Life on Earth May Have Began on Mars

Jive Turkey · 09-03-2013, 02:36 PM

Interesting new research that suggests life as we know it might have had its beginnings on Mars. Still a lot of speculation, but interesting none the less.

BBC News - Earth life 'may have come from Mars'

Pearl · 09-03-2013, 03:15 PM

I actually find the idea that we came from Mars very fascinating because it says a lot about our universe. It also opens up to the idea of life on other planets which I firmly believe is possible.

Damn, the universe is abundant with cool stuff!

Jive Turkey · 09-03-2013, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pearl

I actually find the idea that we came from Mars very fascinating because it says a lot about our universe. It also opens up to the idea of life on other planets which I firmly believe is possible.

True, but it might also make the probability of multicellular life significantly tinier. It might be that conditions to create the molecules and the conditions to sustain and nurture those molecules rarely exist on the same planet, and a planetary ejection is the only route toward multicellular life. When you then add in the probability of the planetary ejection landing on a suitable surrogate planet, the likelihood seems miniscule. A bit of a humbling thought.

Quote:

Damn, the universe is abundant with cool stuff!

Indeed it is!

LuckyNumber7 · 09-03-2013, 06:35 PM

Very large reach of a statement and this article does no justice to the claim whatsoever. I'd love to actually read the paper. Better life forming conditions might be true and Martian chips surely occur, but to make such a claim there needs to be really really strong evidence, and that article just doesn't do it quite so well.

Jive Turkey · 09-03-2013, 11:41 PM

Well, it's a one page blurb on a general news website. They certainly can't be expected to go in depth; BBC isn't exactly a scientific journal. I'm sure you can find a more in depth explanation online. I'm not sure they're doing anything but speculating at this point anyway. It's an interesting thought, regardless.

What do you mean Martian chips?

BVS · 09-04-2013, 10:39 AM

Haven't we always known that men are from mars?

LuckyNumber7 · 09-04-2013, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jive Turkey

Well, it's a one page blurb on a general news website. They certainly can't be expected to go in depth; BBC isn't exactly a scientific journal. I'm sure you can find a more in depth explanation online. I'm not sure they're doing anything but speculating at this point anyway. It's an interesting thought, regardless.

What do you mean Martian chips?

Martian chips meaning fragments of Mars from collisions Martian meteorites.

And what I'm saying is that the article has flat out left the fact that ties the two correlations together. Cops give speeding tickets. Some cops are dirty cops. Cops who give speeding tickets are dirty cops. I can't make that conclusion until I've seen some dependent evidence.

Danny Boy · 09-04-2013, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jive Turkey

planetary ejection

Gross, JT.

Galeongirl · 09-04-2013, 12:44 PM

Pretty cool idea! I'd love to read that paper, I read an excerpt on the science page at uni and it was rather interesting.

**Headache in a Suitcase** · 09-04-2013, 07:16 PM

So L Ron got it right?

Jive Turkey · 09-04-2013, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuckyNumber7

Martian chips meaning fragments of Mars from collisions Martian meteorites.

Oh, ok. I'd never heard them called that before. I actually own a piece (very small piece) of a Martian meteorite. (NWA998 if that means anything to you...not sure how interested in them you are)

Quote:

And what I'm saying is that the article has flat out left the fact that ties the two correlations together. Cops give speeding tickets. Some cops are dirty cops. Cops who give speeding tickets are dirty cops. I can't make that conclusion until I've seen some dependent evidence.

well, not quite. Yours is a non sequitor. What is being proposed here is a plausible explanation, it's just not the only explanation

Jive Turkey · 09-04-2013, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danny Boy

Gross, JT.

all over uranus

LuckyNumber7 · 09-04-2013, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jive Turkey

Oh, ok. I'd never heard them called that before. I actually own a piece (very small piece) of a Martian meteorite. (NWA998 if that means anything to you...not sure how interested in them you are)

well, not quite. Yours is a non sequitor. What is being proposed here is a plausible explanation, it's just not the only explanation

