Water on Mars!

[BioPooka]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2009000/2009318.stm

Neat huh?

 

[OldBadfish]

Cool!
I know there has always been ice at the polar caps.

 

[Ben johnson]

I know there has always been ice at the polar caps.

Yeah, dry ice. I've always read that spectrographs have detected almost no water at all. If the ice exists there, what is the mechanism keeping it out of the atmosphere?

(ANd why do evolutionists actually talk about "life on Mars"---given the odds against life occurring ANYWHERE, let aLONE Earth, why would it happen twice???)

 

[chickenman]

"Yeah, dry ice. I've always read that spectrographs have detected almost no water at all. If the ice exists there, what is the mechanism keeping it out of the atmosphere?"

aahhaha
1st: Dry ice is solid CO2, not H2o.
2nd: the mechanism? its called low temperature - I think you'll find that solids, not being gases, do not dissociate into the gaseous atmosphere - also most of the ice crystals are underneath the ground, in the soil

 

[LewisWildermuth]

Yes Mars has dry ice at the poles, maybe covering some water ice, but the water ice that they found is not at the poles but in large swaths across the planet just under the surface. Try to think of it as permafrost like in Alaska, Canada and Siberia.

 

[Ray K]

Originally posted by Ben johnson
Yeah, dry ice. I've always read that spectrographs have detected almost no water at all. If the ice exists there, what is the mechanism keeping it out of the atmosphere?

(ANd why do evolutionists actually talk about "life on Mars"---given the odds against life occurring ANYWHERE, let aLONE Earth, why would it happen twice???)

We don't know the odds, but we do know that water is a prerequesite for life as we understand it.

If water is present, then the odds go up significantly.

 

[Ben johnson]

1st: Dry ice is solid CO[sub]2[/sub], not H[sub]2[/sub]O.

I knew that... ;&#172)

2nd: the mechanism? it's called low temperature - I think you'll find that solids, not being gases, do not dissociate into the gaseous atmosphere - also most of the ice crystals are underneath the ground, in the soil

Ever notice, after an ice-storm (or even snow), and the temperature never gets above freezing for weeks, after a couple of days the "night-gremlins" start disappearing the ice? How about the ice-cube-tray in your freezer---ignore it for a few weeks, and the cubes (usually ice CRESCENTS nowadays...) get smaller and smaller then disappear altogether??? Well, the CHIEF of them gremlins, is a little guy called "sublimation". Same thing for "dry-ice", 'cause we aren't anywhere NEAR the pressure needed for the "melting" phase. Mars air is nearly 100% CO[sub]2[/sub], so the polar "ice" caps (in my understanding) were always "dry-ice".

We don't know the odds, but we do know that water is a prerequesite for life as we understand it. If water is present, then the odds go up significantly.

Heh heh heh! Thanx for the chuckle! Mars has no "Van-Allen-Radiation-Belt". Thus the proliferation of complex organic molecules (let alone DNA & RNA & proteins), in the unshielded solar and cosmic flux, AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN. (Maybe in CAVES, where ROCK blocks radiation---but with the peak temp >70°F, and lows <-250°, we would expect the mean subterranean temps to be c-c-c-COLD!) Now, given the odds for a PRIMITIVE 10-unit virus (as IF!), if we are extraordinarily generous and set each unit's probability as 1/1000, the 10-unit-chain has a likelihood of 1 in 10[sup]30[/sup]. A number that represents essentially the quantity of ELECTRONS the ENTIRE UNIVERSE could hold! Oh, but we haven't STARTED. Human DNA is comprised of 23 chromosone pairs (46 individual), each individual sequenced of >3 billion components (of only 4 bases, of course---A, C, T, G). Three billion is a number you can COUNT to, if you count THREE PER SECOND, no sleep or food or bathroom breaks, and you can spare THIRTY YEARS!!!!! :-&#191

So---the odds OF life occuring here, on Earth, in its diverse forms, through mutative-replicative-advance (selected by nature of course), is essentially 1 chance in infinity. Raised to the power of infinity. Raised again. And again.

...and several MORE TIMES!

Then we hear discussions of "parallel evolution on other planets"! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!! :&#149D :&#149D

Of course, we CAN get into the "science of chaos", and the conjecture of a similar and sub-field, "Anti-Chaos", the theory that certain atomic structures just HAVE to happen (thus evading the ridiculousness of the statistical consideration... ...evading, in theory...)

;&#172) :&#149D

I'm just wondering what could separate the carbon dioxide from the water in the atmosphere. The MOON I can understand---if the water was held in a comet, and the impact buried it, THAT would explain the "concentration at a given locale"---besides, Lunar gravity is insufficient for more than a trace atmosphere (but water vapor might explain the pre-dawn-glow the Apollo astronauts saw).

