Posted by
Hemos
on from the put-the-test-tube-here dept.
swestcott writes "This is a very interesting article in the Washington Post today about an experiment on the Viking mission to Mars apparently found life on Mars - or not."
Another interesting Viking mission note
by
ethereal
·
· Score: 5
According to Carl Sagan's Cosmos, when the three tests that were sent to Mars were also tested in Antarctica (a much more hospitable environment than Mars), one of the tests that indicated there was no life on Mars, also indicated there was no life in Antarctica! Coupled with Levin's positive results, the prospects for native life on Mars may be much better than expected.
They need to do a recount! By hand this time and not a mechanical probe hand either!:)
It is very obvious that we should have lawyers on Mars so for this sort of thing... Who needs scientists when lawyers can make decisons for us!
I agree 100% which is why I call for the next Mars probe to be outfitted with a Lawyer Landing System (LLS). This is very similar to the system used to successfully allow the Mars Prospector to land, except replacing the airbag with lawyers. Since Lawyers are 99% hot air, and a naturally produced product of California and New York, we should be able to condense them into a small enough space by placing them into sensory deprevation tanks. Once they near the point of deployment, a micro-cassette of the closing arguments in the Gore vs. Bush campaign can be played, there-by causing the lawyers to emit hot air and inflate, protecting the payload from harm during the inevitable rough landing. Those lawyers that survive the landing will then be on hand to arrange themselves to properly argue the case of whether or not there is life on Mars (while those of us back on Earth will be assured that even if there is life, there is certainly no intelligent life).
-- This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
The Washington Post left out a key element of Levin's experiment and why he wants to do it again. The Viking landers used dextrose, the stuff we and most other lifeforms consume, as bait for possible Mars beasties. He wants to rerun it with dextrose in one chamber and sinstrose in the other. If one and not the other is consumed it's a strong indicator of life since the chemistry of life (as we know it) prefers organics with a specific orientation. If both are consumed, then it indicates weird chemistry, probably inorganic.
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According to Carl Sagan's Cosmos, when the three tests that were sent to Mars were also tested in Antarctica (a much more hospitable environment than Mars), one of the tests that indicated there was no life on Mars, also indicated there was no life in Antarctica! Coupled with Levin's positive results, the prospects for native life on Mars may be much better than expected.
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
They need to do a recount! By hand this time and not a mechanical probe hand either! :)
It is very obvious that we should have lawyers on Mars so for this sort of thing... Who needs scientists when lawyers can make decisons for us!
I agree 100% which is why I call for the next Mars probe to be outfitted with a Lawyer Landing System (LLS). This is very similar to the system used to successfully allow the Mars Prospector to land, except replacing the airbag with lawyers. Since Lawyers are 99% hot air, and a naturally produced product of California and New York, we should be able to condense them into a small enough space by placing them into sensory deprevation tanks. Once they near the point of deployment, a micro-cassette of the closing arguments in the Gore vs. Bush campaign can be played, there-by causing the lawyers to emit hot air and inflate, protecting the payload from harm during the inevitable rough landing. Those lawyers that survive the landing will then be on hand to arrange themselves to properly argue the case of whether or not there is life on Mars (while those of us back on Earth will be assured that even if there is life, there is certainly no intelligent life).
This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
The Washington Post left out a key element of Levin's experiment and why he wants to do it again. The Viking landers used dextrose, the stuff we and most other lifeforms consume, as bait for possible Mars beasties. He wants to rerun it with dextrose in one chamber and sinstrose in the other. If one and not the other is consumed it's a strong indicator of life since the chemistry of life (as we know it) prefers organics with a specific orientation. If both are consumed, then it indicates weird chemistry, probably inorganic.