars
