Will NASA release Earth- ... er, Mars-shaking news?
By Elizabeth Landau, CNN
A big "OMG" moment for space enthusiasts may be coming!
We were certainly excited to read on NPR's website that the Curiosity rover may have discovered something "really interesting." John Grotzinger, principal investigator for the Curiosity rover mission, revealed to NPR that "This data is gonna be one for the history books. It's looking really good."
The data in question come from soil that was analyzed by an instrument suite on the rover called SAM, the Sample Analysis at Mars. This chemistry set is equipped to look for compounds of carbon, such as methane, as well as hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. These would suggest at least the possibility that life could have once existed there.
But Grotzinger would not tell NPR exactly what about the latest results could be so "earthshaking" (should we say "Mars-shaking"?). And it will be several weeks before the public may know anything further about the matter, NPR reported. The scientists don't want to say anything prematurely, before they're sure they know what they're seeing.
NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory spokesman Guy Webster told CNN that the science team is not ready to discuss the soil inspection from SAM and that the same policy applied to past results from the Curiosity mission.
"The scientists want to gain confidence in the findings before taking them outside of the science team. As for history books, the whole mission is for the history books," he wrote in an e-mail. "John was excited about the quality and range of information coming in from SAM during the day a reporter happened to be sitting in John's office last week. He has been similarly excited by results at other points during the mission so far."
Curiosity has been roaming Mars since its spectacular landing August 6, which involved a supersonic parachute and a sky crane. It weighs nearly 2,000 pounds and has 17 cameras on board. With the rover's sophisticated instruments, the $2.5 billion mission is exploring Mars in ways that no manmade probe has ever been able to before.
The rover landed in a place called Gale Crater, which may have once contained water. In fact, during its first couple of months of exploration, Curiosity found evidence of ancient water, based on rock formations that appeared to have formed in the presence of water.
For several weeks, Curiosity was parked at a place called Rocknest, where it scooped up soil samples and discovered shiny objects.
On November 16, the rover started driving again, NASA said. Currently it's on its way to a location called Point Lake. It moved 83 feet eastward Sunday.
Meanwhile, space fans have taken to Twitter to post humorous speculations about the rover's discoveries using the hashtag #CuriosityFindings. @treelobsters writes, "That red dust? Actually paprika." @jkfecke adds, "Face on Mars is huge statue of Justin Bieber." And particularly groundbreaking would be, as @TechyDad writes, "A giant pile of unmatched socks that disappeared from the Earth's washing machines."
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I hope they found my keys.
OK, the rumors of my demise weren't so exaggerated after all. Just let it be, will ya?
After reading all the posts here of people belittling others and pushing their political views your post was a breath of fresh air and made me laugh out loud. Thank you!
They found the first Twinkie. Still eatable. Ummm good.
So that's where she ended up.
Amelia Earhart was waaaay off course.
I bet it's an animal fossil or bone of some type. If it is, that pretty much blows the whole religious theory of GOD, Adam, Eve, & the like right out of the water. It's either that or they found a billion year old predecessor to the iPad. 🙂
While I believe in evolution and not in the literal Adam and Eve story, you don't seem to realize that the creation story in the Bible is a parable and a local story (i.e. Earth). Sure it starts with the Big band but quickly drills down to the creation of our solar system and the Earth.
We can explain how the earth was born.
Too many brainwashed fools take it literally
We could have saved billions. Just ask any GOP religious nut how old the Earth is and its a free answer.
I don't think the creation story is a parable at all. From The bible tells us that from these tow beings , came the fathers of many of the middle eastern nations. This is something evolution cannot tell us, but the bible foundations of many of the middle eastern nations. Something evolution cannot explain, but the bible can. From Abraham and Sarah came the Palestenians, from Abraham and Sarah came Isaac, the beginning of the nation of Israel and the Israelites.. The bible gives the history of man from the beginning to the end. Evolution cannot give us anything about the history of man. The conflict between these two, can be traced back to the bible.
Did the story start with Glenn Miller or Benny Goodman?
'The bible gives the history of man from the beginning to the end.'
dont be silly.
I'm glad you put all your faith in a story...because that is all it is! I'll write you a story and you can base your entire life on it.like all the rest of the tards that are unable to think for themselves. Your references to the bible use stories from men that, in their day, were seen as enemies of the state. "On the third day he rose again..." ok, so he's a zombie.....your move
The problem with not taking the genesis story literally is that if you don't then there was no need for the sacrifice of Jesus.