I'm not disqualifying the work, I'm just saying the summary doesn't do the work justice if it is a legitimate claim. I'm not sure what the summary is getting at. What I'm saying is evidence supporting such a claim would have to be on recovered Martian meteorites, and unless I read it wrong it really didn't suggest that. (I very well could've read right over that though, I'm on mobile)

What kind of meteorite is it? The designation doesn't mean much to me (that's reference to the recovery point right?) but I'm assuming some form of achondrite. I'm novice with my meteorites, but two weeks into my ACM course so in four months ill be an expert on all things meteorite

Jive Turkey · 09-04-2013, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuckyNumber7

I'm not disqualifying the work, I'm just saying the summary doesn't do the work justice if it is a legitimate claim. I'm not sure what the summary is getting at. What I'm saying is evidence supporting such a claim would have to be on recovered Martian meteorites, and unless I read it wrong it really didn't suggest that. (I very well could've read right over that though, I'm on mobile)

ya, evidence of fossilized remains would be the jackpot. Unfortunately I'm not sure they'd ever find mineralized evidence of such primitive life in Earth rock, never mind on Mars or in a Martian meteorite. Even soft bodied multicellular life doesn't readily fossilize.

Quote:

What kind of meteorite is it? The designation doesn't mean much to me (that's reference to the recovery point right?) but I'm assuming some form of achondrite. I'm novice with my meteorites, but two weeks into my ACM course so in four months ill be an expert on all things meteorite

It's a nakhlite; an igneous rock meteorite. You are correct; nwa = North West Africa

LuckyNumber7 · 09-04-2013, 08:52 PM

Well that's my point. Unless the paper outlines something like... certain chemical levels on Martian meteorites that are otherwise absent on early Earth which are responsible for the formation of life, the facts seem to be entirely parallel and aren't crossing over. We know Martian meteorites exist and we know Mars once could've been a breeding ground for life but we don't know that the two ever game together. It's fair to investigate it, but it's not okay to claim it unless evidence on a collected sample says so.

If it's igneous material, it's an achondrite. A Nakhlite is probably a group of achondrites native to Mars (there's a ton of types, of which I'm only familiar with the Vesta family of Howardites, Eucrites, and Diogenites). Achondrites have undergone heating, so they lose their chondrules. If it's from Mars, Mars was condensed and heated.

Come to think of it, the word Nakhla is Arabic for Palm Tree, I think. Common shisha tobacco brand. I'm assuming they're Egyptian in discovery. but NWA is northwest... I'm going on a tangent.

AEON · 09-04-2013, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jive Turkey

ya, evidence of fossilized remains would be the jackpot. Unfortunately I'm not sure they'd ever find mineralized evidence of such primitive life in Earth rock, never mind on Mars or in a Martian meteorite. Even soft bodied multicellular life doesn't readily fossilize.

Can you imagine the shitstorm it would create if they not only find that there was once life on Mars, but that it was also in some way "organized" - its own version of "civilization"...? I know there's no proof - but that would be really cool...

On a side note - I think we will see a colony on Mars within the next 50 years...

Jive Turkey · 09-04-2013, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuckyNumber7

Well that's my point. Unless the paper outlines something like... certain chemical levels on Martian meteorites that are otherwise absent on early Earth which are responsible for the formation of life, the facts seem to be entirely parallel and aren't crossing over. We know Martian meteorites exist and we know Mars once could've been a breeding ground for life but we don't know that the two ever game together. It's fair to investigate it, but it's not okay to claim it unless evidence on a collected sample says so.

But that's sort of what they've done. There has been a road block in hypothesizing how RNA was able to form on Earth, but when the ancient Martian meteorites were examined, they contained qualities that would overcome the issues on Earth. Again, I don't think anyone is suggesting it's definitive proof... or even strong proof... just that the conditions would have been such to make it plausible.

