NASA's "Spirit" rover may have discovered
life on
Mars.
Because it has a broken wheel, the rover disturbed a patch of
ground on Mars which shows evidence of a climate there in
the past that would have been perfect for microbes. But are
they still there? On earth, areas that look like this were
created when hot, steamy water came into contact with
volcanic rocks and are teeming with bacteria.
In BBC News, Jonathan Amos quotes NASA researcher Steve
Squyres as saying, "We're really excited about this."
If the earth becomes like
Venus
someday, we may have to move to Mars?or will be just be
going
home? A good sign is that scientists have found even more
evidence that suggests that there is?or recently was?
water
flowing on Mars. They?ve done this by comparing Martian
images returned by probes with images of a desert on Earth.
In recent years, scientists have examined images of several
sites on Mars where water appears to have flowed to the
surface and left behind a trail of sediment. Those sites
closely resemble places where water flows today in the
McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica.
The Dry Valleys are a polar desert in Antarctica with year-
round saltwater flowing beneath the surface. With
temperatures that dip as low as negative 85 degrees
Fahrenheit, it?s as cold as the Martian equator, and its iron-
rich soil gives it a similar red color. Researcher Berry Lyons
says, "If you looked at pictures of both landscapes side by
side, you couldn't tell them apart."
Art credit: gimp-savvy.com
Sometimes investigating
ancient
cultures reveals secrets we need to know now, but most
scientists prefer a more direct method. Whatever happened
to that stranded rover that the European Space Commission
sent to Mars? Psychic investigator Maureen Caudill wanted to
find out so she traveled out-of-body to Mars to visit the
Beagle.
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