did they just find life on mars?

[red]

http://www.space.com/18565-mars-rover-curiosity-discovery-mystery.html

pretty exciting.

[Freak Out]

I saw this yesterday....more likely they found evidence that there was once life on Mars.

[MadtownPacker]

Maybe they left before the Mexes showed up.

[red]

I saw this yesterday....more likely they found evidence that there was once life on Mars.

thats what i'm thinking

[KYPack]

Maybe they left before the Mexes showed up.

From the pic that comes with the article, Mars looks like Tuscon.

[Freak Out]

Maybe they left before the Mexes showed up.

They need maids just like we do.

[mraynrand]

It's going to end up being some derivative of methane and nitrogen; a precursor of amino acids, or possibly an amino acid itself. Not that hard to make them, but the conditions need to be reasonably within the 'life range.'

[mmmdk]

Great thread!

[Joemailman]

They were hoping to find intelligent life on Mars, but all they found was...

[MadScientist]

My gut tells me they think they have signs of life (complex organics), but are waiting to confirm because it is more likely that they just picked up a few bits of plastic flakes from the rover in the sample.


And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space,
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth.

[Upnorth]

Any update?

[Kiwon]

Any update?

Yeah, it's what I thought......hype and faulty journalism.

.................................................. ...................................
"The big news is out. Today the eagerly awaited press conference at the American Geophysical Society meeting in San Francisco on the recent results from the Mars rover Curiosity was finally held. The announced results had been hyped like crazy when rumors began to spread a few weeks ago that Curiosity had discovered something truly spectacular.

Well, here are some of the headlines heralding the results.

•Nature: Mars rover finds carbon in its first soil sample analysis
•Washington Post: Mars rover Curiosity finds organic compounds, not life
•LA Times: Curiosity finds signs of chlorine in Mars’ soil; carbon iffy
•Sky & Telescope: Curiosity gets a whiff of organic matter
•Popular Mechanics: Curiosity finds simple organics, but big questions remain
•National Geographic: Mars rover detects simple organic compounds

Everyone one of these headlines touts the discovery of simple organic compounds as the big news. The trouble is, these organic compounds are not life, but merely simple molecules that include carbon in their molecular structure. Moreover, the scientists were not tremendously surprised by their detection. Their presence could simply be contamination on the rover from Earth, or a simple by-product of the chemistry of the Martian surface. To quote Kelly Beatty’s well written article for Sky & Telescope, despite the deceptive headline:

The instrument did identify some simple organic molecules, variations of methane (CH4) in which chlorine atoms have substituted for one or more hydrogen atoms. But there’s a huge caveat: it’s very unlikely that chlorinated methane actually exists on Mars. Instead, SAM’s tiny ovens probably caused perchlorate molecules (found commonly in martian dirt) to release lots of chlorine and oxygen as they broke down.

Perchlorate was found by the Phoenix lander, and was also theorized as the cause behind the chemical reactions detected by the Viking landers in 1976. Thus, even if the organic compounds are from Mars, they are likely nothing more than a by-product of ordinary Martian surface chemistry.

What is clear from all of these headlines is an effort by these news organizations to hype up the Curiosity results today in a way that really has nothing to do with today’s science results. Or to put it another way, it is an example of poor journalism. Rather than find out what the real story was, these journalists focused on an imaginary discovery that really didn’t happen: The possibility that Curiosity found evidence of life on Mars.

There were two significant facts however from today’s results, neither of which has anything to do with the discovery of life. One of these discoveries was also not covered by any of these articles, and would probably never be covered by most media outlets, merely because it is a discovery of basic science and not flashy."

<snip>

http://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/essays-and-commentaries/the-press-lets-curiosity-get-the-better-of-them

[mraynrand]

The instrument did identify some simple organic molecules, variations of methane (CH4)

[Kiwon]

Alright, showoff......

Now pick the next lottery numbers correctly and then I'll really be impressed.

[mraynrand]

Alright, showoff......

Now pick the next lottery numbers correctly and then I'll really be impressed.

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