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Scientists: Mars Was Once Covered With Water Everywhere

blog.wired.com — The red planet was once awash in water, say scientists -- not hot, boiling water, but benign seas that may have been suitable for life. "There was apparently pervasive water present during the first 600 to 700 million years," said Brown University geologist John Mustard, co-author of a paper scheduled to be published today in Nature.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jul 17, 2008

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  • InvisibleInk, on 07/16/2008, -1/+45We should terraform Mars
  • elliotys, on 07/17/2008, -5/+40Apparently the Bible did not feel this was important enough for a mention.
  • TremorX, on 07/17/2008, -2/+24Humans. Once they destroyed that planet, a few managed to evacuate to the nearest habitable planet. You're standing on it now.
  • chaosevil, on 07/17/2008, -0/+20I dont know about you subterranean people but I live ON Earth.
  • inactive, on 07/17/2008, -0/+20It's difficult to terraform Mars because they do not have a magnetic field. Every time a massive proton event happens (which is somewhat often), all life forms on the planets surface will be highly susceptible...to death.

    But I'm all for trying :)
  • WriterSD, on 07/16/2008, -3/+19Wow. It makes you wonder what type of life could have been on Mars during that time.
  • diggit83, on 07/16/2008, -1/+16Kevin Costner
  • smitas, on 07/16/2008, -2/+17Are we going to end the same way like Mars?
  • sockpuppets, on 07/17/2008, -2/+16The Pastafarian Martian Edition mentions it in Tortellini chapter IV.
  • hakkola, on 07/16/2008, -0/+12Martians?
  • sockpuppets, on 07/17/2008, -0/+12It's all going to end the same way eventually.
  • deltaandroid, on 07/17/2008, -0/+12Probably Mega Dolphins
  • DougieD, on 07/17/2008, -0/+11DEAR GOD HE'S RIGHT!
  • HerbertWest, on 07/17/2008, -0/+11No

    We will be space traveling cyborgs by then.

    I can't wait for that.
  • sockpuppets, on 07/17/2008, -2/+13Martian neocons.
  • Lixie, on 07/17/2008, -0/+9They have found a fungus living in Chernobyl.
  • dcbebop, on 07/17/2008, -0/+9Hrm, let's hope we don't ***** up this one too. Too late.
  • GlassAgate, on 07/17/2008, -1/+9The surface dweller is speaking against our kind!
    Bring him down to our world!!! Make him suffer!!!
  • sockpuppets, on 07/17/2008, -0/+8FYI I am a cyclon.
  • Swarms, on 07/17/2008, -0/+8Crab People! Crab People!
  • Coottie, on 07/17/2008, -0/+8This is actually quite old news. Back in 2004 the rover missions discovered the same things. Here's a quote:

    "Liquid water once flowed through these rocks. It changed their texture, and it changed their chemistry," said Dr. Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., principal investigator for the science instruments on Opportunity and its twin, Spirit. "We've been able to read the tell-tale clues the water left behind, giving us confidence in that conclusion."

    Here's the article from 3/2/2004
    http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/op ...
  • madrigaelic, on 07/16/2008, -1/+9It seems basically sure that mars was covered with water, question is if it had the right chemistry to support life.
  • TSK05, on 07/17/2008, -1/+8Short answer: yes

    Long answer: Well, I don't actually know it in detail (that's next semster), but my understanding (from outside of class) is that the Earth's core slows down and thus our magnetic fields weakens and then we turn into Mars. How, why, not real sure. Time frame? I believe it's like 2 billion years or less, I know for sure it's less than the amount of time the sun has left, which is about 5 billion years.
  • dromni, on 07/17/2008, -0/+7A magnetic field is not an indispensable precondition for radiation shielding. You can have a similar protection by just building up a thick enough atmosphere. That is just the old trade off between active versus passive shielding, rather common in the design of space habitats - but this time applied to a whole planet.
  • KaJuN4, on 07/17/2008, -0/+6Something that can't be explained by the Bible? Quick! Someone slap on the standard "God works in mysterious ways" before people question it too much!
  • sockpuppets, on 07/17/2008, -0/+6We're bigger than mars so our molten core is larger. It spinning around is what generates our magnetic field- once it hardens there magnetic field goes away and our atmosphere gets chewed up by the sun's particles.

    Oh, and the magnetic field flips about every 200,000 years. Scientists believe we're entering a new flip now, and north will become south and vice versa. During that time you're be seeing the northern lights in weird places like New York and London. You'll also be seeing alot of skin cancer as windows of higher radiation appear because the magnetic field is neutral in some spots, before entirely flipping.
  • lazyrussian, on 07/17/2008, -0/+5Good thing I own some property on Venus!
  • MattNF, on 07/17/2008, -2/+7You underestimate the power of evolution. Given time, eventually some life form could build a defense to that sort of event.
  • brainnovate, on 07/25/2008, -0/+5I am still waiting for them to find out what killed the Martians, so we can avoid a similar fate. Could have been something in the water?
  • yaddayaddayoda, on 07/17/2008, -0/+4I really don't want to read anything by a person called "AssJuice".
  • krayneeum, on 07/17/2008, -0/+4sounds like a cool sci-fi movie
  • sockpuppets, on 07/17/2008, -0/+4Can I have your liver?
  • cdigioia, on 07/17/2008, -0/+4Are you the hot one, or the one that was on Quantum Leap?
  • fuse13, on 07/17/2008, -2/+6global warming.
  • inactive, on 07/17/2008, -0/+3Dugg for John Mustard, the coolest name I've seen today.
  • deltaandroid, on 07/17/2008, -0/+3probably Mega Dolphins
  • koldmilk, on 07/17/2008, -0/+3huh... wounder what kinda life could have developed if it had lasted till today...
  • necronougat, on 07/17/2008, -0/+3sodium fluoride
  • gungaroo22, on 07/17/2008, -0/+3I don't think you'll live to see it... sorry to break the news. :(

    Mortality's a bitch, eh?
  • mrsteveman1, on 07/17/2008, -1/+4Lots of things are full of *****.

    I'm more interested in why, if there was life on mars, is it not mentioned in the bible.......hmmmmm.
  • layzice, on 07/17/2008, -0/+3Don't worry, we won't be around that long ;]
  • gofalcons, on 07/17/2008, -0/+3Good point hiltonizer, the downward thumbs are still going to come though, you can't not believe in MMGW on digg.
  • inactive, on 07/17/2008, -1/+4Well you see, the earth is really just a metaphor...for Mars.

    /s
  • yaddayaddayoda, on 07/17/2008, -0/+3AWWWW! I read it!
  • damonic, on 07/17/2008, -2/+5How can this be if the Bible tells us that the universe is only about 6000 years old?
  • mrsteveman1, on 07/17/2008, -0/+2Yea, but people have been adding the number of years between certain events in the bible and come to the conclusion that the beginning chapters of genesis happened around 5000-6000 years ago.
  • hakkola, on 07/17/2008, -0/+2The Bible doesn't say that anywhere.
  • Livewire, on 07/17/2008, -1/+3eventually will need to*
  • inactive, on 07/17/2008, -0/+2Common molecule is everywhere, news at 11!
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