Comments on: Mars life may fizz out

By: dragos

dragos — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 16:40:14 +0000

i think u are al nuts. how do u know there is no “life” on mars? it doesnt have to be like ours. how do u know that ALL bacteria needs water (in fact, all life). mabe it doesnt even need oxigen or anything! any way, my point is, u have to look from all point of vews, ideas, and prospects. ( im just 11 lol, i called adults nuts)

By: P. Edward Murray

P. Edward Murray — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 23:17:05 +0000

So that’s where the Hydrogen Peroxide comes from…but where does the
Methane come from?

And what does this say about going to Mars, not to mention possible Colonization?

Can we say big time Terra-forming?

Probably won’t happen anytime soon.

By: Troy

Troy — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 22:23:22 +0000

I’ve never thought of Mars as a good target for life. Without a fluid (water is great, ammonia might work too, maybe ethane/methane to Titanic life) to facilitate chemical reactions it seems very unlikely.

By: Irishman

Irishman — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 22:21:10 +0000

To be fair, bacteria are being oxidized, too. But yeah, what you mostly see is your skin.

writerdd, part of the question is defining “life” in a meaningful way. Any process we would recognize by our current definitions of the word rely on particular types of chemistry, in particular water. I think there are some conjectures about silicon as a replacement for carbon, but that’s pretty speculative. (I don’t know anything about cyanobacteria Chroococcidiopsis.) It is difficult to project our expectations in a way that extends beyond our current known forms that fit the criteria. We already have trouble with viruses and prions. Now you want to include something that can’t spell DNA, let alone have any?

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 18:19:05 +0000

Don’t pour hydrogen peroxide on your wounds. That fizzing you see isn’t bacteria being oxidized, it’s your tissue being oxidized.

Soap and water work fine, though you could always use some betadine if you want to be more thorough.

By: Sue Mitchell

Sue Mitchell — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 16:21:21 +0000

Shawn S. says: “Without water, biology as we know it doesnâ€™t work.”
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Um, what about the cyanobacteria Chroococcidiopsis found living in halite rock samples collected in the Atacama desert? (Astrobiology, vol 6, p415. and for the dimmer ones like me - New Scientist, vol 191, #2559 - 8/JUL/06)
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By: writerdd

writerdd — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 13:54:45 +0000

“But when you get one that says “Mars surface probably canâ€™t support life” you kinda have to say, well duh. Itâ€™s cold, the Sunâ€™s UV zaps the surface, the air is 1% that of Earthâ€™s, and whatâ€™s there is mostly CO2 and argon.”

Well, I’m no expert in extra terrestrial life forms, but why do we always think that life on other planets will need the same environment as we have here? That’s pretty a narrow view of the possibilities for life, isn’t it?

Mars obviously can’t support Earth life, but does that mean all life in the universe requires an Earth-like environment?