pallidin Posted November 21, 2012 #51 Share Posted November 21, 2012 (edited) Maybe it could be what we hope... But different. Imagine we find life, but not bacterial or sentient or creature, but plants. Imagine we find oil. Which means the existence of life at some earlier time. When people go "life" they think of big aliens with huge eyes, you know, standard greys, but it would be just as amazing to find bacteria or even plants! Lots of time for clandestine governments to cover it up ! Not sure how far down into the Martian surface the scoop goes, but I imagine only an inch or two, or three, maybe even four. But certainly not far enough down to uncover anything other than close, subsurface organic residues. Just my VERY unscientific opinion, of course. Edited November 21, 2012 by pallidin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean6 Posted November 21, 2012 #52 Share Posted November 21, 2012 (edited) dont get your hopes up NASA downplays ‘Earth-shattering’ Mars finding http://www.cosmosmag...€™-mars-finding http://phys.org/news/2012-11-life-mars-nasa-rows.html Edited November 21, 2012 by sean6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bison Posted November 21, 2012 #53 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Dr. Grotzinger did not make an announcement on behalf of NASA about the new Curiosity discovery. He merely gave his personal reaction to the situation, during an interview on the National Public Radio network. NASA's announcement will come in a couple of weeks at the American Geophysical Union meeting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bison Posted November 22, 2012 #54 Share Posted November 22, 2012 (edited) dont get your hopes up NASA downplays ‘Earth-shattering’ Mars finding http://www.cosmosmag...e;-mars-finding http://phys.org/news...-nasa-rows.html The fellow doing the downplaying is one Guy Webster, who says of himself on Facebook: 'I cover the Mars beat for the news office of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory'. He seems to be a journalist or publicist, not a scientist. As such, he is presumably not privy to the new information that the Curiosity science team, which includes Dr. Grotzinger, are holding onto so closely. When they are ready to spread the news of what has been discovered, they will likely inform him. Edited November 22, 2012 by bison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean6 Posted November 22, 2012 #55 Share Posted November 22, 2012 The fellow doing the downplaying is one Guy Webster, who says of himself on Facebook: 'I cover the Mars beat for the news office of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory'. He seems to be a journalist or publicist, not a scientist. As such, he is presumably not privy to the new information that the Curiosity science team, which includes Dr. Grotzinger, are holding onto so closely. When they are ready to spread the news of what has been discovered, they will likely inform him. yes i want to believe to sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newyork Posted November 22, 2012 #56 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Probably found a wrapper from a twinkie, even the aliens bought them up before they are gone for a while. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted November 22, 2012 #57 Share Posted November 22, 2012 They discovered that Mars once had flowing water, again. This time, it's a confirmation. Water found on Mars! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brothers Posted November 22, 2012 #58 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Maybe they are ittsy bittsy tinny weinny people and we are killing them with out very big robots crushing them even finer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithisco Posted November 22, 2012 #59 Share Posted November 22, 2012 There is nothing more disingenuous than saying "we have found something that will change history", then refuse to put anything out there for other experts to consider. Why not publish the Raw Data and ask the International Community to contribute to its deciphering? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Commander Travis Posted November 22, 2012 #60 Share Posted November 22, 2012 There is nothing more disingenuous than saying "we have found something that will change history", then refuse to put anything out there for other experts to consider. Why not publish the Raw Data and ask the International Community to contribute to its deciphering? We have plenty of that in (for example) the Extraterrestrials & UFOs forum. Any number of people who are very eager to see what they want to see from the pictures have been released that the Mars Rover, everything from crystal cities to guinea pigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bison Posted November 22, 2012 #61 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Just a note to minimize the wait. Dr. Grotzinger reports that he will hold a briefing at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco, on Dec. 3. Earlier reports had this on the 5th. I wonder if they moved it up, due to its perceived importance. Up until today, I hadn't found any specific date for the press conference, except that it would occur during the AGU meeting, so anywhere between the 3rd and the 7th. As it stands, only 11 days to wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted November 22, 2012 #62 Share Posted November 22, 2012 (edited) Maybe they are ittsy bittsy tinny weinny people and we are killing them with out very big robots crushing them even finer. And that is what I always say: we have NO fkg clue about how an ET should look like. Yes, many have ideas, but most of their ideas are based on nothing but the movies they watched, or the Whitley Strieber books they read. But 'aliens' could be the size of bacteria, and we would never know. Can they 'control' us? