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Liquid water found on Mars!

bob

By bob
in General Chit Chat

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Supergrunch Newbie

Supergrunch

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Quite a long way to go for water.

 

Probably quicker to get it from the tap.

I can now imagine a company selling Martian water at £100 a bottle.

 

It's cool news anyway, albeit not too far away from what was already known/expected. I think SMBC said it best when it comes to NASA announcements.

Rummy Newbie

Rummy

Posted
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NASA have announced they've found flowing, liquid water on Mars!

 

Discuss.

 

Isn't water always liquid, and usually flowing? C'mon bob, you're a doctor!

 

Interesting nonetheless, but if it's taken us this long just to find water - how long til we find the other potential implications of it??

bob Contributor

bob

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Isn't water always liquid, and usually flowing? C'mon bob, you're a doctor!

 

Interesting nonetheless, but if it's taken us this long just to find water - how long til we find the other potential implications of it??

It is usually flowing, yes. Such as when it's a vapour. But then it's not a liquid. Neither is it a liquid when it is a solid. It doesn't flow then though. So it could be neither flowing, nor a liquid, but still be water.

Grazza Newbie

Grazza

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So, making a few leaps and assumptions here, but it's crazy to think of the implications. When we are finally able to send paleontologists there, they will very likely be able to find large animal fossils. Possibly even humanoids!

MoogleViper Newbie

MoogleViper

Posted
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So, making a few leaps and assumptions here, but it's crazy to think of the implications. When we are finally able to send paleontologists there, they will very likely be able to find large animal fossils. Possibly even humanoids!

 

There's a huge step to go from life to complex life. Then there's an even bigger step to go to sapient life. Even if (and this if is incredibly remote) they do find salient life, the odds of it being humanoid is astronomically slim.

Charlie Newbie

Charlie

Posted
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Isn't water always liquid, and usually flowing? C'mon bob, you're a doctor!

 

Interesting nonetheless, but if it's taken us this long just to find water - how long til we find the other potential implications of it??

 

Well there's an international agreement not to send any robots to an area where we could find life so that we don't contaminate it, so there's that.

 

The next rover from NASA is due to leave in 2020 and part of its objectives is to help assess how humans would be able to land safely there.

 

Realistically, I think by the time NASA want to send a human to Mars, by end of 2030, is the time we'll find anything, if there is anything to find.

Agent Gibbs Newbie

Agent Gibbs

Posted
Posted (edited)

sustaining flowing water on the surface is a huge discovery, it increases the chance of life (probably microbes, amoeba's etc) exponentially, but also raises the prospect of under ground water systems that again increases the likelihood of more complex life forms.

 

As for sentient life? thats as moogle said a massive leap

 

but given how its theorised the atmosphere once present on mars was ripped off in a disaster of biblical proportions (likely asteroid strike), now we know running water exists, it likely did exist, and if there was atmosphere at the time, its not as great a leap to theorise finding remains (fossilised) of life forms previously living on the ancient mars

 

I'd absolutely love them to find evidence of complex sentient life, hell even intelligent life, evidence of built structures, for a multitude of reasons. But for me the main one would be to see how the revelation of life on another world would be handled by the various religions, and those who interpret them in the most conservative/strict ways, i feel it would blow minds

The way i see it, if we find we are not alone in the universe, there should be nothing stopping us as a race embracing ourselves as a collective life on a planet and moving forward for a common good - i don't even care if its out of fear or a desire to see them, a united human race free of the most toxic secular elements would be a force to be reckoned with*

 

 

*however as a pessimist i expect people to just deny it and/or fight over discoveries

Edited by Agent Gibbs
Charlie Newbie

Charlie

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But for me the main one would be to see how the revelation of life on another world would be handled by the various religions, and those who interpret them in the most conservative/strict ways, i feel it would blow minds

 

If this was Reddit someone would pop up and say that the religious people would say that "the devil put fossils there to trick us" but I've never actually heard someone make that argument in real life.

Eenuh Newbie

Eenuh

Posted
Posted
If this was Reddit someone would pop up and say that the religious people would say that "the devil put fossils there to trick us" but I've never actually heard someone make that argument in real life.

 

I actually have, though a tiny bit different. Someone in my class saying they don't believe dinosaurs were real and that God put the fossils there to test our faith...

 

Religious people will not be put off by us finding life somewhere else, they will just put their own spin on it to fit their religion.

Jonnas Collaborator

Jonnas

Posted
Posted

The news is pretty cool. This may or may not lead to discovering organic life on Mars, but it surely is a step towards the possibility of colonizing it.

 

As for religious people and aliens... Denialists are idiots (and a very small fraction of religious people in general), they'll spin anything, including their own holy book, into fitting their limited worldview.

 

Meanwhile, the Pope already said he'd be chill with aliens existing, going as far as saying they could convert if they wanted to. Seriously.

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