More Evidence for Early Oceans on Mars

DestroyAllZombies writes "More news about Mars. The good news: New Scientist reports that more analysis of Rover data supports the claims for widespread oceans in Mars' distant past. The bad news, from the article: 'An ocean of water once wrapped around Mars, suggests the discovery of soil chemicals by NASA's rovers. But the same chemicals also indicate that life was not widespread on the planet at the time the ocean was present.'"

Comments

Re:If the water was there, where did it go?

[THE anonymus coward]

Mars doesn't have the same gravity that the Earth does, nor does it have a magnetic field to stop incoming solar wind. The water could have evaporated, and since it is a lighter element (than CO2, which is most of Mars' atmosphere) it could have just blown away.

That doesn't make any sense.

[Mikachu]

But the same chemicals also indicate that life was not widespread on the planet at the time the ocean was present.

Whoa whoa whoa... how is that bad news? We're not looking for widespread life, we're looking for life. In general. Any. At all. That sentence implies that there was life, just it wasn't widespread. I think that should have been reworded.

But disregarding that, just because there was a lot of phosphorus in the water doesn't mean that life couldn't exist there. It just means life identical to the structure of life on earth couldn't exist there. Who's to say that life has to be built just the way it is on earth?

Arrrr!!

[krell]

And where there be oceans, there be pirates. And where there be pirates, there be buried treasure! Hoist up the sails, me hearties, and set course to Marrrrs!