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabies . Edited November 22, 2012 by Abramelin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lava_Lady Posted November 22, 2012 #63 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Ugh... This will be worse than waiting to open Christmas presents when I was 6!!! >:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calaf Posted November 23, 2012 #64 Share Posted November 23, 2012 News teasers like this remind me too much of the Baltic Anomaly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ancient astronaut Posted November 23, 2012 #65 Share Posted November 23, 2012 they found oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pallidin Posted November 23, 2012 #66 Share Posted November 23, 2012 News teasers like this remind me too much of the Baltic Anomaly. Now that was a total fiasco! Hopefully, something even marginally significant will come out of NASA regarding this so-called "finding" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgowens Posted November 23, 2012 #67 Share Posted November 23, 2012 They found the flux capacitor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bison Posted November 23, 2012 #68 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Actually, bacteria are one of the likelier forms of life that might be found on Mars. And, yes, Curiosity probably could detect them. It could uncover such life indirectly, by its 'biosignature'. Organic material (containing carbon) can be analyzed. If the carbon is mostly of the lighter isotopes, its likely due to life. Life preferentially uses these lighter isotopes, and we have no better explanation for their predominance in a sample than the presence of life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bison Posted November 24, 2012 #69 Share Posted November 24, 2012 (edited) Space.com now has a short video presentation by Dr. Grotzinger, explaining a little about the new discovery with Curiosity. He reports that some of the material in the soil sample was not minerals, but something finely granular, which is amorphous appearing with the x-ray laser. We know that soil on Earth is composed of minerals, organic materials, water, air, and living creatures. Of these, only organic matter and living things seem complex enough to appear amorphous to x-ray diffraction. link to video: http://www.space.com/18599-what-did-curiosity-find-on-mars-video.html Edited November 24, 2012 by bison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DONTEATUS Posted November 24, 2012 #70 Share Posted November 24, 2012 waits for Waspie to yank all the fun outta the Thread < LoL All fun Waspie ! Al in Fun ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROGER Posted November 24, 2012 #71 Share Posted November 24, 2012 We know that soil on Earth is composed of minerals, organic materials, water, air, and living creatures. Of these, only organic matter and living things seem complex enough to appear amorphous to x-ray diffraction. OK , now what I got out of it was the x-ray diffraction did not go small enough , missing some 2% , and that the anomalous readings were simpler compounds it could not pick up. So they will not break it down to a gaseous state to analyze further. So Life is still not thought of at this piont , and wont be done till Dec. 2 nd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Commander Travis Posted November 24, 2012 #72 Share Posted November 24, 2012 see, they always manage to make everything as dull and uninspiring as possible, doesn't it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Ship Posted November 24, 2012 #73 Share Posted November 24, 2012 (edited) I wonder if the President of the United States already knows. Or is he waiting as well. He probably knows. Edited November 24, 2012 by Twin Peaks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pallidin Posted November 24, 2012 #74 Share Posted November 24, 2012 see, they always manage to make everything as dull and uninspiring as possible, doesn't it. I find your comment to be dull and uninspiring. As such, and as President, you are fired. Your last paycheck will be delayed pending the fiscal cliff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Commander Travis Posted November 24, 2012 #75 Share Posted November 24, 2012 I mean, even if they found overwhelming evidence of something Organic, in other words that they had found some sort of Life, whether animal or plant, you can bet that they'd put it in the most dry scientific terms (e.g. some of the material in the soil sample was not minerals, but something finely granular, which is amorphous appearing with the x-ray laser, a sentence which I can guarantee most people would have to read at least three times to understand what it might mean), that a good 82% of people of people would go "What?". It was the same with the Higgs Bison. For all the talk of "God particle", do anyone outside the Scientific community really have the vaguest idea what it actually means or what it might mean for Humanity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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