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Martian Sea Discovered

Posted by timothy on from the martian-ice-cube-you-mean dept.

mpesce writes "New Scientist is reporting that a large sea of frozen ice (between 800 and 900 km in size and 45 m deep) has been discovered by the ESA's Mars Express Probe. Here's the kicker: the sea of block ice is only five degrees away from the Martian equator. New Scientist also links to a PDF of a paper to be presented next month about the finding." Update: 02/21 15:30 GMT by T : Note: that's 45 meters deep, not 45 kilometers deep.

11 of 508 comments (clear)

  1. Wow... by MalaclypseTheYounger · · Score: 5, Funny

    A large sea of frozen ice??

    As opposed to the other kinds of ice, like liquid ice or gaseous ice?

    Here's your sign...

    Awesome, though. I can't wait for us to terraform Mars, and start our new civilization there.

    And eventually ruin that planet as well. :)

    --
    Check out the best P2P sharing website: MEDIACHEST.COM
    1. Re:Wow... by puiahappy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Maybe in a few years we will be able to choose from 3 diffrent tipe of water : 1. Mineral 2. Natural 3. Martian ;)

      --
      Think like a hacker, act like a hacker, but never become a hacker !
    2. Re:Wow... by TykeClone · · Score: 5, Funny
      And eventually ruin that planet as well. :)

      Wouldn't terraforming Mars ruin it - at least in respect to its natural state?

      Everyone knows that nature is static, and how things were 50, 100, or 1000 years ago are the way that they should be today, tomorrow, and forever!

      --
      A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
    3. Re:Wow... by mwood · · Score: 5, Funny

      Actually, I think that the Earth of 3.5 billion years ago is its "natural" state. All this oxygen and these invasive species (all plants, animals, and basically anything other than anaerobic bacteria) must go! :-)

    4. Re:Wow... by CptNerd · · Score: 5, Funny

      Your sarcasm detector needs work.

      Here's your sign.

      --
      By the taping of my glasses, something geeky this way passes
  2. Many are cold, but few are frozen. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    ... of frozen ice ...

    Not like the kind we get here, then.

  3. And that little speck off to the left... by bobdotorg · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... is a bewildered and gasping Arnold Schwarzenegger waiting for the nuclear heating coils to kick in.

    --
    __ Someday, but not this morning, I'll finally learn to use the preview button.
  4. Re:45 *meters* deep by Council · · Score: 5, Funny

    And it's 900km BY 800km, not BETWEEN the two, as another poster said.

    And it's not actually near the Martian equator, but in Canada.

    --
    xkcd.com - a webcomic of mathematics, love, and language.
  5. In other news.. by LittleGuernica · · Score: 5, Funny

    In other news, Michelle Kwan has announced she will be training for the 2006 Olympics on a secret "remote" location, devoid of paparazzi.

    Insiders say she also aquired a new sponser, an undisclosed candy bar manufacturer..

  6. Great! by Netsensei · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now astronauts (or kosmonauts or taikonauts or whatever gets first over there) don't have to take ice with them if they want to have a whisky on the rocks.

    Hmm... maybe I could start a first "bar galactica" and make tons by selling spacetourists stiff drinks at high rates.

    "Joe, one lump of frozen ice in my drink if you please!"

  7. Fear and Loathing in Mars... by pVoid · · Score: 5, Funny
    And eventually ruin that planet as well.

    Well, you see, the whole attraction of mars is that people can go there, terraform it, and then greenhouse the shit out of it and say "Well it was a barren waste land anyways".

    Mars will be the Las Vegas of environmental concerns!