Common, the history of man? Man had existed for a long time before the Bible was written! The Bible is a tale, not even history book. It does have value if you read it as a tale. But to life by it and guide moral by it 2000 years later is pretty dangerous.
yeah.
So tell me how it would shatter it?
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that life can't exist elsewhere
Don't make the mistake of limiting what God can do
The Bible has yet not no evidence for god or creationism.Stop the topic.
It's not that discovery of life, or the conditions suitable for life, would shatter the Bible. You're correct that the Bible does not actually say there cannot be life elsewhere. However, like many other things that are not mentioned in the Bible, the hard-core fundamental Christians BELIEVE that's what the Bible says. If you kick out one of the most basic tenets of their faith with actual facts, they're left to wonder what else they believe might be wrong. It's just more of the "young earth" mentality, based upon somebody's reading of a book created by a bunch of men, few of whom witnessed first-hand the things they wrote about. Nowhere did Jesus, at least according to the Bible, ever say anything about when life begins, nor did he speak about an obligation to hate the Gays, but that hasn't stopped "his church" from adopting rules about things like that.
Christians are always playing this revisionist game. "We didn't say that." "The Bible doesn't say this." "This can be explained from this passage, which just yesterday we were interpreting in a completely different way." GIVE IT UP ALREADY! If you would learn to keep your religious beliefs PERSONAL, and stop trying to explain the physical world with it, you wouldn't have to be doing this kind of back-pedaling and after-the-fact justification every time science shows your views to be completely wrong. The fact of the matter is that Christians have been claiming FOREVER that life exists on Earth only. They have staunchly argued against live being anywhere else in the universe. Now you guys are trying to claim that you never thought this and that such a view isn't actually Biblical. Do you honestly think all of the rest of us are so stupid that we don't recall what you people have been saying all this time? Every time you open your mouths, you sound less and less intelligent. Just stop it already!
Profound consequences for theology should life be conclusively detected.
Maybe the bible doesnlt say that, but Cardinal Bellarmine, with the authority of the Catholic Church behind him, had astronomer Giordano Bruno burned at the stake for speculating that intelligent life might exist elsewhere in the universe. Brune was a contemperary of Galileo.
Nowhere in the Bible does it mention the Bible.
There are fundamental implications for religion. Theologists can no longer claim that god crated Earth and life for man, and some might even say that allow evolution of man. Of course you can come up with a new religion such as scientology and claim that god created many planet and threw up a dice and said let there be bacteria on Mars and let there be man on Earth. But the very fact is that there are no facts, no evidence that would support any god. Unfortunately, it will take a long time to rid of god from the human mind.
I don't think there'd be much wait to announce an identifiable fossil. It's more likely traces of organic compounds...And what would really be interesting is if the compounds are undamaged by UV...Meaning they're either well buried or being reproduced by an active source. Nice if Viking turns out to have been right all along, eh?
Viking landed in Greenland 1000 years ago. We saw the buildings. What a waste of $2.5B.
Leaf is another god loving idiot. Read the posts above. How much are we spending a day on Afghanistan?
Vikings will be proven to be as accurate as any , in storytelling !
No... Not a fossil. Maybe traces of methane that would prove bacteria once existed.
Methane occurs totally naturally, such as on the surface of Saturn or Neptune. You're probably watching too much Dora the explorer or Bill Nye the Science guy for thinking something like that.
How can anything they find anywhere "disprove" the existence of a creator?
Some keep saying people of faith can't prove a creator exists.. The same holds true for science.
How can science that has yet to step foot further than the moon.. Or see further than a probe has gone.. Claim there is absolutely NO creator out there?
Its simply arrogance on the part of science to trust that they will eventually come up with the proof.. And in the meantime just believe that they say they will prove it some day.
So ??
Isn't believing in science "faith based" also?
You believe some day science will prove he does not exist.. Those of faith believe some day God himself will prove he does.
Faith.. All Faith..
'How can science that has yet to step foot further than the moon.. Or see further than a probe has gone.. Claim there is absolutely NO creator out there?
Its simply arrogance on the part of science to trust that they will eventually come up with the proof.. And in the meantime just believe that they say they will prove it some day.
So ??'
show me where science claims that they will one day prove there is no god. we'll wait.
Belief (faith if you want to call it that) in a deterministic universe (at least on the Newtonian level) is not the same thing as belief in a supernatural power.
