water found on mars

[ramboacdc]

cue somone posting that photo! 

 

http://news.sky.com/story/1560377/flowing-water-present-on-mars-say-scientists

 

Flowing liquid water, essential to life, is almost certainly present on Mars, scientists believe.

Experts think water is responsible for mysterious features on Mars that change with the seasons.

A new high resolution technique has revealed gully-like features at four locations, known as recurring slope lineae (RSL), contain salt minerals that precipitate from briny water.

The salts, which are not found in the surrounding terrain, are thought to have been left by water flowing down the sides of hills or crater rims.

Writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, the scientists concluded: "Our findings strongly support the hypothesis that recurring slope lineae form as a result of contemporary water activity on Mars.

"Water is essential to life as we know it. The presence of liquid water on Mars today has astrobiological, geologic and hydrologic implications and may affect future human exploration."

If the discovery is confirmed it has far-reaching implications for the chances of finding life on Mars and future human exploration.

The research is based on an analysis of images taken from the American space agency NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.

[MPH]

 Meanwhile, millions of people around the world are  living in utter poverty, with no running water or electricity, food or clothing

[sphericalfox]

 Meanwhile, millions of people around the world are  living in utter poverty, with no running water or electricity, food or clothing

 

it's important to have a plan b.

[The Doctor]

Meanwhile, millions of people around the world are  living in utter poverty, with no running water or electricity, food or clothing

Solve the third world poverty crisis by sending them to Mars, I like your thinking.

[Vacamion]

NASA release this news the week a major film about Mars is released?

Coincidentally, I'm sure.

[MooseBreath]

Meanwhile, millions of people around the world are living in utter poverty, with no running water or electricity, food or clothing

Come on, Coventry is bad but it's not that bad.

[Jimothy]

[Stadt]

image.jpeg

who the **** decided to do that

[Jimothy]

who the **** decided to do that

No idea, saw it on The Poke on Facebook

[The Doctor]

Come on, Coventry is bad but it's not that bad.

 

You imagine Coventry could probably solve the refugee crisis - give 'em one look at it and they'll be running all the way back.

[Guest Cujek]

Come on, Coventry is bad but it's not that bad.

Im forced to spend 3 - 4 nights a week in cov, trust me, it is that bad

[Mike Oxlong]

Would be cool if they could find one of those planets with one of those quantum versions of us.

[Chairman of the Bored]

 Meanwhile, millions of people around the world are  living in utter poverty, with no running water or electricity, food or clothing

 

But we'll need somewhere to f**** off to when we've screwed this planet. It'a a god awful small affair.....

[Stadt]

You imagine Coventry could probably solve the refugee crisis - give 'em one look at it and they'll be running all the way back.

there's about 25,000 places for them though

[The Doctor]

But we'll need somewhere to f**** off to when we've screwed this planet. It'a a god awful small affair.....

 

Well, we'll need to send some high ranking military official called Tom up there first.

[Webbo]

But we'll need somewhere to f**** off to when we've screwed this planet. It'a a god awful small affair.....

Are you the girl with the mousey hair?

[Chairman of the Bored]

Indeed.....

 

[leicsmac]

Massive discovery, but I guess it shouldn't come as a real shock - we've known there's water ice on Mars for years now, and while it's really cold there the water is salty enough (as it turns out) and the temperature rises enough for it to turn liquid. 

 

Of course, the big question is - does water mean life?

 

Well, you can't have life without water (in the way that we consider it anyway) but it's also possible that even though there's liquid water there it's also completely sterile - there's a whole variety of reasons as to why that is the case. We certainly won't be finding complex life there, but it might be possible that simple microbes exist in the water.

 

We can't know without getting a sample of the liquid water...and that would be a task more difficult than any other space mission ever undertaken since we went to the Moon. The amount of care that would be needed to get a sample and return it to Earth for analysis without being contaminated...it would be utterly insane. Still, it's something to look to in the future.

 

 Meanwhile, millions of people around the world are  living in utter poverty, with no running water or electricity, food or clothing

 

I'm pretty sure there is a nugget of a malinformed and tiresome point there, but I have no idea of what it is.

[Jon the Hat]

I'm pretty sure there is a nugget of a malinformed and tiresome point there, but I have no idea of what it is.

 

I think it is the old "how dare you spend money on anything at all that isn't lifting people out of poverty through some sort of handout".

[leicsmac]

I think it is the old "how dare you spend money on anything at all that isn't lifting people out of poverty through some sort of handout".

 

Yeah, my point was rhetorical as I've heard the same argument espoused multiple times.

 

Normally I would have more sympathy with such an view regarding an area where (reasonably) large amounts of money are spent, but spaceflight travel and research? Given how such research has produced so many useful inventions for society, and by comparison to overbloated military budgets (or other, shall we say, questionable large areas of spending) is a drop in the ocean spending-wise? No.

[Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo]

We can't know without getting a sample of the liquid water...and that would be a task more difficult than any other space mission ever undertaken since we went to the Moon. The amount of care that would be needed to get a sample and return it to Earth for analysis without being contaminated...it would be utterly insane. Still, it's something to look to in the future.

I can just picture it - billions of dollars spent on retrieving a water sample, years in the waiting and it finally arrives. Gasps from everyone at NASA as it is marched into the building by a group of heavily armed security guards (add a bit of steam for effect). This could be the answer to a question that has plagued man for centuries. It could be the most important discovery of all time, and if not it will be the most valuable souvenir possibly in the Universe.

And without hesitation, the office buffoon snatches it, necks it all in one go and says "Mmmmm... Space water."

[leicsmac]

I can just picture it - billions of dollars spent on retrieving a water sample, years in the waiting and it finally arrives. Gasps from everyone at NASA as it is marched into the building by a group of heavily armed security guards (add a bit of steam for effect). This could be the answer to a question that has plagued man for centuries. It could be the most important discovery of all time, and if not it will be the most valuable souvenir possibly in the Universe.

And without hesitation, the office buffoon snatches it, necks it all in one go and says "Mmmmm... Space water."

 

 

[whoareyaaa]

It wouldn't suprise me if infact mars was habitable millions of years ago after this discovery, maybe it used to look and operate like Earth and we had to make the move when it eventually was unhabitable.

[leicsmac]

It wouldn't suprise me if infact mars was habitable millions of years ago after this discovery, maybe it used to look and operate like Earth and we had to make the move when it eventually was unhabitable.

 

That's a reasonably well-accepted theory amongst the scientific community - there's trace evidence for the atmosphere of Mars being must thicker millions of years ago than it was now, which would allow a reasonable combination of gases and heat for more complex life to thrive. No evidence for it mind, but a possibility.

[Darkon84]

I can just picture it - billions of dollars spent on retrieving a water sample, years in the waiting and it finally arrives. Gasps from everyone at NASA as it is marched into the building by a group of heavily armed security guards (add a bit of steam for effect). This could be the answer to a question that has plagued man for centuries. It could be the most important discovery of all time, and if not it will be the most valuable souvenir possibly in the Universe.

And without hesitation, the office buffoon snatches it, necks it all in one go and says "Mmmmm... Space water."

 

 

For some reason, all I could picture there was Frank Grimes bringing the water in and explaining how important it is, and Homer snatching it to drink.