It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
originally posted by: Saint Exupery
a reply to: FossilLin
Small rocks and pebbles are also used in paving materials.
By this logic, finding small rocks and pebbles on Mars is evidence that Martians (who TOTALLY existed!) used them to pave surfaces.
originally posted by: FossilLin
However, let me talk about another important thing: Kerogen on Mars originated from Martian life only.
Q: The Curiosity rover found the first definitive evidence of organic matter on Mars in 2014. Now with these new results, what does this all say about the possibility that there is, or was life on Mars?
A: Yes, previously, Curiosity found small organic molecules containing carbon, hydrogen, and chlorine. Again, without having a Mars rock in a laboratory on Earth for more detailed study, we cannot say what processes formed these molecules and whether they formed on Mars or somewhere in the interstellar medium and were transported in the form of carbonaceous meteorites. Unfortunately, the new findings do not allow us to say anything about the presence or absence of life on Mars now or in the past. On the other hand, the finding that complex organic matter can be preserved there for more than 3 billion years is a very encouraging sign for future exploration. "Preservation" is the key word, here. It means that, one day, there is potential for more sophisticated instrumentation to detect a wider range of compounds in Mars samples, including the sorts of molecules made by living organisms, such as lipids, amino acids, sugars, or even nucleobases.
All kerogen on Earth originated from life, according to this Wikipedia article:
en.wikipedia.org...
Kerogen in meteorites also originated from Martian life (see wretchfossil.blogspot.com... DO NOT CLICK THE LINK IF YOU DON'T WANT TO VISIT MY WEBSITE).
I wonder how did you know there was no "higher percentages of that material" on Mars?
Mars rover Curiosity drilled two small holes (each about 2 cm in diameter) in Pahrump Hills and found higher percentage of organic matter (including kerogen) than what the rover had ever found previously.