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Alien life finally discovered!

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Chris OConnor

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Re: Alien life finally discovered!

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Well, they will take it back a notch after the peer review gut-punch comes through.
LOL So so true.

Scientists are like all humans in that they want to be important, valued and to make a contribution. because of these desires they are prone to errors, biases and jumping to conclusions.

The scientific process is so effective because it gives scientists the means to be important, valued and to make a difference simply by showing that the other guys attempt to be be important, valued and to make a difference is based on bad science. You can make a name for yourself by introducing new stuff or invalidating the new stuff your colleagues introduce.
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johnson1010
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Re: Alien life finally discovered!

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there was a great example of this just a while back, too.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/20 ... ement.html

This kid made all kinds of waves by doing just that!

If you can't be Newton, the second best thing is to show where Newton was wrong!
In the absence of God, I found Man.
-Guillermo Del Torro

Are you pushing your own short comings on us and safely hating them from a distance?

Is this the virtue of faith? To never change your mind: especially when you should?

Young Earth Creationists take offense at the idea that we have a common heritage with other animals. Why is being the descendant of a mud golem any better?
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ant

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Re: Alien life finally discovered!

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There's been a lot of on and off chatter over the years about the possibility of some form of micro life buried on Mars.
And now with the news of the Mars probe exploration in progress there's more talk about committing to a manned exploration of the planet. Theyre even taking names of volunteers.

There's also virtually never any talk about the huge risks involved that are essentially unavoidable, in particular, the psychological stresses that any team would endure no matter how ready we think we are:

http://www.theguardian.com/science/head ... psychology

After reading that piece it really got me thinking:
With all due reapect for the admirable pioneering spirit of Mankind, is it really worth it?
From everything we know so far, Mars is just a dead rock. We even are discovering things about it that form the moment are the opposite of what we once thought:

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3956626

Methane was thought to perhaps harbor some form of primitive life and now theres zero signs of it

risking human life just to say "we did it" for no reason orher than bragging rights seems foolish at this point.

I say we upgrade our Rovers more before we gamble on a trip to Mars where god knows how deep we need to dig in red dirt to find something that looks like it might be life.

A trip to Europa (which aint going to happen in our life time) might be a far better gamble.
But if we are getting methane claims about Mars wrong, what might we be wrong about a rock that millions of miles farther?
Ugh!
Last edited by ant on Sat Sep 21, 2013 5:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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johnson1010
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Re: Alien life finally discovered!

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i was interested to see that they found the soil on mars is 2% water by volume.

If nothing else, Mars could become a very convenient staging point for further exploration, with a ready supply of water on the surface. (well, it would take some work to extract the water, but it's better than having to carry it with you to mars!)

As to the risks involved, yeah...

I don't think i would be able to do it. A trip to mars seems to me almost certainly a one way trip. But people do and have risked their lives for much more fleeting, and sillier reasons.

Think now how kids jump their bikes, skate boards, and just themselves over death-defying drops just for the thrill, or bragging rights, or to get a couple upvotes on reddit.

People who risk their lives climbing mountains, base jumping, spelunking... there is fundamentally nothing to be gained by taking these risks, but people do them anyway.

What about the early explorers, before there was any kind of certainty of a life on another continent, setting off across the ocean on the vague prospect of success, but certain obstacles of hardship.

A trip to mars is like those old voyages across oceans, but with a better idea what will be waiting on the other side.

The first people to make a go of it on Mars will truly live forever. As long as humans can remember them, at any rate. The draw of exploring the unknown might be reason enough by itself for some. Add in the fame, and the possibility of really discovering something over there that nobody has ever seen before and i think there will be plenty of people willing to sign on, even with little prospect of a return flight.

I hope they get it worked out as a round trip though. At least the people who sailed acorss the ocean could reasonably expect to find air to breathe, wherever they went!
In the absence of God, I found Man.
-Guillermo Del Torro

Are you pushing your own short comings on us and safely hating them from a distance?

Is this the virtue of faith? To never change your mind: especially when you should?

Young Earth Creationists take offense at the idea that we have a common heritage with other animals. Why is being the descendant of a mud golem any better?
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