

Evidence of freshwater lake that could have supported microbial life on Mars - wrongc0ntinent
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-12/10/curiosity-mars-lake

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JoeAltmaier
Title is a reach. What about this lake made it especially appropriate for
supporting life? Nothing that any body of water would have. More accurate:
'Evidence of freshwater lake; water is essential ingredient in supporting
life'

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InclinedPlane
Neutral pH, fresh water (not brackish), moderate temperatures. That's pretty
exceptional anywhere in the Solar System that isn't Earth.

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TrainedMonkey
Given RNA molecules we find on crashed asteroids, I think it is foregone
conclusion that at very least there was once microbial life on Mars.

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Nogwater
We've found RNA on asteroids? Not just amino acids?

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TrainedMonkey
RNA molecules, not strands.

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alooPotato
Does anyone know whether Curiosity has the tools/systems to detect whether
life exists on Mars _now_?

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swamp40
Officially, no it wasn't built to detect life.

But there _are_ cameras all over the thing.

So if something is scurrying around leaving tracks or skeletons, we should be
able to see that just fine.

Or if it rolls up on a flower or a tree, _that_ ought to be pretty obvious.

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blacksmith_tb
A bit trickier with _microbial_ life, though. Though it wouldn't be impossible
for it to bump into a stromatolite, say.

