Fossil Found On Mars? Coming Some Day Maybe?

[cronus]

The major positive about life being on Mars is in regards bolstering the public imagination and keeping that funding flowing towards NASA. Wouldn't put it past them to send some life there and then 'discover' what they brought.

[rainbow]

The major positive about life being on Mars is in regards bolstering the public imagination and keeping that funding flowing towards NASA. Wouldn't put it past them to send some life there and then 'discover' what they brought.

Bastids!

...and the are using Seth's tax money to do this.

[Forty Two]

The hope they're holding out for is a small one. A tiny one. An infinitessimally small one. They are hoping that life exists in very small, hidden away places that we have to search for. I highly doubt life does that.

Life does that on this planet! There are microbes flourishing in microhabitats in the most inhospitable regions.

Life does that on this planet, but it doesn't ONLY do that on this planet. The probability of life surviving for any appreciable period of time drops considerably when life is relegated only to tiny, hidden pockets here and there. The chance of life developing on a planet at all may well be very, very small to begin with. The chance of Mars having been around for four billion years, with life creeping around on it, but only in small bubbles or pockets here and there, such that it's very hard to locate, seems to me to be rather unlikely.

.

I think it's safe to say that life can cling on to just about any source of nutrients once established.

Life on Mars is a long shot, probably, but by no means infinitesimally small.

Life existing on a planet in the first place may be infinitesimally small.

[Hermit]

Life existing on a planet in the first place may be infinitesimally small.

May be, yes, but our ignorance of the cosmos in empirical terms is so comprehensive that trying to quantify the odds of life on other planets is utterly foolish. To begin with, the very existence of an exoplanet was not confirmed until 23 years ago, and apart from its location and approximate orbit we know nothing about it.

If we insist on extrapolating from the little knowledge we do have, the odds of finding life on other planets is at least as good as 1:8. If we multiply that by the number of similar stars to the one earth orbits in our galaxy and then multiply that by the number of galaxies we know to exist the conclusion that there must be life on millions or billions of other planets is almost impossible to avoid.

[Forty Two]

Life existing on a planet in the first place may be infinitesimally small.

May be, yes, but our ignorance of the cosmos in empirical terms is so comprehensive that trying to quantify the odds of life on other planets is utterly foolish. To begin with, the very existence of an exoplanet was not confirmed until 23 years ago, and apart from its location and approximate orbit we know nothing about it.

Sure, but we were pretty well certain that there were exoplanets, on the assumption that our solar system was not particularly unusual, and based on calculations using gravitational theory, nebular formation of stars was supported with physics and, also, nebular formation of solar systems. The math showed that there would be solar systems and planets. The proof in the form of actual observation came later, and confirmed it.

If we insist on extrapolating from the little knowledge we do have, the odds of finding life on other planets is at least as good as 1:8. If we multiply that by the number of similar stars to the one earth orbits in our galaxy and then multiply that by the number of galaxies we know to exist the conclusion that there must be life on millions or billions of other planets is almost impossible to avoid.

...and if it is impossible to avoid, the question becomes "how have we managed to avoid it, or them us?"

[Hermit]

If we insist on extrapolating from the little knowledge we do have, the odds of finding life on other planets is at least as good as 1:8. If we multiply that by the number of similar stars to the one earth orbits in our galaxy and then multiply that by the number of galaxies we know to exist the conclusion that there must be life on millions or billions of other planets is almost impossible to avoid.

...and if it is impossible to avoid, the question becomes "how have we managed to avoid it, or them us?"[/quote]Oh. Now you are not just talking about intelligent life, but intelligent life so advanced that it has surmounted problems involved with interstellar and / or intergalactic travel. Of course, if we assume the existence of life forms on millions or billions of other planets that are vastly superior to ours in intelligence and technological capabilities (which I did not) the next question is: would they be interested in paying us a visit? Are we perhaps as common as an ant heap? I mean, even scientists who specifically study ant heaps will just drive past most of them thinking "Yup. That's another ant heap." and ants will never know about it.

[Forty Two]

Well, we shall see in the coming years, as we detect Oxygen-rich worlds, and hopefully worlds with chlorophyll present. That may be a good sign for plant life. But, I'm not holding my breath.

[cronus]

Well, we shall see in the coming years, as we detect Oxygen-rich worlds, and hopefully worlds with chlorophyll present. That may be a good sign for plant life. But, I'm not holding my breath.

Gotta put a giant telescope on the dark side of the moon like the aliens already have....or ask to borrow theirs?

[Hermit]

Well, we shall see in the coming years, as we detect Oxygen-rich worlds, and hopefully worlds with chlorophyll present. That may be a good sign for plant life. But, I'm not holding my breath.

