Fossilized Spines and Vertebrae of Big Creatures in Curiosity Sol 109!

reply to post by Char-Lee


These sound like ice age animals, which probably would have been under ice, so they were only exposed by melting. Mars has no such conditions.

Bones turn to dust if they are not under the right conditions. Fossils form through nutrients being replaced with rocks. That cannot occur in the air.

This is why when they find a fossil, extreme care must be taken to preserve it. They coat it with chemicals and bonding agents to prevent fracturing.

reply to post by Gorman91


Doesn't that depend on the composition of the atmosphere, especially the oxygen content?

I think this should be taken into consideration.

reply to post by poet1b


This is true. Not many people get this, but oxygen is one of the most toxic chemicals for your body. It's why your body needs such a huge mechanism to interact with it. But I do not know if that is limited to non bones or if bones fall under the same.

I do not claim to be an expert on that. But yet still, Aqueous fossils behave under similar conditions.

Originally posted by Indigo5

OK...from NASA's Curioisity page...

Members of the media, please contact:

Dwayne Brown
NASA Headquarters
(202) 358-1726
[email protected]


Maybe an ATS Mod could reach out for comment?

I had emailed Alan Boyle who writes the Cosmic Log for NBCnews.com about this but never heard back. I've now sent an email to:
Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
[email protected]

If I get anything back, I'll post it.

reply to post by ArMaP


You're right. but I thought there's a photo showing the thing from another angle.

Both the Barringer crater in Arizona, and the Odessa crater in Texas have yielded fossils in the walls of the crater, as well as in some of the ejecta that was blown out of it. Some were shells, others were prehistoric horse, mammoth teeth and all sorts of plant fossils. They were previously buried under hundreds of feet of sandstone and shales before the meteorites that made the craters arrived.

Perhaps, this was the only way these fossils could have ever made it near the surface if it were not from the explosive upheaval that these meteorites produced.

If any of these items in the Gale crater are fossils of bone, which really are mineral replacement of organic material, then this would probably be the only scenario in which they could have wound up on the surface, as erosion on Mars may not be any where near the erosional forces that we have presently on the Earth. Gale crater itself could be why there may be fossils on the surface, if they are indeed fossils at all. Just a guess, but a somewhat educated one

Originally posted by Gorman91
reply to post by Char-Lee

 

These sound like ice age animals, which probably would have been under ice, so they were only exposed by melting. Mars has no such conditions.

Bones turn to dust if they are not under the right conditions. Fossils form through nutrients being replaced with rocks. That cannot occur in the air.

This is why when they find a fossil, extreme care must be taken to preserve it. They coat it with chemicals and bonding agents to prevent fracturing.

edit on 26-2-2013 by Gorman91 because: (no reason given)

There have been enormous changes in the planet Mars that much is clear, our best experts know little of it yet, what makes you an expert on when the water left, if there were marshes, when the planet was iced or thawed.

Wow! Awesome find! It makes me wonder why, why they let some pictures out. They hide so much and then here these are. Hmm?

Originally posted by Pauligirl

I had emailed Alan Boyle who writes the Cosmic Log for NBCnews.com about this but never heard back. I've now sent an email to:
Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
[email protected]

If I get anything back, I'll post it.

Got an answer, but it seems to be a standard form letter

Thanks for your interest in images from Curiosity! The mission's engineers and scientists are gratified that so many people are exploring Mars by examining the images, but are unable to check into questions about specific images. Please note, however, that all data products from the rover will eventually reside in NASA's public Planetary Data System (pds.nasa.gov...). You may be particularly interested in the PDS Imaging Node, which received its first release yesterday (February 27): pds-imaging.jpl.nasa.gov...

As for life on Mars, Curiosity does not carry experiments to detect active processes that would signify present-day biological metabolism, nor does it have the ability to image microorganisms or their fossil equivalents. However, if this mission finds that the field site in Gale Crater has had conditions favorable for habitability and for preserving evidence about life, those findings can shape future missions that would bring samples back to Earth for life-detection tests or for missions that carry advanced life-detection experiments to Mars. A detailed discussion of this topic is presented starting on page 8 of the Mars Science Laboratory landing press kit, available for download at mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

We're in a great age of Martian discovery, and we hope everyone around the globe feels a part of it! Please keep following all of our missions at mars.nasa.gov... or Curiosity's journey at mars.nasa.gov...

Thanks again for your message and your interest in Mars exploration!

All the best,

Mars Outreach

Thanks for your effort & reporting back to this thread....
still waiting for reports from other members that submitted
info...

Cheers
Ektar

reply to post by Pauligirl


Thank you very much Pauligirl for your efforts.

But this NASA statement is Amazing!

CURIOSITY does not carry experiments to detect active processes that would signify present-day biological metabolism, nor does it have the ability to image microorganisms or their fossil equivalents.

Why a dozen of billions for this missions? Detect sand? False cololors of Mars? Out of focus photos? CGI video of Mars? Only entertainment.....

Maybe a better name for the NASA Rover: STUPIDITY!

You forgot to include the “However” part of that quote…

However, if this mission finds that the field site in Gale Crater has had conditions favorable for habitability and for preserving evidence about life, those findings can shape future missions that would bring samples back to Earth for life-detection tests or for missions that carry advanced life-detection experiments to Mars. In this sense, the Mars Science Laboratory is the prospecting stage in a step-by-step program of exploration, reconnaissance, prospecting and mining evidence for a definitive answer about whether life has existed on Mars.

Source

They continue to employ scientific method as a guide for rover designs as opposed to wasting money and taking a long-shot... those silly-heads.

reply to post by Arken


The rover's goals include: investigation of the Martian climate and geology; assessment of whether the selected field site inside Gale Crater has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life, including investigation of the role of water; and planetary habitability studies in preparation for future human exploration.

en.wikipedia.org...

Originally posted by Arken
Why a dozen of billions for this missions?

Since when is $2.5 billion equal to "a dozen of billions"?

Detect sand? False cololors of Mars? Out of focus photos? CGI video of Mars? Only entertainment.....

And yet you use the images sent back from it to find "fossils" and other artifacts. Or is that simply for entertainment too? Is that what you're trying to imply?

Maybe a better name for the NASA Rover: STUPIDITY!

reply to post by ArMaP


Pardon my ignorance.

Now I understend why they do not detect the anomalies under they sophisticated eyes.

They simply "ignore" any evidences, because is not the goal of this Mission.

Ok: Maybe me and other members can hepl NASA/JPL on this search and submit them our discoveries...

reply to post by Arken

Maybe me and other members can hepl NASA/JPL on this search and submit them our discoveries...

You haven't done so already?
Why not?
You could get credit for one of the greatest discoveries in history. They would name the beast after you. Arkensis Areianis!

Originally posted by Arken
Ok: Maybe me and other members can hepl NASA/JPL on this search and submit them our discoveries...

Yes, you should tell NASA/JPL that you discovered pictures of rocks on Mars - I am sure they will not have noticed any, so hurry up and tell them!

sorry but what are the 274 flags for?

please dont tell me there are people actually believing there are fossilized spines on Mars..

ZOMG

To play the devil's advocate, there might as well be a fossil lying in that area. It might even be somewhere in Curiosity's images. But with the fossil being covered with dust and looking like rocks, and not being included on the rover's to-do list, it will be ignored by the officials.