

New evidence there may have been life on Mars - japaget
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1001/09marslife/

======
sovande
Here is why we should hope they find no life on mars.
<http://www.nickbostrom.com/extraterrestrial.pdf> (PDF) This is also an
interesting discussion by Nick Bostrom on the Fermi paradox and why we may be
alone in the galaxy.

~~~
jimfl
Interesting read. One candidate I had heard for the Great Filter discussed in
the paper is MMORPGs. A civilization advances to the point where they develop
immersive games, then vanishes. I tried to track down the source of that idea.
Anyone know?

One quote from that paper is interesting: "Considering that space travel was
science fiction a mere half century ago..."

Space travel, in the terms the paper is talking about, is still arguably
science fiction.

------
pwmanagerdied
One thing I don't understand in all of these discussions about there having
been life on Mars in the past: wouldn't it still be there today?

Even given that the planet's climate has changed entirely over time, as long
as life had begun at some point and had a non-negligible amount of time to
evolve it would have expanded into every available niche. There's life here on
Earth in environments far less hospitable than those on Mars, isn't there?

~~~
Scriptor
Well, the article is about studying a meteorite for ancient fossils. If
sufficient evidence is found, we will be pretty sure there was life, but it's
not enough evidence that there still is life in a place like Mars, it does
raise the possibility.

The thing about Earth is that there's water almost everywhere, which can
provide a suitable protective environment, even if it's mostly frzen. Not the
same with Mars. Also, Mars has just been so cold and dry for so long that it
might be too long for life to last through.

Finding evidence of past life would be less expensive and still serve the
purpose of showing that life is not unique to Earth. Trying to find those
isolated ecological niches that may still hold life would be very challenging
and expensive. Also, if we already know life existed on Mars before, the
ideological breakthrough would have been made. Finding current life on Mars
would still be interesting, but only scientifically, not in the social and
ideological way that extraterrestrial life's existence at any time does.

~~~
s3graham
> Also, if we already know life existed on Mars before, the ideological
> breakthrough would have been made. Finding current life on Mars would still
> be interesting, but only scientifically, not in the social and ideological
> way

I sort of agree, except that when it's "only" bacterium-level organisms, I
think the social impact is still going to be minimal. If a Mars-trilobyte-
equivalent fossil (or fish or velociraptor) was discovered, people/religions
would freak out. But, I think the layman doesn't really consider bacteria to
be life anyway (or maybe it's just that fossils of bacteria aren't too
compelling).

On the other hand, I think it's freakin' awesome. I don't think the timing
works, but wouldn't it be great if we turn out to be Martians? :)

