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gzuf
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Registered: 07/13/09
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Flowing Water Possibly Found Near Mars Equator
#19283277 - 12/16/13 10:59 AM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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link with pictures
Quote:
Dark streaks that hint at seasonally flowing water have been spotted near the equator of Mars1. The potentially habitable oases are enticing targets for research. But spacecraft will probably have to steer clear of them unless the craft are carefully sterilized — a costly safeguard against interplanetary contamination that may rule out the sites for exploration.
River-like valleys attest to the flow of water on ancient Mars, but today the planet is dry and has an atmosphere that is too thin to support liquid water on the surface for long. However, intriguing clues suggest that water may still run across the surface from time to time.
In 2011, for example, researchers who analysed images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft observed dark streaks a few metres wide that appeared and lengthened at the warmest time of the year, then faded in cooler seasons, reappearing in subsequent years2. "This behaviour is easy to understand if these are seeps of water," says planetary scientist Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona in Tucson, who led that study. "Water will darken most soils."
The streaks, known as recurring slope lineae, initially were found at seven sites in Mars's southern mid-latitudes. The water may have come from ice trapped about a metre below the surface; indeed, the MRO has spotted such ice in fresh impact craters at those latitudes.
McEwen and his colleagues have now found the reappearing streaks near the equator, including in the gargantuan Valles Marineris canyon that lies just south of it. The MRO has turned up 12 new sites — each of which has hundreds or thousands of streaks — within 25 degrees of the equator. The temperatures there are relatively warm throughout the year, says McEwen, and without a mechanism for replenishment, any subsurface ice would probably already have sublimated.
He says that this suggests that water may come from groundwater deep in the crust, which could have implications for Martian life: "The subsurface is probably the best place to find present-day life if it exists at all because it is protected from the radiation and temperature extremes," he says. "Maybe some of that water occasionally leaks out onto the surface, where we could see evidence for that subsurface life."
Pretty cool stuff I figured others would be interested in, water is possibly within the Mars crust and seems to bubble to the surface during warmer seasons which would obviously increase chances of life within the crust. I thought it was pretty interesting too they have another section talking about any 'wet' place on Mars would be a no go landing site because any liquid would contaminate the craft and they don't wanna bring that Martian shit back here. Man I hope they find extraterrestrial life within my lifetime
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NotTheDevil
Transhuman


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Re: Flowing Water Possibly Found Near Mars Equator [Re: gzuf]
#19283310 - 12/16/13 11:07 AM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
gzuf said: link with pictures
Quote:
Dark streaks that hint at seasonally flowing water have been spotted near the equator of Mars1. The potentially habitable oases are enticing targets for research. But spacecraft will probably have to steer clear of them unless the craft are carefully sterilized — a costly safeguard against interplanetary contamination that may rule out the sites for exploration.
River-like valleys attest to the flow of water on ancient Mars, but today the planet is dry and has an atmosphere that is too thin to support liquid water on the surface for long. However, intriguing clues suggest that water may still run across the surface from time to time.
In 2011, for example, researchers who analysed images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft observed dark streaks a few metres wide that appeared and lengthened at the warmest time of the year, then faded in cooler seasons, reappearing in subsequent years2. "This behaviour is easy to understand if these are seeps of water," says planetary scientist Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona in Tucson, who led that study. "Water will darken most soils."
The streaks, known as recurring slope lineae, initially were found at seven sites in Mars's southern mid-latitudes. The water may have come from ice trapped about a metre below the surface; indeed, the MRO has spotted such ice in fresh impact craters at those latitudes.
McEwen and his colleagues have now found the reappearing streaks near the equator, including in the gargantuan Valles Marineris canyon that lies just south of it. The MRO has turned up 12 new sites — each of which has hundreds or thousands of streaks — within 25 degrees of the equator. The temperatures there are relatively warm throughout the year, says McEwen, and without a mechanism for replenishment, any subsurface ice would probably already have sublimated.
He says that this suggests that water may come from groundwater deep in the crust, which could have implications for Martian life: "The subsurface is probably the best place to find present-day life if it exists at all because it is protected from the radiation and temperature extremes," he says. "Maybe some of that water occasionally leaks out onto the surface, where we could see evidence for that subsurface life."
Pretty cool stuff I figured others would be interested in, water is possibly within the Mars crust and seems to bubble to the surface during warmer seasons which would obviously increase chances of life within the crust. I thought it was pretty interesting too they have another section talking about any 'wet' place on Mars would be a no go landing site because any liquid would contaminate the craft and they don't wanna bring that Martian shit back here. Man I hope they find extraterrestrial life within my lifetime 
You got it backwards, any water on mars could easily be contaminated with microbes from earth and that would prevent us from being able to know if there was any life on mars, or if we just found earth microbes there.
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Whitewater



