Water on Mars...kind of a big deal...

[JackoliciousLegs]

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20080731.html">http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoen ... 80731.html</a><!-- m -->

What say you? I say holy shit. It was predictable, but holy shit.

[Evan]

first official nasa picture
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0504/WaterOnMars2_gcc.jpg">http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0504/Wa ... s2_gcc.jpg</a><!-- m -->

[Mike]

neat? sure.
holy shit? not me.

[JackoliciousLegs]

well, it's the closest we've come to proof of life on other planets. It's nearly statistically certain now, eh?

[Evan]

well, it's the closest we've come to proof of life on other planets. It's nearly statistically certain now, eh?

:?:

[JackoliciousLegs]

Ok, maybe I got too excited. Why isn't everyone excited?



bahh... nobody's cared about space since the 60s anyways.

[WRXtranceformed]

I've always been interested in space, space travel etc. I just don't think we as a species are going to be around long enough to explore our limits. We're too selfish and short-sighted to work as a collective in order to explore the limits of our technology in investigating space. That's why I dont get excited about this stuff anymore anyway. Something drastic will have to change in humanity as a whole for the information we gather from Mars or anywhere in space to matter at all to us as a civilization.

[Apoc]

I'm not even convinced water is necessary for life. I mean I believe we're not the only ones in the universe but why does it have to be like all life on this planet and require water? Maybe there are gas sucking thingamajigs living on Jupiter.

[HAULN-SS]

I dont know if water is necessary, but i'd think some liquid is - what else would the cytoplasm be made of? Unless maybe it was a super low gravity area where the junk could float in the cell..or something crazy like that

[CaptainHenreh]

I'm not even convinced water is necessary for life. I mean I believe we're not the only ones in the universe but why does it have to be like all life on this planet and require water? Maybe there are gas sucking thingamajigs living on Jupiter.

Water is important because it's a liquid medium for complex molecule development.

Without some kind of liquid, life as we know it and pretty much as we can conceive it isn't possible.

[WRXtranceformed]

We just know so little about the universe that it is very possible that there are other element-based life forms besides carbon-based. I think it was Aasimov that theorized there could even be pure energy based life forms, which would ultimately be what humanity would evolve into. Despite our massive technological advances in the past few decades, I kind of feel like we're in a "dark age" so to speak in terms of exploration of our last unknown frontiers... which are what ultimately would lead to the expansion, evolution and enlightenment of our species.

[Evan]

considering we dont have a clue how the high complexity of even the simplest single cell organisms came into existence, we cant really say water is a requirement. but it definately looks that way.
either way, it takes a whooooole lot more than water to create or sustain life

but anyway, yeah i think its super cool that there is water on mars

[Apoc]

I'm not even convinced water is necessary for life. I mean I believe we're not the only ones in the universe but why does it have to be like all life on this planet and require water? Maybe there are gas sucking thingamajigs living on Jupiter.

Water is important because it's a liquid medium for complex molecule development.

Without some kind of liquid, life as we know it and pretty much as we can conceive it isn't possible.

Exactly. There's probably some sort of seriously wicked life form that is so ridiculously "out there" that we could never think it up.

[CaptainHenreh]

Exactly. There's probably some sort of seriously wicked life form that is so ridiculously "out there" that we could never think it up.

Well, but that's just silly to say. Here's why:

If there's some life form so crazy that we can't possibly concieve it, then we've got no idea where to look for it. On the other hand, there *is* a planet that contains life, and 100% guaranteed harbored the appropriate conditions for life: Earth.

Earth has lots of water.

So you guys are correct: Jovian gasbags or intelligent energy or sentient black holes could all be possible, maybe even likely. However, it's just as likely that they don't. So there isn't much sense seriously considering "wild" forms of life until we've got some solid evidence that there's another, ah, source of "mundane" life.

So *that* is why water is so important. It's one of the things that we know for sure no life on earth could live without.

[John]

I'm not even convinced water is necessary for life. I mean I believe we're not the only ones in the universe but why does it have to be like all life on this planet and require water? Maybe there are gas sucking thingamajigs living on Jupiter.

There was an article about possible oceans of ethane on one of Jupiter's moons (Titan I think) yesterday...

[CaptainHenreh]

There was an article about possible oceans of ethane on one of Jupiter's moons (Titan I think) yesterday...

Titan is a moon of saturn, and it's pretty much universally accepted in the scientific community that there are bodies of liquid methane on it's surface.

[BLINGMW]

I'm sure it's a big deal for the NASA guys, but yeah, I'll go with "predictable" as well and am not too excited about it. Heck, I believe it's pretty likely there's other life out there, so I don't really need proof that two REALLY common elements might get together in other places and form water. I just kind of assume there's probably lots of water out there we don't know about.

[Mike]

There was an article about possible oceans of ethane on one of Jupiter's moons (Titan I think) yesterday...

Titan is a moon of saturn, and it's pretty much universally accepted in the scientific community that there are bodies of liquid methane on it's surface.

They may have thought it before, but they verified it a day or two ago. I think they're planning to launch a probe... Watch the dumbasses emit a spark and blow the whole fucking place up.. LOL

[CaptainHenreh]

There was an article about possible oceans of ethane on one of Jupiter's moons (Titan I think) yesterday...

Titan is a moon of saturn, and it's pretty much universally accepted in the scientific community that there are bodies of liquid methane on it's surface.

They may have thought it before, but they verified it a day or two ago. I think they're planning to launch a probe... Watch the dumbasses emit a spark and blow the whole fucking place up.. LOL

I'm pretty sure they verified it with the Huygens probe that *landed* on Titan. Also, methane (well, anything) doesn't burn without oxygen.

[Mike]

There was an article about possible oceans of ethane on one of Jupiter's moons (Titan I think) yesterday...

Titan is a moon of saturn, and it's pretty much universally accepted in the scientific community that there are bodies of liquid methane on it's surface.

They may have thought it before, but they verified it a day or two ago. I think they're planning to launch a probe... Watch the dumbasses emit a spark and blow the whole fucking place up.. LOL

I'm pretty sure they verified it with the Huygens probe that *landed* on Titan. Also, methane (well, anything) doesn't burn without oxygen.

you're way to grounded in the laws of what has been discovered here on our tiny earth... open up. haven't we time and again rewritten the rules?