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| Overlay of sketch on photograph of Gillespie Lake to assist in the identification of the structures on the rock bed surface.NOFFKE (2105)/ASTROBIOLOGY |
Last year there was a story that made it to various media outlets , but did not get any prime-time coverage as much as the "discovery" of methane gas on Mars. The martian methane story was obviously watered down , that is because NASA scientists still can't find the cause or the origin of the methane bursts that have now been detected (on the surface) by the Mars rover Curiosity . In a paper published last year in the journal Astrobiology, geobiologist Nora Noffke drew attention to features in Martian rocks that she suggested bore striking resemblance to trace fossils of microbial mats on Earth. (For more details, read Astrobiology Magazine's original story here.) Not everyone agreed with her interpretation. As Curiosity's project scientist Ashwin Vasavada explained to other news outlets (including Space.com), the team had evaluated the features as non-biological, likely having been shaped by erosion or the transport of sand in water. Vasavada had also raised questions about the decision to publish the report. [The Search for Life on Mars: A Photo Timeline] Remember , that Mars once had water on it's surface ( scientists say billions of years ago ) although there is still water on Mars today frozen or
otherwise . An fossil evidence would be a big story indeed ! Yet even though NASA has taken the "caution" approach , I have accepted the findings of Nora Noffke on grounds that where rover Curiosity landed was once a lake bed . There can't be any question of that , as you know water is a key ingredient to building life . *** Scientists are a bit fearful in some way regarding the magnitude of such a discovery . In her analysis, Noffke is keen to emphasize that she hasn’t found proof of ancient Mars life, only that her hypothesis provides a compelling explanation for the formation processes behind the shapes in the surface of Mars sedimentary rock. “All I can say is, here’s my hypothesis and here’s all the evidence that I have,” said Noffke in an Astrobiology Magazine article, “although I do think that this evidence is a lot.” “But if the Martian structures aren’t of biological origin,” Noffke says, “then the similarities in morphology, but also in distribution patterns with regards to [microbially induced sedimentary structures] on Earth would be an extraordinary coincidence.”There’s one big problem with accepting even the possibility of fossils in Martian rocks: The most recent models of the geologic evolution of Mars don’t allow anywhere near the time spans for life that were needed on Earth to produce recognizable fossils. Here on Earth, there was a more than 2 billion year gap between the first single-cell life and the development of organisms big and hard enough to leave recognizable traces.Mars didn’t have anywhere near that long. Even if it had been “warm and wet” when young (or even “cold and damp,” as newer thinking suggests), the thicker atmosphere that provided a warming greenhouse effect would be torn away by asteroid impacts and wind-blasted away by a solar wind unconstrained by the planet’s dwindling magnetic field. Once this process was well advanced, the surface would become — and remain — far too cold for any biology today . Most scientists accept this , but we are far from over as to say that Mars is a dead world now . It vary well still might harbor trace elements of a once living planet.
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| Curiosity image of the desiccated lake bed on Mars. |
Mysterious Radio bursts ....
Somewhere out in the deep reaches of outer space is a mysterious "radio" source that has been captured by radio telescopes . Now for sure Astronomers in Australia have picked up an “alien” radio signal from space for the first time as it occurred. The signal, or radio “burst”, was discovered on May 15, 2014, though it’s just being reported by the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. “The burst was identified within 10 seconds of its occurrence,” said Emily Petroff, a doctoral student from Melbourne’s Swinburne University of Technology. “The importance of the discovery was recognized very quickly and we were all working very excitedly to contact other astronomers and telescopes around the world to look at the location of the burst.”--- This have given me a creep out feeling . remember (1)> I was telling you all in my blog that I find that it is strange that no alien signal has been picked up , for a number of reasons that confounds the logic . Much of it is guess work . I assume that yea the aliens are there , that I am basing it on the ### 1000 or so worlds discovered by the Kepler space telescope . For me, it had shot up the "chances" that we are not alone . Other point here is that I think alien life out there , maybe within a few light years has already "discovered" us , and has no way of making any communication with earth . Most of it has to do with the "biology" of the planet , second the physical characteristics of the aliens them selves . Having a mouth , and a hand and five fingers might be key to our language and not theirs So the radio bursts can be natural because there is enough radio energy in the back ground of space . The cause of these mysterious signals remains unknown, with possible theories ranging from black holes to alien communication. However, UFO hunters shouldn’t get too excited. According to Petroff, “We're confident that they're coming from natural sources, that is to say it's probably not aliens, but we haven't solved the case completely. (2)> The two most promising theories at the moment are that these bursts could be produced either by a star producing a highly energetic flare, or from a neutron star collapsing to make a black hole. Both of these things would be from sources in far-away galaxies just reaching us from billions of light years away.” While the source of the fast radio burst remains a mystery, the team remains hopeful that they can learn from their mistakes and one day solve the case.