We can demonstrate that F=MA, E=IR, etc. Proof of a supernatural power relies heavily on syllogistic logic. That was how the Catholic Church 'proved' that Galileo was wrong.
Actually scientist do agree that when the BIG BANG occurred that something could not be made from nothing and that there had to be something to create that "Explosion" that started the universe. The fact is scientists will not say yes or no to the existence of a God but they will not refute Religious Philosophers because of this fact..You have to have something to create something and something cannot be created out of nothing...I am a pantheist and I have to agree with this statement as well.
What a lot of the make pretend scientists posting here hate to admit, is that given the same "Mountain of Evidence", there are many scientists that DO believe in a God, or Creator if you will. And yes, science is a form of religion. Complete with Gods and prophets that people follow on faith alone.
Its very interesting that you refer to the supreme being in the masculine gender Mary. Did your personal spirituality tell you God is male or did your inculcatoin to a cult tell you that?
Science doesn't have to prove that there is no creator. Believers have to prove that there is one. The burden of proof is on the person making the positive claim. Arbitrary assertions like "god exists" are not true until proven false, they are false until proven true. This common sense. Or maybe not so common after all.
Sid
I can prove that the virgin birth is bunk....
Faith is when you believe in and accept something in the absence of evidence and often to the contrary of evidence. You do not understand how science works. Science generates facts and then theories. If a theory describes well the facts scientists accept it as a valid theory. But if new facts come in that contradict the theory scientists immediately reject the theory. Another scientist will eventually come up with a better theory and the whole thing progresses. This is why your cell phone, TC, internet, car efficiency get better and better and new things come up. Where is the faith here? You never change your idea about things in the world, only when science comes up with something and sometimes even then you don't accept the facts such as evolution. Before you talk about science please read and understand how it works! The religious mind is rigid and static unable to accept new facts and quite frankly reality. Finally, I should say something about who needs proof of god. It's you. But we can do better. If you assume god exists as in the bible then there should be miracles all the time, he should listen to the prayer, but there is no evidence of praying help anybody. Thus, when there should be obvious evidence of god, the lack of the slightest evidence support of non-existence of god.
UNIVERSAL, thats my answer, the birds, Bees, mammals, we all something in common. To populate and move on. If the universe has been here for a Zillion years, then why have we not made contact with other civilizations. You would think other civilizations would have conquered the universe and populated and or made contact wth us or we would have seen a sign. Ok, well, maybe all the blurry videos we've seen of UFO's. Why just one Earth in this Solar System. Whats the big secret. Is this a big mean game with Earth. Answer: there is nothing out there.
Ummm NO Sid...it doesn't work that way. Christians are the "messengers". It's up to you to find God...that's if you have the "need" to know the truth. That's how the rest of us found him. Stop depending on people to do everything for you and stand up for a change.
They say its a dry heat.
The big Bang theory is actually a catholic idea. Georges Lemaître was one of the originators.
Literal Creationists tend to be the "simpler" evangelists types.
The bible is nothing more than a fairy tale
Oh, I hope it's fossilized bone or wood. That would be SO cool!
And how would it do that?... the bible doesn't speak about what God did with his creation other than here, Earth, besides, how would it be pertinent to saving your soul?. Dummy.
I hope they found Waldo because i can never find him in those stupid books..
Waldo is in Pittsburgh, I saw it on MNF.
So hope they found my car keys and wallet. I really should be more careful where I drop them.
They found an alien artifact.
I work for NASA, and yes, you are on the right track...
Not yet identified.
That would be too cool, an alien artifact.
they found... hummm.... a statue of mother Mars... with her big boobs, belly and butt....
Mama Mars..... men are not from Mars and women are not from Venus. its the other way around.
so the face is real after all. i KNEW it!
They found "The Book of Mormon."
Dumb de Dumb dumb dumb! Perhaps the Mormons are waiting eagerly for the announcement that life exists on Mars so they can get an early start on what promises to be the longest bike ride in history.
Results are to be announced December 22nd.
Are they trying to get all of the End of The World Crazies whipped up into a frenzy? The probe into a pristine Lake under Antarctica is also underway and the first samples will be brought to the surface on the 18th of December. Both could produce some exiting new discoveries.
President O'bama is gonna apologize first and then tell everyone he knows first hand that he now knows where Mohammad lives.
Actually I hope they found something really exciting like Alien remains.
on Mars we are the aliens... not Martians.
Maybe they discovered that Elvis lived on Mars and maybe still around somewhere.
