What If We Are Alone?

[Valin]

Via Meadia

9/27/13

 

 

Interesting news from Mars: it appears that the red planets dusty outer layer is 2 percent water by weight. The BBC talked to a scientist involved with NASAs Discovery Rover project:

 

 

If you think about a cubic foot of this dirt and you just heat it a little bit a few hundred degrees youll actually get off about two pints of water like two water bottles youd take to the gym, Dr Leshin explained.

 

And this dirt on Mars is interesting because it seems to be about the same everywhere you go. If you are a human explorer, this is really good news because you can quite easily extract water from almost anywhere.

Mars is mudor it would be if it warmed up. That makes the other report more interesting: theres no sign of the methane we would expect if there were life on the red planet. If life didnt emerge or survive under relatively favorable Martian conditions, then it may be less common in the universe than previously supposed.

(Snip)