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NASA's Mars News Is Not Life, But Perchlorate

leighklotz writes "In an update to the little green men story of not-life-on-Mars, NASA has twittered: 'The buzz this weekend was due to an interesting soil chemistry finding, still preliminary, but now avail here:' where 'here' is NASA Spacecraft Analyzing Martian Soil Data. The exciting bit: 'Within the last month, two samples have been analyzed by the Wet Chemistry Lab of the spacecraft's Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer, or MECA, suggesting one of the soil constituents may be perchlorate, a highly oxidizing substance.' Also, 'NASA will hold a media teleconference on Tuesday, Aug. 5, at 2 p.m. EDT, to discuss these recent science activities.'"

19 of 289 comments (clear)

  1. Holy cow, do you know what what this MEANS? by greenguy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, me neither.

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    What if I do the same thing, and I do get different results?
    1. Re:Holy cow, do you know what what this MEANS? by Detritus · · Score: 4, Funny

      Chilean fertilizer is a euphemism for bird shit.

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      Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
    2. Re:Holy cow, do you know what what this MEANS? by sheehaje · · Score: 5, Funny

      Chilean fertilizer is a euphemism for bird shit.

      Holy Cow, there are birds on Mars...

      Slashdot.... deductive reasoning at it's best.

    3. Re:Holy cow, do you know what what this MEANS? by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Funny

      If NASA hypes this up a bit, we'll be SO there next year!

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      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  2. GW Bush by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    So who had the job of explaining this to Pres. Bush, and how long did it take before he understood?

  3. Re:Ramifications? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Perchlorate can be used for explosives ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perchlorate ) and suggests the presence of unlawful combatants on Martian soil.

  4. Re:Why this is important to non-chemists by bsDaemon · · Score: 4, Funny

    So, you're saying that after we send all of the people with The Right Stuff to Mars, that they'll end up just as fat as the average America, but will at least have an excuse?

    I know... but I've got karma to burn.

  5. Perchlorate by clang_jangle · · Score: 5, Funny

    I used to perchlorate my coffee every morning, but then I read that the drip method actually gives you more caffeine. So the mars people are stuck with 1960s technology then?

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    Caveat Utilitor
  6. Re:Contamination? by jon_cooper · · Score: 5, Funny

    Don't be silly. This is obvious evidence that extra-terrestrials have been on Mars and left behind perchlorate traces from their rockets. Either that, or Martians have just blasted off somewhere in their rockets. Wonder where they've gone?

  7. Re:Ramifications? by alxkit · · Score: 4, Funny

    that or tyler durden been there already

  8. Mars + highly oxidizing substance + Governator by buddahrock · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe the President just needed a few days to rent and watch Total Recall, then convince Governor Schwarzenegger to go to Mars and start the ancient Martian machine that creates a breathable atmosphere.

  9. Great - a planet made of perchlorate by Ralph+Spoilsport · · Score: 4, Funny
    So, they start cutting a bunch of it into O2, and the next thing you know - KABOOM!!! The planet explodes. Awesome. Can't wait to see THAT go down. I'll swipe a bottle of scotch and watch the fireworks...

    RS

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    Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
  10. I never... by strabes · · Score: 4, Funny
    I never want to see this phrase on Slashdot again:

    NASA has twittered

    God help us.

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    Its = possessive. It's = "it is"
  11. I wish they would just admit it already!! by caywen · · Score: 4, Funny

    Cmon NASA, stop being coy. You found it didn't you? I'm bummed you won't report on the ancient Martian gateway into deep inside the planet, marked with ancient pictoglyphic scriptures with overtones from Egypt. You know you have it. You know you've found the interdimensional gateway where your inside people had supersecret meetings with The Progenitor, a master being who designed evolution here on Earth. What's with this wussy "interesting chemical" crap?

  12. Re:Contamination? by amliebsch · · Score: 5, Funny

    So, you're saying that all we'd have to do is...start...the reactor?

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    If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
  13. Re:Contamination? by FlyingSquidStudios · · Score: 4, Funny

    The first place I would look would be Grover's Mill, New Jersey.

  14. Re:Contamination? by vrmlguy · · Score: 5, Funny

    These are intermediate results, and should be treated as such. From TFA,

    The team also is working to totally exonerate any possibility of the perchlorate readings being influenced by terrestrial sources which may have migrated from the spacecraft, either into samples or into the instrumentation.

    Wouldn't it be amusing if some joker, before launch, had sprinkled a handful of dirt into the analysis chambers? (And by "amusing", I mean in the "How close do you think I can steer this ocean liner to that iceberg?" sort of way.)

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    Nothing for 6-digit uids?
  15. Re:Contamination? by roguetrick · · Score: 5, Funny

    Quit giving the martians ideas.

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    -The world would be a better place if everyone had a hoverboard
  16. Re:Ramifications? by Bemopolis · · Score: 4, Funny

    that would be the inverse of the situation on Earth, where life gets its oxygen from the atmosphere and takes up food in solid form ...

    I am the Lorax I speak for the trees...and algae, and bacteria, and...

    ...you oxymetabolistic-centric bastard.

    --
    "I guess the moral of the story is, don't paint your airship with rocket fuel." -- Addison Bain