Quote:

If it's igneous material, it's an achondrite. A Nakhlite is probably a group of achondrites native to Mars

Yep, as far as I know, they are specific to Mars. I'm far from an expert though. I like to collect all kinds of interesting doodads

Jive Turkey · 09-04-2013, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AEON

Can you imagine the shitstorm it would create if they not only find that there was once life on Mars, but that it was also in some way "organized" - its own version of "civilization"...? I know there's no proof - but that would be really cool...

It would be a collective consciousness mind fuck

AEON · 09-04-2013, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jive Turkey

It would be a collective consciousness mind fuck

How man "religions" would begin overnight? Ten...a hundred???

LuckyNumber7 · 09-05-2013, 12:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AEON

Can you imagine the shitstorm it would create if they not only find that there was once life on Mars, but that it was also in some way "organized" - its own version of "civilization"...? I know there's no proof - but that would be really cool...

On a side note - I think we will see a colony on Mars within the next 50 years...

Pompeii was... shall we say... dug up. Who knows what lies under the surface of Mars

09-03-2013, 02:36 PM	#1
Jive Turkey ONE love, blood, life Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 13,646 Local Time: 02:21 AM	Life on Earth May Have Began on Mars Interesting new research that suggests life as we know it might have had its beginnings on Mars. Still a lot of speculation, but interesting none the less. BBC News - Earth life 'may have come from Mars' __________________

09-03-2013, 03:15 PM	#2
Pearl Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: NYC Posts: 5,741 Local Time: 02:21 AM	I actually find the idea that we came from Mars very fascinating because it says a lot about our universe. It also opens up to the idea of life on other planets which I firmly believe is possible. Damn, the universe is abundant with cool stuff! __________________

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09-03-2013, 06:35 PM	#4
LuckyNumber7 Blue Crack Addict Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 19,471 Local Time: 01:21 AM	Very large reach of a statement and this article does no justice to the claim whatsoever. I'd love to actually read the paper. Better life forming conditions might be true and Martian chips surely occur, but to make such a claim there needs to be really really strong evidence, and that article just doesn't do it quite so well.

09-03-2013, 11:41 PM	#5
Jive Turkey ONE love, blood, life Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 13,646 Local Time: 02:21 AM	Well, it's a one page blurb on a general news website. They certainly can't be expected to go in depth; BBC isn't exactly a scientific journal. I'm sure you can find a more in depth explanation online. I'm not sure they're doing anything but speculating at this point anyway. It's an interesting thought, regardless. What do you mean Martian chips?

09-04-2013, 10:39 AM	#6
BVS Blue Crack Supplier Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: between my head and heart Posts: 41,232 Local Time: 01:21 AM	Haven't we always known that men are from mars?

09-04-2013, 07:16 PM	#10
Headache in a Suitcase Forum Moderator Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: With the other morally corrupt bootlicking rubes. Posts: 73,290 Local Time: 02:21 AM	So L Ron got it right?

09-04-2013, 08:52 PM	#15
LuckyNumber7 Blue Crack Addict Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 19,471 Local Time: 01:21 AM	Well that's my point. Unless the paper outlines something like... certain chemical levels on Martian meteorites that are otherwise absent on early Earth which are responsible for the formation of life, the facts seem to be entirely parallel and aren't crossing over. We know Martian meteorites exist and we know Mars once could've been a breeding ground for life but we don't know that the two ever game together. It's fair to investigate it, but it's not okay to claim it unless evidence on a collected sample says so. If it's igneous material, it's an achondrite. A Nakhlite is probably a group of achondrites native to Mars (there's a ton of types, of which I'm only familiar with the Vesta family of Howardites, Eucrites, and Diogenites). Achondrites have undergone heating, so they lose their chondrules. If it's from Mars, Mars was condensed and heated. Come to think of it, the word Nakhla is Arabic for Palm Tree, I think. Common shisha tobacco brand. I'm assuming they're Egyptian in discovery. but NWA is northwest... I'm going on a tangent.