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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLife on Mars could be found within two years but world is 'not prepared', Nasa's chief scientist say
The IndependentDr Jim Green has warned that two rovers from Nasa and the European Space Agency (ESA) could find evidence of life within months of arriving on Mars in March 2021.
The ExoMars Rover, which has been dubbed Rosalind in memory of British chemist Rosalind Franklin, will search for extra-terrestrial life by drilling 6.5 feet down into Mars core to take samples.
Those samples will then be crushed up and examined for organic matter in a mobile laboratory.
Dr Green compared the potential discovery to when the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus stated that the Earth revolves around the Sun in the 16th century.
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)PufPuf23
(8,748 posts)What is the big surprise?
MineralMan
(146,248 posts)I am. I expect it. Life will emerge where conditions are right for it to emerge.
Sneederbunk
(14,275 posts)struggle4progress
(118,212 posts)ismnotwasm
(41,956 posts)The discovery of a single other life form, some sort of bacterium say, would change the percentages of possibility of life to expect it all over the place.
c-rational
(2,587 posts)cbdo2007
(9,213 posts)The first is no big deal and we all assume it is probably there. The second would be a game changer, but still not something the world is "not prepared" for as I still think the assumption is that organic matter is probably not all that rare.
keithbvadu2
(36,640 posts)Uh! Oh! Better start building a wall.
jimlup
(7,968 posts)That's my hunch anyway. I hope that I am wrong. I've been wrong about such Scientific Hypothesis before. Hopefully, we will find out.
Kentonio
(4,377 posts)jimlup
(7,968 posts)and it used to have water and even has some still. While necessary for life neither is sufficient.
Kentonio
(4,377 posts)Were only familiar with earth born life, and even then there have been some hugely surprising discoveries of creatures existing in places thought completely inimical to life.
Its going to be fascinating to see how non-earth lifeforms have developed. I just hope the first ones are discovered in my lifetime.
jimlup
(7,968 posts)I hope that I am wrong.
Even if we find evidence of ancient Martian life - it could be related to us. It may be that we are Martians through panspermia.
Vogon_Glory
(9,109 posts)There are already theories around that there were other places favorable to life here and there around the solar system and that it seems possible for microbes to hitch rides on meteors blasted off planetary surfaces that could eventually transit from one planet to another planet or moon.
dalton99a
(81,386 posts)brooklynite
(94,302 posts)If life is found elsewhere, is it "fallen"? If so has it received the "good news" and received "substitutionary atonement"? If not, does that imply that it's a "higher" form of life than man?
Needless to say, if the only life is microbial or low-level, it puts a crimp in the argument for young earth creationism.
Falcata
(156 posts)then he can put the females in beekeeper suits
maxsolomon
(33,232 posts)yeah, no. that's not the right term. maybe "soil"? or "rock"?
Disaffected
(4,544 posts)much smaller than is normally believed.
DemocraticSocialist8
(396 posts)and they've probably already discovered it and haven't made the news public yet because of the political and religious ramifications. At the very least, they think the probability is very high and almost 100% likely if they haven't discovered it yet.
The idea that Earth is the only planet in the entire universe that has life has quickly become unrealistic. The straw that broke the camels back was when NASA started coming out years ago talking about the large number of Earth-like exoplanets in the "goldilocks zone" of nearby stars. They're saying there are millions of planets like this in the Milky Way alone. To think Earth is somehow unique is actually somewhat backward now IMHO. The laws of probability alone say the chances of that being true are slim.
Crunchy Frog
(26,574 posts)Maybe it would give humanity a little dose of humility.
Baitball Blogger
(46,675 posts)Javaman
(62,497 posts)this kind of statement makes me ill.
it's the same kind of statement as this, "the nation won't survive this".
we will be just fine, it's the political and religious zealots that will have a meltdown, the rest of us with be excited and then go on with our daily lives.
IndyOp
(15,502 posts)PufPuf23
(8,748 posts)TidalWave46
(2,061 posts)JHB
(37,152 posts)912gdm
(959 posts)Response to brooklynite (Original post)
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eShirl
(18,477 posts)I'll stick with Occam's razor
lunatica
(53,410 posts)What an idiotic thing to say.
Those who arent prepared will just say its a conspiracy perpetrated by scientists who are also spreading lies around climate change and that the earth is a sphere.
canetoad
(17,135 posts)PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,811 posts)This is the bullshit excuse given for why our government is supposedly covering up the Roswell crash. Personally, I'm not at all convinced aliens were recovered, but the idea that people could not deal with the reality of intelligent life from elsewhere is total nonsense.
And I don't give a flying fuck if religions have a problem with this. Too bad.
Again, I'm not convinced that aliens have visited this planet, but I am more than willing to believe that life in some form may well exist on other planets within our solar system.
Get over it.
tavernier
(12,365 posts)Brushing up on interplanetary communication.
honest.abe
(8,610 posts)Most likely the life that will be found will be some sort of micro-organism that is able to live in extremely harsh conditions. That would be incredible to educated people interested in science and knowledge and biology. The rest of world will go "huh.. where are the little green men?".
Falcata
(156 posts)the universe is too vast for this not to have happened. Many times over for that matter. Have they visited us? I highly doubt that, I view that as highly unlikely, that's just humans misplaced imagination that of course we're somehow important in the grand scheme of things. We aren't...
Vogon_Glory
(9,109 posts)But they seem to be at least hundreds of light-years away and that they have the good fortune and good sense to leave humanity alone.
If there is life on Mars, I suspect that its microbial at best.
If theres life elsewhere in this solar system, I suspect that its deep under the ice that covers the dark, chilly oceans that cover certain moons of Jupiter and Saturn.
edhopper
(33,467 posts)imagine highly evolved whales. They could be very smart, but no need to develop technology, let alone be space faring.
Buns_of_Fire
(17,148 posts)the first image from the rover's camera is now being analyzed:
roamer65
(36,744 posts)Ejecta from asteroid/comet impacts on Earth could have seeded Mars.
The late Cretaceous event pops to mind.
Response to brooklynite (Original post)
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