Registered: 11/02/09
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Re: Flowing Water Possibly Found Near Mars Equator [Re: gzuf]
#19283319 - 12/16/13 11:09 AM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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It would be so cool if we found even the slightest bit of evidence for ancient Martian life. Even something microscopic, comparable to our bacteria or something, would have huge implications.
If life occurred on two planets in a single solar system of 8, the odds of life throughout the universe skyrocket.
Edited by Whitewater (12/16/13 11:09 AM)
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gzuf
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Registered: 07/13/09
Posts: 6,535
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Re: Flowing Water Possibly Found Near Mars Equator [Re: NotTheDevil]
#19283324 - 12/16/13 11:10 AM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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Oh, right. Yeah I guess that makes sense as it'd be all burned up by reentry in to Earth's atmosphere
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LSDreams
Contemplative Stoner



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Re: Flowing Water Possibly Found Near Mars Equator [Re: NotTheDevil]
#19283338 - 12/16/13 11:12 AM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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Too bad a human piloted mission there is currently unfeasible due to the difficulties associated with zero gravity.
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Edited by LSDreams (12/16/13 11:59 AM)
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gzuf
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Registered: 07/13/09
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Re: Flowing Water Possibly Found Near Mars Equator [Re: LSDreams]
#19283351 - 12/16/13 11:17 AM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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explain more good sir
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LSDreams
Contemplative Stoner



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Re: Flowing Water Possibly Found Near Mars Equator [Re: gzuf]
#19283435 - 12/16/13 11:40 AM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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Well as you probably already know, the absence of gravity is horribly unhealthy for your body. Even a simple trip to the moon has unfortunate effects upon the body, such as skeletal weakening and muscle loss. As being a species that has always been gravitationally drawn too Earth, we have relied on skeletons and muscles to support ourselves and cope with Earth's pressure. Skeletons and muscles are useless in vacuum space, and switching from constant pressure on Earth to zero pressure at all is shocking to the body.
Also, when I say muscles... im referring to every muscle in your body including your eyes. The moon trip may not have been long enough to realize issues concerning the negative effects upon the eyes. A mission to Mars is MUCH further than we have ever been before, and it is predicted that the long exposure to weightlessness would basically deteriorate your eyes.
Just recently, I attended a nasa presentation where they explained the difficulties of a trip too Mars. And the biggest issue is that the health effects of no gravity are too devastating. So until they figure out some sort of method to counter this, the mission is on hold.
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Plants of Interest ~ Lemon Balm, Cannabis, Ayahuasca, Datura, Salvia divinorum, Tabernanthe iboga, Opium poppy, Kratom, Khat, Coca, Ipomoea tricolor, Psilocybin mushrooms, Peyote ~
Edited by LSDreams (12/16/13 11:50 AM)
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luvdemshrooms
Two inch dick..but it spins!?


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Re: Flowing Water Possibly Found Near Mars Equator [Re: LSDreams]
#19283466 - 12/16/13 11:44 AM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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I think you don't understand the term "anti-gravity".
"Anti-gravity" would be the opposite of gravity. In other words, rather than gravity pulling you down, anti-gravity would repel you.
What you are describing in your post is simply the lack of gravity.
-------------------- You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for that my dear friend is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it. ~ Adrian Rogers
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LSDreams
Contemplative Stoner



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Re: Flowing Water Possibly Found Near Mars Equator [Re: luvdemshrooms]
#19283516 - 12/16/13 11:56 AM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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Excuse my ignorance, you are correct. Im not sure why I havent thought about that before. Anti-gravity is simply opposing gravity, I was referring to the complete absence of gravity. My post has been corrected.
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Plants of Interest ~ Lemon Balm, Cannabis, Ayahuasca, Datura, Salvia divinorum, Tabernanthe iboga, Opium poppy, Kratom, Khat, Coca, Ipomoea tricolor, Psilocybin mushrooms, Peyote ~
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