Water, and Possible life found on Other Planet

[RootBeerFloat]

Damn (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11736311/)

This is one of the biggest finds in years.


Scientists have found evidence that cold, Yellowstone-like geysers of water are issuing from a moon of Saturn called Enceladus, apparently fueled by liquid reservoirs that may lie just tens of yards beneath the moon's icy surface.

The surprising discovery, detailed in Friday's issue of the journal Science, could shoot Enceladus to the top of the list in the search for life elsewhere in our solar system. Scientists described it as the most important discovery in planetary science in a quarter-century.

[heroshade]

It's conquerin' time.

[Beeblebrox]

Is this the new X-Files movie plot?

[Lethn]

It's about fucking time they started thinking about exploring space properly again, I want to see another space race and soon, we need to get technology that will allow us to colonize these planets already.

[Honorius]

Is this the new X-Files movie plot?

No, that's about a pedophile priest, and Russian black market organ thieves, and it all takes place between Richmond Va, and somewhere in West Virginia.

Edit: Oh and /panic

[heroshade]

No, that's about a pedophile priest, and Russian black market organ thieves, and it all takes place between Richmond Va, and somewhere in West Virginia.

Edit: Oh and /panic

DUDE Taru Taru's were fun to sit on if you were a Galka and they just got owned by an Ork.

[Tiberias]

Wait, NASA and the journal Science? But, I read all Americans are retards.

[Metal Wolf]

Start buying realestate. next big development market.

[umustbemistaken]

pish posh lets "go back" to the moon now plz

[heroshade]

pish posh lets "go back" to the moon now plz

Are you saying we never went there the first time?

[umustbemistaken]

Are you saying we never went there the first time?

I wonder this from time to time, but no I'm saying I'd like to be 100 % sure.

[Tiarilir]

This is just NASA's desperate attempt to save themselves. Soon they'll find aliens there, and everyone will be so amazed, no one will know they hid it for years.

[Lethn]

Yeah fuck NASA quite frankly, I just wish the rest of the world would catch up on it and start going into space too, anyway aren't NASA supposed to be using technology from the 90's still or something?

Oh and also, didn't you guys know that NASA really stands for 'National Agency of Space Aliens'? :D

[heroshade]

This is just NASA's desperate attempt to save themselves. Soon they'll find aliens there, and everyone will be so amazed, no one will know they hid it for years.

Half-Life wasn't just a game...

(I just realized, I'm making alot of half life references today.)

[Tiarilir]

Half-Life wasn't just a game...

(I just realized, I'm making alot of half life references today.)

Second one I see :<

[umustbemistaken]

Yeah fuck NASA quite frankly, I just wish the rest of the world would catch up on it and start going into space too, anyway aren't NASA supposed to be using technology from the 90's still or something?

Don't worry NASA will modernize their equipment to spite the Chinese come 2010.

[Haldred]

Well how much does it cost to claim a stake on that lake? Can I purchase it? I will invite forumfall and Aventurtine We will make our own country, build massive warships so no one fucks with us, and than find another planet and make Darkfall 2.

[Lethn]

As someone who's really into sci-fi I'm fucking tired of scientists talking about all the exciting things in space and never actually bothering to invent a fucking spaceship that can take them there, lazy asses.

[heroshade]

Second one I see :<

I got this one, the one in the google sky thread, and in the "staff picture" thread I posted the black mesa staff picture from HL2.

[umustbemistaken]

As someone who's really into sci-fi I'm fucking tired of scientists talking about all the exciting things in space and never actually bothering to invent a fucking spaceship that can take them there, lazy asses.



Yea now that’s exactly where my faith in the whole moon landing gets tested. Back then just think of all the things we did not have, and all the technology that was not around.

From 1969 to 2008

We should be able to throw out our space suit and survive on the moon just by swallowing a pill... Okay, okay a huge exaggeration but you get my meaning.

[LanMandragon]

As someone who's really into sci-fi I'm fucking tired of scientists talking about all the exciting things in space and never actually bothering to invent a fucking spaceship that can take them there, lazy asses.

no kidding. But realize the budget is essentially nothing compared to what they were working with in the sixties.

[alfaroverall]

Start buying realestate. next big development market.
http://www.lunarembassy.com/
As someone who's really into sci-fi I'm fucking tired of scientists talking about all the exciting things in space and never actually bothering to invent a fucking spaceship that can take them there, lazy asses.
The issue is with fuel. Our current fuel sources basically allow us to get up to the ISS and that's it (for manned missions anyway). Other fuel sources are not likely to emerge. The only feasible interplanetary/interstellar fuel that is available right now is thermonuclear explosions, as was proposed in Project Orion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_%28nuclear_propulsion%29), but environmental concerns prevent that from happening. So it's not their failure to invent the spaceship, it's the nonexistence of a feasible/acceptable source of fuel.

This is part of the reason the Lunar Base is being proposed as a way to begin interplanetary travel, since its lower gravity allows for a lower escape velocity, thereby allowing less fuel to be expended getting out of its gravity, thereby allowing more fuel to be expended going somewhere else. It is also more practical than assembling a ship on the ISS, since there is at least some gravity. It's a nice middle ground of sorts.

