FARK.com: (7351954) Curiosity has found proof that there was once abundant, fast-moving water on Mars that could have supported life

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		Curiosity has found proof that there was once abundant, fast-moving water on Mars that could have supported life (washingtonpost.com)		28
		More: Cool, Mars Science Laboratory, NASA, Mars landing, imaging science, Planetary Science, John Grotzinger, streambeds, pebbles

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14234 clicks; posted to Main » on 27 Sep 2012 at 11:16 PM | Favorite | share:

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brianbankerus		2012-09-27 09:07:27 PM

4 votes:

fusillade762: Ambivalence: So what happened to it?

I think the theory is that Mars lost its magnetic field and solar radiation fried the place. Any scienticians feel free to correct me if I'm off base.

I'm not a scientician, but I do have an internet degree in doctorology.

NewportBarGuy		2012-09-27 11:46:23 PM

3 votes:

redly1: because water is the only liquid in the universe

YOU

EVERYONE ELSE

whatshisname		2012-09-27 11:30:45 PM

3 votes:

So THAT'S where Jesus put all the water left over from the flood!

WelldeadLink		2012-09-28 09:26:44 AM

2 votes:

StopLurkListen: HSA: Feeling like I'm being led into a conclusion.
With enough time, other things than water can create the photographs that we're presented.

Sure ... but what, if not liquid water? Not shutting you down, this is unsettled science. Which means it's exciting.

Wind weathering produces things that look like this:

But a lot of water produces the Seaview:

Xanlexian		2012-09-27 11:53:22 PM

2 votes:

markie_farkie: I bet we stumble across some kind of primitive trilobite-like fossil before too long.

Think of the implications..

i112.photobucket.com

Hey baby, wanna come to my party boat on the river? On MARS?

freewill		2012-09-27 11:32:01 PM

2 votes:

Yeah, the Alien Brain was trying to tell me something about that when I took it out with the Blaster Launcher.

lparchive.org

grinnel		2012-09-27 11:30:23 PM

2 votes:

You're right, no human being would stack books like this.

NewportBarGuy		2012-09-27 11:23:43 PM

2 votes:

Water? You mean, like, from the toilet?

BravadoGT		2012-09-27 11:21:30 PM

2 votes:

markie_farkie: I bet we stumble across some kind of primitive trilobite-like fossil before too long.

Think of the implications..

We'll have to buy it a cell phone?

www.theblaze.com

KrispyKritter		2012-09-27 11:18:04 PM

2 votes:

and it is this water that gives Jack Daniels a flavor that cannot be copied.

AugustWest		2012-09-28 10:22:54 AM

1 votes:

Good. Now they can start looking for Valentine Michael Smith.

FloydA		2012-09-28 09:48:15 AM

1 votes:

fusillade762: FloydA: Ambivalence: So what happened to it?

Oh, sorry, my bad.

We're cool though, right?

I can't believe you drank the whole planet...

Well, I saw this sign

and said "pshaw, amateurs."

cfletch13		2012-09-28 09:24:47 AM

1 votes:

fusillade762: Ambivalence: So what happened to it?

I think the theory is that Mars lost its magnetic field and solar radiation fried the place. Any scienticians feel free to correct me if I'm off base.

I've been out of astro for a while, but I believe the prevailing theory is the runaway green house effect.

James F. Campbell		2012-09-28 02:01:35 AM

1 votes:

towatchoverme: CS Lewis was writing about this in the 1930s and 50s.

Link

Go project your American sensibilities elsewhere.

home.comcast.net

Kraftwerk Orange		2012-09-28 12:39:28 AM

1 votes:

brianbankerus: fusillade762: Ambivalence: So what happened to it?

I think the theory is that Mars lost its magnetic field and solar radiation fried the place. Any scienticians feel free to correct me if I'm off base.

I'm not a scientician, but I do have an internet degree in doctorology.

blacksportsonline.com

ciberido		2012-09-28 12:29:15 AM

1 votes:

TastyEloi: 'Cause I can definitely see some 23rd century version of PETA protesting Martian terraforming because it will kill off the native bacteria.

upload.wikimedia.org

Way ahead of you.

Maximer		2012-09-28 12:15:20 AM

1 votes:

I'm pretty sure the next thing they're going to find is a fossilized skeleton of a hominid.

Brick-House		2012-09-28 12:13:22 AM

1 votes:

jaytkay		2012-09-28 12:08:51 AM

1 votes:

grinnel: When water formed on earth, was it as vapor in the atmosphere or terrestrial liquid?

African or European?

TastyEloi		2012-09-28 12:04:34 AM

1 votes:

I'm sort of hoping there is no life on Mars, at least not currently. Then we won't have any ethical issues should we ever want to terraform the planet.

'Cause I can definitely see some 23rd century version of PETA protesting Martian terraforming because it will kill off the native bacteria.

NewportBarGuy		2012-09-28 12:02:48 AM

1 votes:

Piestar: Ambivalence: So what happened to it?

God used it for the great flood, and forgot to put it back when he was done.

Sooooooooooooo close!

Carousel Beast		2012-09-27 11:58:39 PM

1 votes:

cman: Ambivalence: So what happened to it?

Probably someone on our planet had some sort of tame-travelling predestination paradox into the past and somehow killed all life on Mars by accident. When it comes to destroying life, we humans are #1

It was a sound of thunder...

adeist69		2012-09-27 11:57:01 PM

1 votes:

justtray: There is almost certainly life on Mars.

There are giant sinkholes in the surface of the planet that are clearly visible. Around these zones, as the seasons change, the amount of Methane in the atmosphere increases signficantly. The only process we know that releases methane into the atmosphere like this is biological.

So the question really is, "Why aren't we searching for life on Mars?" We know where to look, and we aren't even trying.

So what you're saying is that there are cows in the sinkholes, is that right then?

Marcus Aurelius		2012-09-27 11:42:04 PM

1 votes:

soosh: Marcus Aurelius: Richard Saunders: Just because it's a fluid, does not mean it's water...

/or did I not get the memo?

Other solvents tend not to wear rock in the same fashion. Mars rock is composed from a lot of silicon and lesser basalts than Earth, but water erosion is distinct from streams of, say, liquid methane. Water is polar; it hydrates silica minerals, and has an astonishing vapor pressure to atomic weight ratio.

Meanwhile the chances of Mars getting cold enough to liquefy methane in volume and rain it from the sky in sufficient quantities to erode rock is between slim and none.

well sure. but what if it wasn't liquid methane but rather iced tea? didn't think of that, did ya?

That would explain the red color, no doubt. But given the convenience stores wars we have on this planet between Wawa and 7-11 and the Gook-n-Go, I think we can assume that Taco Bell won the war on that planet.

Sad, really.