NASA finds Martians

Martians exist(ed). They're also (well, were) bacteria.

Close examination suggested that about 25 percent of the crystal structures were chemically consistent with being formed from bacteria.

"We feel vindicated. We’ve shown the alternate explanation is absolutely incorrect, leading us back to our original position that these structures are formed by bacteria on Mars," Dr Mackay said.

Dennis Bazylinski, an astrobiologist from the University of Nevada who peer-reviewed the findings, said: "Until now I was on the fence but this paper has really thrown out the non-biological explanation."

So at some point, there was life on Mars. The question one must ask now is ... is it still there?

Microbial Life on Mars

Here it is, the slides (with some slight modifications and in PDF format) from my seminar on the possibility of microbial life on Mars given to the local Astronomy Club. The talk went well, from what I could tell, and I had a good time (and I hope everyone else did too, on top of learning something!). The slides are not "complete" in the sense that you might be able to glean all the information I spoke about by simply viewing them. That's because slides IMO should mostly be written from the vantage point of the lecturer, so as to be used as a guide for them and remind them of what they're going to say (if people are reading my slides, they're not paying attention to me speaking ... that's not a Good Thing). So you won't see many full sentences in these slides, just bullet points to jog my memory. And some snazzy eye candy (pictures). Alas, since it's PDF, all addtional eye candy (movement) is lost. I don't use special effects in my actual talks/seminars but for the local Astronomy Club, I figured what the heck. People thought the stuff I did was amusing (like the space-faring sea monkeys to illustrate the ideas of "forward contamination" and "panspermia".

Anyways, here it is: Martian Life

Get your own at Scribd or explore others: Science Biology bacteria microbial

Oh, and Scribd is a pretty cool site, and it's free!

Evidence of water on Mars ...

... at least from a historical perspective.

Phoenix has found minerals on Mars that suggest the craft's bone-dry landing site may once have been quite wet, researchers announced on Monday. The lander has also spotted the first hints of snowfall, in clouds high above the ground.

Water is the main prerequisite for life.