Granted, all of this is partial speculation on my part. I know that our current rockets use huge amounts of their weight on fuel (and the weight can only be so much to allow for a feasible escape from Earth's gravity) and are usually out by the time they reach the ISS. I also know of Project Orion. So I put two and two together and come to the conclusion that fuel is the current bottleneck of interplanetary travel, not technology as a whole or NASA's laziness.

[RootBeerFloat]

UPDATE (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080731/sc_nm/space_mars_dc)

Apparently water was found on the red planet as well.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - NASA scientists said on Thursday they had definitive proof that water exists on Mars after further tests on ice found on the planet in June by the Phoenix Mars Lander.
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"We have water," said William Boynton, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer instrument on Phoenix.

"We've seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted," he said, referring to the craft's instruments.

NASA on Thursday also extended the mission of the Phoenix Mars Lander by five weeks, saying its work was moving beyond the search for water to exploring whether the red planet was ever capable of sustaining life.

"We are extending the mission through September 30," Michael Meyer, chief scientist for NASA's Mars exploration program, told a televised news conference.

The extension will add about $2 million to the $420 million cost of landing Phoenix on May 25 for what was a scheduled three-month mission, Meyer said.

Phoenix is the latest NASA bid to discover whether water -- a crucial ingredient for life -- ever flowed on Mars and whether life, even in the form of mere microbes, exists or ever existed there.

Phoenix touched down in May on an ice sheet and samples of the ice were seen melting away in photographs taken by the lander's instruments in June.

Boynton said that water was positively identified after the lander's robotic arm delivered a soil sample on Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by heating.

Mission scientists said the extension would give time for more analysis of Martian samples. They plan to dig two additional trenches -- dubbed "cupboard" and "neverland" -- using the robotic arm on the Phoenix craft.

"We hope to be able to answer the question of whether this was a habitable zone on Mars. It will be for future missions to find if anyone is home on this environment," Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith told the news conference.

Mission scientists said in June that Martian soil was more alkaline than expected and had traces of magnesium, sodium, potassium and other elements. They described the findings as a "huge step forward."

Meyer said the scientific proof of the existence of water meant that Phoenix could "move from looking for water to seeing whether there were habitats for life.

"We are moving towards understanding whether there were or could be places on Mars that are habitable," Meyer said.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Eric Walsh)

[OchieGurl]

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=liquid-lake-on-titan

OoOoo just like earth

[Lacker]

The foot-shaped lake is the first verified extraterrestrial body of liquid, and is likely filled with hydrocarbons,

liquid, and is likely filled with hydrocarbons

hydrocarbons

Huge.

[losinglife]

they are obviously terrorists... blow them up!

[Aragoni]

http://home.blarg.net/~wayule/graphics/bk000.jpg
'nuff said.

[Lethn]

http://www.lunarembassy.com/

The issue is with fuel. Our current fuel sources basically allow us to get up to the ISS and that's it (for manned missions anyway). Other fuel sources are not likely to emerge. The only feasible interplanetary/interstellar fuel that is available right now is thermonuclear explosions, as was proposed in Project Orion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_%28nuclear_propulsion%29), but environmental concerns prevent that from happening. So it's not their failure to invent the spaceship, it's the nonexistence of a feasible/acceptable source of fuel.

This is part of the reason the Lunar Base is being proposed as a way to begin interplanetary travel, since its lower gravity allows for a lower escape velocity, thereby allowing less fuel to be expended getting out of its gravity, thereby allowing more fuel to be expended going somewhere else. It is also more practical than assembling a ship on the ISS, since there is at least some gravity. It's a nice middle ground of sorts.

Granted, all of this is partial speculation on my part. I know that our current rockets use huge amounts of their weight on fuel (and the weight can only be so much to allow for a feasible escape from Earth's gravity) and are usually out by the time they reach the ISS. I also know of Project Orion. So I put two and two together and come to the conclusion that fuel is the current bottleneck of interplanetary travel, not technology as a whole or NASA's laziness.

wootness, yeah I remember talking with my dad once about this sort of thing, apparently building a space station above the planet would make interplanetary travel a lot easier, I think thetr was an idea to have some sort of huge cable running up it or something to hold it in the air?

When I get into the Games Industry I'm so going to make billions so that we can finally get up in space... I think that's kind of turned into my life goal right now lol :p

I want to see real life versions of this http://www.wallpaperbase.com/wallpapers/movie/firefly/firefly_1.jpg travelling about everywhere fucking ace!

[Marrik]

Yea now that’s exactly where my faith in the whole moon landing gets tested. Back then just think of all the things we did not have, and all the technology that was not around.

From 1969 to 2008

We should be able to throw out our space suit and survive on the moon just by swallowing a pill... Okay, okay a huge exaggeration but you get my meaning.

i remember when i was in 1st grade, i read a book about spaceships, and it was talking about how by 2000, we would have colonies on the moon and massive space stations where millions of people live and work.

[palo god]

Lets declare war on it. :)

[Septus]

Obviously God just used Saturn's moon as a first draft before Earth.

