‘Hypothesis Paper’ Suggests NASA’s Curiosity Has Captured Evidence of Life on Mars

A scientist’s analysis of photos taken from NASA’s Curiosity suggests that there is evidence of ancient life on Mars, but many critics are warning people not to get too excited just yet.

The new paper in the journal Astrobiology claims that Curiosity’s photos of the Gillespie Lake outcrop in Mars’ Yellowknife Bay reveal microbially-induced sedimentary structures (MISS).

If this is true, the structures would serve as proof that microbial life exists, or at least existed, on Mars.

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While some science-lovers are gazing at the photos with wide eyes filled with amazement, skeptics aren’t too sure about the evidence.

After all, the paper was even intended to be nothing more than a “hypothesis paper.”

The photos are currently being treated as if they are extraterrestrial versions of ghost pictures—those who already believe in that kind of thing are excited about the visuals but those who have long been skeptics remain unimpressed.

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The circumstantial evidence comes from Nora Noffke, who has spent quite some time looking for signs of life on Mars.

That alone, for some people, is enough to suggest that Noffke could be reading too deeply into the vague markings on Mars’ surface.

Not everybody is discounting the paper, however, and Geek contributor Graham Templeton believes, at the very least, the photos are something to get excited about it.

“All wishful thinking aside, and within the context of this paper’s openly hypothetical status, it’s not irresponsible to get at least a little bit excited about these findings,” Templeton wrote.

In the same breath, however, Templeton explained why many experts aren’t placing any bets on the research just yet.

Outside of the markings in Curiosity’s photos, there is no other evidence to support microbial life on Mars.

“Curiosity has been blasting rock samples with lasers and measuring atmospheric methane to search for direct chemical evidence of current or ancient life, but so far the findings have been ambiguous at best,” Templeton added. “If microbes really did carpet Gillespie Lake for a long period, that might have been one of a small selection of places where that was the case.”

So the pictures are no sure sign of life on Mars but it’s important to note that Curiosity’s mission isn’t over just yet.

The rover is still making its way across the rocky planet hoping to one day send back solid evidence of life on Mars.

 

NASA’s Plans For A Cloud City Above Venus Could Have People Living Like the Jetsons

Nasa Plans for Cloud City

After years of exploration efforts focused on getting human life on Mars, NASA is ready to bring Venus back into the conversation with a permanent city floating high above Earth’s closest neighbor.

NASA has unveiled the concept for the floating city, deemed Cloud City, that would allow humans to live above Venus since it is impossible for them to live on the planet’s surface.

The average person discussing the possibilities of life on another planet tend to set their sights on Mars, despite the fact that it’s actually not the closest planet to Earth.

Venus is closer to Earth but the surface conditions on the planet make it inhabitable for human life.

Venus has an atmospheric pressure more than 90 times greater than that of Earth and temperatures that soar to more than 860 degrees Fahrenheit.

It also has a atmosphere composed mostly of carbon dioxide, a very small amount of nitrogen and a cloud layer composed of sulphuric acid.

All these things mean humans can’t live on the planet’s surface—but NASA believes people could live comfortably floating above the planet instead.

Cloud City would be floating about 30 miles above the planet and people would be living on a High Altitude Venus Operational Concept (HAVOC) spacecraft.

Functional plans for a permanent Cloud City are still in the works but for now humans would be able to live above Venus for about 30 days before returning to Earth.

The idea, for now, also open to the average person looking for a literal out-of-this-world vacation destination.

Astronauts would be the only ones welcome in Cloud City for the purpose of collecting data about the planet.

The temperatures and pressure on-board the HAVOC spacecraft would allow astronauts to stay above the planet while being subjected to conditions similar to what they would face on Earth.

The atmosphere at that altitude will also offer protections from solar radiation comparable to living in Canada.

After the initial round of probing for 30 days, NASA hopes to send teams of astronauts up to Cloud City to live for at least an entire year.

NASA has already made plans for transportation in Cloud City as well with a design that will essentially have people living like the famous cartoon family of the future – The Jetsons.

The design would allow astronauts to leave the main HAVOC spacecraft and further explore in Venus’s atmosphere.

Cloud City itself would be a fixed city but solar-powered Zeppelins would be used for further exploration.

NASA tells IEEE Spectrum that it could be another decade or two before Cloud City actually comes to fruition but experts believe further exploration of Venus could help advance efforts to get life on Mars.

“Venus has value as a destination in and of itself for exploration and colonization, but it’s also complementary to current Mars plans,” said Chris Jones of the Langley Research Center, according to CNET. “If you did Venus first, you could get a leg up on advancing those technologies and those capabilities ahead of doing a human-scale Mars mission. It’s a chance to do a practice run, if you will, of going to Mars.”