Life Found at 2,400m Bellow Earth's surface and implications for Life on Mars

originally posted by: tanka418

originally posted by: jlafleur02
I just don't see the importance of spending billions to find a single cell organism on another planet. Why is that important. What will it affect and how does it benefit us?

Did you know that virtually all of todays technology, and certainly most of the electronic technologies around today; are derived directly from Man's mission to reach the moon? Its true, the microelectronics we have today came from space...well the attempts to get there...

The same can be said for nearly every other technology...course then the greatest "invention" of mankind...the microprocessor has been ubiquitous for decades...guess what it's genesis is...

So, basically you owe everything you have to the space program(s)... continuing to push the boundaries will only yield more wonders. Failing to "push" will signal the demise of mankind.

I thought it came from star trek. I hear what your saying it just seems like an awfully expensive way to advance technology. Its like going from hartford , CT to New york by way of Paris then china and over the pacific.

a reply to: jlafleur02

I hear what your saying it just seems like an awfully expensive way to advance technology.

It's an awful lot cheaper than the next driver of technology which is defense , the US space budget for next year will be around $17.5 Billion whereas the defense budget will be $756.4 billion.

The cost of space exploration is just a drop in the ocean , how far could we advance if space exploration was given a budget just half of that of defense.

originally posted by: jlafleur02

originally posted by: tanka418

originally posted by: jlafleur02
I just don't see the importance of spending billions to find a single cell organism on another planet. Why is that important. What will it affect and how does it benefit us?

Did you know that virtually all of todays technology, and certainly most of the electronic technologies around today; are derived directly from Man's mission to reach the moon? Its true, the microelectronics we have today came from space...well the attempts to get there...

The same can be said for nearly every other technology...course then the greatest "invention" of mankind...the microprocessor has been ubiquitous for decades...guess what it's genesis is...

So, basically you owe everything you have to the space program(s)... continuing to push the boundaries will only yield more wonders. Failing to "push" will signal the demise of mankind.

I thought it came from star trek. I hear what your saying it just seems like an awfully expensive way to advance technology. Its like going from hartford , CT to New york by way of Paris then china and over the pacific.

The purpose is to advance pure science. The technological advancements are side benefits.

Some do not give any importance to the advancement of pure science for its own sake. Some feel it's what keeps us from intellectual stagnation. In most cases it results in unforeseen advancements in applied science.

originally posted by: gortex
Scientists from the International Ocean Discovery Program have sunk the deepest marine drill to a record breaking depth of 2,400m beneath the seabed off Japan and discovered a thriving colony of tiny, single-celled organisms.

And this day will be remembered as the day the Zombie Apocalypse began.

originally posted by: thishereguy
a reply to: gortex

ok, so i'm looking at your picture

and all i'm thinking is. how many of these little things did they kill off when drilling to find the few in the picture?

You're kidding right? Seriously, why do people have to find the negative in EVERYTHING around here? For crying out loud, now we shouldn't even dig a hole...because if we do so, we might kill a few microbes. Seriously? That is "all [you are] thinking"? Jeebus...

originally posted by: thishereguy
a reply to: gortex

ok, so i'm looking at your picture

and all i'm thinking is. how many of these little things did they kill off when drilling to find the few in the picture?

How many microbes do YOU kill when you wash your hands, brush your teeth, or cook your food?

Methane and organic matter found on Mars

(CNN) -- It could be a sign, a vague one. A NASA rover has found the building blocks of life on Mars. They might be the product of past or present life on the Red Planet -- or they might not be. Either way, the samples of organic matter in the atmosphere and in rock show that Mars may at least have once had conditions favorable to hosting life, NASA said in a statement. They also show that the planet is still chemically active. The Curiosity rover's tapping into organics in rock is the first find ever of life's building blocks on Mars' surface. Gas blast NASA\'s mission to Mars and beyond NASA's mission to Mars and beyond The rover has run into pockets of gas on Mars: methane, often used to fire up gas stoves back on Earth. Organic matter is made up of carbon bonded with other elements, often hydrogen and oxygen. Living things are made up of it, but life is not necessary for it to exist. Methane is the smallest organic compound, consisting of one carbon and four hydrogen atoms. On our planet, methane is a fossil fuel, but it can also rise out of rotting sewage or fly through the air in flatulence. In other words, it usually comes from something living, or something that was once alive.

*below
a reply to: gortex

originally posted by: Soylent Green Is People

originally posted by: thishereguy
a reply to: gortex

ok, so i'm looking at your picture

and all i'm thinking is. how many of these little things did they kill off when drilling to find the few in the picture?

How many microbes do YOU kill when you wash your hands, brush your teeth, or cook your food?

Touche .

originally posted by: jaffo

originally posted by: thishereguy
a reply to: gortex

ok, so i'm looking at your picture

and all i'm thinking is. how many of these little things did they kill off when drilling to find the few in the picture?

You're kidding right? Seriously, why do people have to find the negative in EVERYTHING around here? For crying out loud, now we shouldn't even dig a hole...because if we do so, we might kill a few microbes. Seriously? That is "all [you are] thinking"? Jeebus...

wasn't really being negative. just a thought.

guess i shouldn't think of such things out loud.

a reply to: Soylent Green Is People

"How many microbes do YOU kill when you wash your hands, brush your teeth, or cook your food? "

Not to mention breathing, walking... even lifting something kills a few microbes that get squished at the contact points and myriad muscle cells are ruptured and killed, as well, with every movement bodies make, no matter how minute.

Multi- cellular organism are killing machines... I guess we could identify, name and express sorrow for each cell destroyed... but somehow that seems a tad excessive...