[Desperado[1G]]

Obviously God just used Saturn's moon as a first draft before Earth.

lmao, it never fails

[Septus]

;1517768']lmao, it never fails

I had to do it :P

I mean, life on another planet which is microbial? If God made life on other planets wouldn't he have made them smart too? Or was it just his first draft so he could work the kinks out of it?

I also wonder if this'll lend more creedance to the idea of evolution ;)

[Kuri]

God is fake. ^^

Anyways I've allways sat around and watched the Science channel, this is only 1 out of a few moons around Saturn with water, theres some show I watch, showing that Saturns gravity rips these moons apart from the inside and thus its lava, heating the ice on the surface.

[heroshade]

I had to do it :P

I mean, life on another planet which is microbial? If God made life on other planets wouldn't he have made them smart too? Or was it just his first draft so he could work the kinks out of it?

I also wonder if this'll lend more creedance to the idea of evolution ;)

If god is real, there wouldn't be kinks to work out. (not saying he isn't real, but I have my own belief. All these religions are wrong!)

[alfaroverall]

On the hydrocarbon point: as I recall there was a moon of Saturn or Jupiter somewhere which had oceans of methane. As in, it didn't contain hydrocarbons, it was just liquid methane, with some possible minor impurities as in our oceans. Granted, it's pretty much impossible for life to form under those circumstances (methane condenses at -182.5 C or -297 F (see wikipedia), making the reactions which convert inorganic matter into very basic organic matter impossible due to activation energy problems, but it's still interesting.

[Teutates]

On the hydrocarbon point: as I recall there was a moon of Saturn or Jupiter somewhere which had oceans of methane. As in, it didn't contain hydrocarbons, it was just liquid methane, with some possible minor impurities as in our oceans. Granted, it's pretty much impossible for life to form under those circumstances (methane condenses at -182.5 C or -297 F (see wikipedia), making the reactions which convert inorganic matter into very basic organic matter impossible due to activation energy problems, but it's still interesting.
Saturn-Titan only moon with a dense athmosphere

[alfaroverall]

Saturn-Titan only moon with a dense athmosphere
Is a dense atmosphere necessary to have oceans of methane?

Serious question.

[Spikey]

Seriously, if the life we find isn't walking and talking, wtf is the big deal.

WE FOUND SOME USELESS BACTERIA WOOOOOOOOOOO

[alfaroverall]

Seriously, if the life we find isn't walking and talking, wtf is the big deal.

WE FOUND SOME USELESS BACTERIA WOOOOOOOOOOO
1. It's additional evidence toward more advanced life existing somewhere.
2. It's sheer curiosity (perhaps a flaw but still, we're human).
3. They might not be useless. Genetic engineering using these bacteria could eventually produce some really amazing stuff.

[Spikey]

1. It's additional evidence toward more advanced life existing somewhere.
2. It's sheer curiosity (perhaps a flaw but still, we're human).
3. They might not be useless. Genetic engineering using these bacteria could eventually produce some really amazing stuff.

It's only evidence if the theory of evolution is true surely? And yeah I guess genetic engineering could do something with them, but that's only if they have anything useful in them, which is probably unlikely.

[Teutates]

Is a dense atmosphere necessary to have oceans of methane?

Serious question.

It are hydrocarbon seas which is more than methane and ethane.
I don't think it's needed, however I think you need a constant source of it as the sun ionises it and converts it to different atoms or molecules (dunno) since titans hasn't got a magnetic field.

[Helgeran]

Even if it hasn't got life we could infect it and see what pops up in a few centuries. Also, sweet place for a base if they bring a few tonnes of lead to shield off the radiation.

The Really interesting thing about tiny shit on other planets is how their genes are made up. If they have DNA too we can either conclude that we're either related or that it's a common chemical that might exist on thousands of worlds.

[Thorpeyrox]

It's only evidence if the theory of evolution is true surely? And yeah I guess genetic engineering could do something with them, but that's only if they have anything useful in them, which is probably unlikely.

Well if those organisms can live in that enviroment what is there to say genetic engineering could allow another life form to gain the ability to live in such an enviroment. That could be quite useful yes? But I don't know anything on the topic of genetic engineering except that by cutting a piece out of one's DNA and putting it into another changes them! :)

[Tekon]

Maybe if people had a new enemy to focus their hate on we would stop fighting with each other.

[Night Eclipse]

I think the next step should be to send a rover to Enceladus :D After all, they've been doing it on Mars for a good while now. After that... well who knows, things are changing so quickly.

[iza]

It's only evidence if the theory of evolution is true surely?
Exactly. It would be additional evidence toward more advanced life existing somewhere.

[Dreadknought]

Exactly. It would be additional evidence toward more advanced life existing somewhere.

I miss your sig.

[Gunther TheBlack]

About time they put a permanent colony on the moon as a base station for further colonization on mars and mining expeditions to the asteroid belt.

Maybe over 100 years even pacify Venus'atmosphere and terraform it.

[Lethn]

I wonder if they'll perfect cryogenic freezing anytime soon? I want to find out what life will be like in 1000 years :p lol