 

[Azrael]

I think its great news. Ive always felt that Mars has held many mysteries that we should explore. As for the life part, we are not alone. I'm not one of those UFO nuts, but given the size of the universe and our own galaxy, plus taking into account everyhting we are learning every day, it is almost 100% positive that there is life on another planet.

 

[OldBadfish]

Telescope pictures clearly show ice (whatever sort) at the poles.
I have read a little bit about terraforming and last I heard scientists were toying with the idea of sending low order nuclear blasts to the polar ice caps on Mars to melt some of the ice to attempt of making oxygen in the atmosphere.

I believe it has been determined that frozen H20 is present at the 1 or both poles.

Either way I love the study of planets! Very intriguing!

 

[OldBadfish]

I think its great news. Ive always felt that Mars has held many mysteries that we should explore. As for the life part, we are not alone. I'm not one of those UFO nuts, but given the size of the universe and our own galaxy, plus taking into account everyhting we are learning every day, it is almost 100% positive that there is life on another planet.

Given scientific odds? Definitely yes.
From a Christian standpoint? Maybe, we can't say what other projects God has going on, after all it is his universe!

Praise the Lord for the spectacle of the heavens above!!

 

[Ray K]

Originally posted by Ben johnson
Heh heh heh! Thanx for the chuckle! Mars has no &quot;Van-Allen-Radiation-Belt&quot;. Thus the proliferation of complex organic molecules (let alone DNA &amp; RNA &amp; proteins), in the unshielded solar and cosmic flux, AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN.

Hey Ben, if you had taken a moment to read my post without your incorrect preconceptions, you would realize that I was speaking about the formation of life in general, not just on Mars. Water is an important prerequisite of life as we know it, and if there is water on Mars then there is a better chance of finding life than without it.

if we are extraordinarily generous and set each unit's probability as 1/1000, the 10-unit-chain has a likelihood of 1 in 1030. A number that represents essentially the quantity of ELECTRONS the ENTIRE UNIVERSE could hold! Oh, but we haven't STARTED. Human DNA is comprised of 23 chromosone pairs (46 individual), each individual sequenced of >3 billion components (of only 4 bases, of course---A, C, T, G). Three billion is a number you can COUNT to, if you count THREE PER SECOND, no sleep or food or bathroom breaks, and you can spare THIRTY YEARS!!!!!

What a maroon. First you parrot creationist illogic about recombinant probability, an then start arguing about the impossibility of human life evolving on Mars.

Who exactly are you addressing that inane comment towards, because I certainly was not postulating that.

Personally, I think we will be looking for signs of past life on Mars, not current life.

 

[tycho]

(ANd why do evolutionists actually talk about "life on Mars"---given the odds against life occurring ANYWHERE, let aLONE Earth, why would it happen twice???)

There's nowhere near enough info to even to a very rough estimate on the odds of life elsewhere. I think "life on Mars" is talked about so much is because it's the topic of a huge amount of science fiction & has been since sci.fi. began. Also, I don't think "life on Mars" is strictly an evolutionist's obsession. The bible doesn't mention it, but as far as I know, it doesn't exclude it either.

 

[mac_philo]

Originally posted by Ben johnson
Yeah, dry ice. I've always read that spectrographs have detected almost no water at all. If the ice exists there, what is the mechanism keeping it out of the atmosphere?

(ANd why do evolutionists actually talk about &quot;life on Mars&quot;---given the odds against life occurring ANYWHERE, let aLONE Earth, why would it happen twice???)

You should check out a freshman book on probability, I think you'd really learn quite a bit.

 

[TheBear]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2009000/2009318.stm

Neat huh?

Cool.

 

[PsychoSarah]

Cool.

 

[Oafman]

 

[TheBear]

 

[AV1611VET]

Water on Mars.

Big deal.

Scientists have been saying it has canals and polar ice caps for years.

What's the hullabaloo all about?

 

[TheBear]

Water on Mars.

Big deal.

Scientists have been saying it has canals and polar ice caps for years.

What's the hullabaloo all about?

Yeah. But that was news when this thread started, (which was years before you became a member here). Oh that's right. The only threads worth necro-bumping are the threads you started. Silly me.

 

[lesliedellow]

Yeah. But that was news when this thread started, (which was years before you became a member here). Oh that's right. The only threads worth necro-bumping are the threads you started. Silly me.

I was going to post something like "not exactly news hot off of the press," until I noticed the date of the thread. So what's the point in bumping it?