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Old 12-28-2014, 04:47 PM
 
Location: Greater NYC, USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NightBazaar View Post
I wouldn't be surprised that there may be life in a few spots in the solar system, but we currently have no idea if there is life elsewhere or not. You said, "...you have not found life on Mars yet, so where have you been looking ?" I don't understand what you mean by that. Do you think the MSL should have somehow found life by now? You're right, we haven't found any life on Mars yet. As I said, the MSL rover *Curiosity" was not designed to find life. It's to search for evidence of conditions that could have been suitable for life to get a start.

Among other things, it has found evidence that Gale Crater probably contained a lot of water in the past. That implies that Mars had liquid water in it's past. Organic compounds have also been found, although that doesn't automatically mean life did in fact emerge on Mars. The question is whether Mars was warm long enough and wet enough for life to get a start. We don't really know the answer to that, but the line of thinking is to "follow the water". With regard to other places around the solar system, Mars is probably the easiest to explore. Even though Mars is a cold desert planet, the possibility that Mars might have had microscopic life, or maybe still does, has not been ruled out yet.

I agree, there is a lot of crap that shows up on the internet. What sources have you been looking at that you are unsure if it's credible or not?
There was something about methane gas showing patters of biological activity. Viking thought to have discovered life, but then the sequential experiments did not back it up. It was testing soils samples for sighs of life.

They believe that there is water underground in Mars. Also I am seeing that at times the humidity on Mars can reach 100%, meaning that there is water on Mars and not just sighs that it existed there in the past.
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Old 12-28-2014, 09:45 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DPolo View Post
There was something about methane gas showing patters of biological activity. Viking thought to have discovered life, but then the sequential experiments did not back it up. It was testing soils samples for sighs of life.

They believe that there is water underground in Mars. Also I am seeing that at times the humidity on Mars can reach 100%, meaning that there is water on Mars and not just sighs that it existed there in the past.
Agreed with Viking, but as you noted, additional tests failed to show the same results. The detection of methane could point to a life form as the source, but it could also be from the interaction of rock and water, or a chemical change from solar radiation against surface minerals. At the present time, we simply don't know for sure what the cause of the spike in methane was that Curiosity recently detected. It could be anything.

Regarding Humidity on Mars
:: NASA Quest > Aerospace ::

It's pretty certain that water exists on Mars. Orbiters have detected what appeared to be water deep below the surface, but unknown as to whether it's in liquid form or as ice. Also, images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have shown the walls of certain craters that seem to indicated a possible seasonal eruption and flow forming gullies. Originally, it was suspected to have been caused by liquid water, but now the general consensus seems to point to dry ice frost as the cause. It's still pretty remarkable.
http://www.space.com/26534-mars-gull...s-dry-ice.html
NASA Spacecraft Observes Further Evidence of Dry Ice Gullies on Mars | NASA
http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1004/1004.5417.pdf


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFEPNpJeWN4


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBam6B9wrdI


It's worth keeping in mind that the presence of water ice or liquid water does not automatically mean life developed on Mars. At the same time though, it can't be ruled out that life might well have emerged long ago in Mars' past, and even possibly still be present. If there are pockets of microbial life below the surface, I don't think Curiosity's drill is long enough, and maybe not strong enough to bore down deep. As I mentioned earlier, Curiosity was not designed to look for life. It was designed to look for signs that there were conditions potentially suitable for life. To do an actual search for life forms, either existing or from the past, it's going to require a beefed up version of the rover with a longer drill bit that could get down a few meters. Such a next generation rover is already under consideration.
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Old 12-29-2014, 08:48 AM
 
Location: Limbo
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 303Guy View Post
How is intelligent life defined?
A being that has consciousness maybe?
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Old 12-29-2014, 08:09 PM
 
5,462 posts, read 9,632,657 times
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A couple of interesting articles on tools for the search for life beyond Earth.

Tiny 'life detector' could sense alien movement

Life on Mars? Curiosity Rover's Readings Revive Methane Mystery - NBC News
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Old 12-30-2014, 08:43 PM
 
Location: Keller, TX
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Here is Nye opining on the Fermi Paradox:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdJvFMAbPF8
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