Life in space . Double Plus Good .
It’s just possible God has seen fit to create worlds like our own. Astronomers, the National Monitor reports, think they’ve found a solar system that bears multiple planets the size of Earth. “While studying four years of data from NASA’s Kepler spacecraft,” writes Justin Beach, “researchers found planets orbiting Kepler-444. The star is 117 light years from Earth and 25 percent smaller than our own sun. According to the researchers it is also 11.2 billion years old and has five Earth-size planets.” The planets are ancient and orbit their sun very closely, making them unlikely candidates to host life. But as Beach points out, the discovery raises some interesting questions.Now the first alien signal has been overhead “live.” As Rob Waugh writes, “A mystery ‘alien’ radio signal from space has been captured ‘live’ for the first time by radio dishes here on Earth – but the source is still unknown. Astronomers have speculated the signals could come from evaporating black holes, or even from distant alien civilizations. The high-energy radio bursts last for just a few milliseconds, but their sources are thought to emit as much energy in that time as the Sun does in an entire day.” Unlike previous transmissions, which were discovered long after they occurred, this one was recorded as it happened. So is it a signal? Is it space noise? Is it another alien civilization trying to get our attention? It will remain a mystery for now.
NOTES AND COMMENTS:
*** Wonder what Mission Control really sees on Mars? Wouldn't doubt that they have been told not to divulge anything that might disturb the way people think on Earth. They probably have orders to give the public just enough. (1)> 'm not saying ET is trying to contact us. I'm not saying that there isn't intelligent life, of some kind, out there either! It is still unknown, to the general public. If there is evidence....Do you really think the government would tell us? Because our government doesn't lie, doesn't cover-up things of any sort. Because they know we could handle it and not set into a panic!.....Right? So, all those UFO stories and such, over many years, are all just crazy people, needing attention?? Even police officers and some of our past presidents have claimed to have seen something they couldn't explain. To mark it all off as mass hysteria, or hallucinations, or whatever, is purely illogical! ### Scientist have discovered other planets, with similar systems as our own.
(2)> Fast radio bursts (FRBs) have a distinct look to them. Besides only lasting a few thousandths of a second and releasing as much energy as the Sun will take 10,000 years to emit, their lower frequencies arrive noticeably later than their higher ones. This delay is due to plasma dispersion: through any medium, longer-wavelength radiation moves slightly slower than its shorter counterpart.Light from extragalactic objects travels through intergalactic space, which is teeming with electrons in clouds of cold plasma. The farther the light travels, the more electrons it will have to travel through, and the greater the time delay between the arriving wavelengths. By the time the light reaches Earth, it has been dispersed by an amount that is directly correlated with distance.Using the spread in the FRBs’ signals, astronomers calculated that the bursts likely originated anywhere from 5 to 10 billion light-years away. It's also unclear how close they are. Most of the astronomers seem to think that they are likely coming from sources outside our galaxy. Because interstellar space is not quite a perfect vacuum, interceding stellar dust causes radio signals to slightly deteriorate in a predictable way over great distances. Astronomers say that based on how the the FRB's radio signal tapers off, its likely that they're originating outside the galaxy.The teams are optimistic that they'll see more soon. Though FRBs have only recently been observed, they're not rare occurrences.
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