Yes, well, I doubt we will be able to determine which and how many exoplanets are physically capable of sustaining life forms for quite some time, so I won't be holding my breath either.

Apologies, by the way, for fucking up the quote tags in my previous post.

[Forty Two]

Well, we shall see in the coming years, as we detect Oxygen-rich worlds, and hopefully worlds with chlorophyll present. That may be a good sign for plant life. But, I'm not holding my breath.

Gotta put a giant telescope on the dark side of the moon like the aliens already have....or ask to borrow theirs?

[Xamonas Chegwé]

The hope they're holding out for is a small one. A tiny one. An infinitessimally small one. They are hoping that life exists in very small, hidden away places that we have to search for. I highly doubt life does that.

Life does that on this planet! There are microbes flourishing in microhabitats in the most inhospitable regions.

Life does that on this planet, but it doesn't ONLY do that on this planet. The probability of life surviving for any appreciable period of time drops considerably when life is relegated only to tiny, hidden pockets here and there. The chance of life developing on a planet at all may well be very, very small to begin with. The chance of Mars having been around for four billion years, with life creeping around on it, but only in small bubbles or pockets here and there, such that it's very hard to locate, seems to me to be rather unlikely.

Citation? You have made several ungrounded declarations here.

1. That life in hidden, niche pockets has a low chance of survival. - Given that we have only recently been studying our native extremophiles in any depth leads one to suppose that there is no evidence to back that statement at this time. How long have bacteria been living anaerobically within rocks deep underground? Do you know? Can you show evidence?
2. The chance of life developing on a planet at all MAY be very very small. It MAY also be virtually inevitable! Having only a sample of ONE to base deductions on, again there is no evidence in either direction. That is why we are looking for life in other parts of the solar system.
3. Your next statement follows from, and is dependent upon, the two preceding it. As such, it follows from their potential for error and is meaningless.

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I think it's safe to say that life can cling on to just about any source of nutrients once established.

Life on Mars is a long shot, probably, but by no means infinitesimally small.

Life existing on a planet in the first place may be infinitesimally small.

Again, "May be", and may not be!

You should know better than to make ex recto statements with no grounding in evidence.

[mistermack]

I still think that we are obsessing too much with Mars.

We are thinking like Earthbound humans, which is natural, because that's what we are.
Earth is a great place to wander around semi-clad, like in the garden of Eden.
So we are fixated on the idea that we need something similar, to start the expansion into space

But we don't. Space stations are the future, not Mars bases, or Moon bases.
Once we get the technology right, space stations will be far superior to putting bases on either.

In space, you can travel from A to B for next to nothing. You can collect as much of the Sun's energy as you like. There is no shortage of space. Solar arrays can be absolutely gigantic in area, but tiny in materials, as they don't have to fight gravity.
You can live and work in any level of gravity you choose, just by rotating the station, and choosing your distance from the centre.

The only thing you don't have in space is a source of materials. But you can lift those off the Moon for little expenditure of energy.

In just a few hundred years time, I'm guessing that there will be millions of people living in space.
Probably in low Earth orbit, to take advantage of the shielding of the Earth's magnetic field.

Once the technology gets going properly, it will accelerate like info tec has today.

[cronus]

.........humans are likely to die out. The space age is/will be laid waste by resource depletion, warfare disease and climate change driven sea rises leading to large scale famines here and there. The dream of space is the mirage of a dying a man in the desert. His last gasp of air gone he will quickly expire.

[mistermack]

.........humans are likely to die out. The space age is/will be laid waste by resource depletion, warfare disease and climate change driven sea rises leading to large scale famines here and there. The dream of space is the mirage of a dying a man in the desert. His last gasp of air gone he will quickly expire.

Climate change won't affect space stations.
And resources can be recycled. And of course the Sun is set to shine as normal for at least three billion years. So you can't deplete the energy supply in space.

Plastics are already being made from the growth of Algae in water. Once we mine the Moon, and farm everything else in space, mankind is ready for liftoff.

[cronus]

.........humans are likely to die out. The space age is/will be laid waste by resource depletion, warfare disease and climate change driven sea rises leading to large scale famines here and there. The dream of space is the mirage of a dying a man in the desert. His last gasp of air gone he will quickly expire.

Climate change won't affect space stations.
And resources can be recycled. And of course the Sun is set to shine as normal for at least three billion years. So you can't deplete the energy supply in space.

Plastics are already being made from the growth of Algae in water. Once we mine the Moon, and farm everything else in space, mankind is ready for liftoff.

...yeah, it'll all roll out like a dream. In fact it is a dream.