UNFORTUNATELY – unlike US a Scientist working on Analyzing Data would find a Reading of 2.3 instead of 2.4 to be 'Earth-shattering' we MAY be Underwhelmed.
This is because of your lack of understanding of... anything, apparently.
Why do you capitalize random words?
Maybe Tourette's?
they found JESUS CHRIST?
Yes, they found cheese & rice.
Jimmy Hoffa?
Forrest, Forrest Gump......?
A Mars Bar?
They have to wait to speak about it bc they have to get clearance from the government to let us know that humans can breathe on Mars. I'll bet when they explore the area that isn't visible to us, they will find life on Mars but we won't hear about it.
You are in need of professional help and a science textbook.
In which order?
MOM? IS THAT YOU?
Maybe they found Jimmy Hoffa...
Martian Manhunter's secret cupboard of Oreo cookies ?
Evidence that the Jupiter 2 crash landed there ?
An abandoned stargate ?
Marvin the Martian's vacation spot ?
Megatron's outhouse?
Lots of people thinking "they found........". Maybe they discovered some physical property that differs from expectations ?
But it was said they'd found signs of water, because a fluid appeared to have carved out terrain. But no-one EVERY gave evidence specifically indicating that water did it – as opposed to some other liquid.
Mars: urinal of the gods
"Thank you, NASA, for finally finding the real killers."
–O.J. Simpson
Well, I do hear Mitt Romney is hiding.. Where in the world is Mitt? I wonder if he is hiding in Mars.
lIKE OMG they found chemicals......wooopty flipping doda its everywhere. Show me something worth wanting to see.
You are an idiot.
Only idiots call other people idiots. Idiot.
And you're expecting what?
If they find microscopic fossils, then that would be news. It would change our perception that we are not alone out there. It would put our beliefs into question, especially the religious ones.
It would also point to the undeniable evidence that one day we will be doomed if we don't take care of our planet.
We are doomed. The sun will eventually go supernova and all will be lost.
Actually our religious beliefs are ALREADY in question!
Religion is a crock of crap and lies anyway...it's about time we tossed it onto the trash heap of History where it belongs.
Ok ant...
You say that now. But the day and time will come when you and others like you will pray to God to save your life or someone you love (wife or kid) or maybe when you are really down and need some spirited up lifting to help you cope with life itself. I truly feel sorry for your disbelief in the Lord as you will regret it some day.
Alan, so we should believe in God so when bad things happen, which they will, agreed, we will have have something other than ourselves to protect us? That doesn't sound like faith to me. More like hedging your bets or car insurance.
capmike....typical atheist statement. Old, boring, find something revolutionary to say. Thank you.
I don't see how it would affect religious beliefs any differently than the theory of evolution did.
They Found a stargae
My personality
So they found nothing then? 😉
They are excit3ed to report that they found a Starbucks drive through, the hang up is that they are waiting for the nonfat vanilla latte to finish being made before they report it.
They are waiting to say anything because if they say what they think they see and are wrong then every anti-science, conspiracy minded, my religion tells me all I need to know even though the odds of choosing the right God out of the thousands of previous and current Gods religious zealots will use this error as an example of how science is bogus until the end of time.
kevin, god is myth.your delussions are bogus
Much like your spelling ability.
Perhaps he tried to use sarcasm? At no point during my ramble did I elude to the belief of God.
Guess it must be tough for you to make sense out of long sentences.
Well life is so simple. Just a a little bit of water and shazam! Complex organisms will pop into existence, with no apparent purpose whatsoever. These organisms will be complete with nervous systems, eyes, digestive systems, articulated limbs, etc.... and scientists will say evolution did it and if you disagree with them, you will be called an idiot. They will probably find fossils of very similar organisms to those of the cambrian explosion and the similarities will be a result of 'convergent evolution'. If you can believe that the Katydid evolved a very similar auditory system similar to ours through a mindless, chance process, you can believe anything. Hey stuff happens and evolution is real science and not faith.
With your beautiful explination of the theory of evolution it is no wonder you don't accept it. Actually your probably right there is a big invisible guy in the clouds that we are all gonna meet someday and bad people go to a big firey place where everybody is mean. Yeah that sounds like it. Nice and simple. Like you.
I love how someone tries to dispel all Scientific knowledge/research while using a computer...............
I would be angry as well because the Christian belief has always been that Life is limited to Earth. To find evidence of Life on Mars will force religious leaders to backtrack and "reinterpret" the good book once again.
Y kind of life anywhere in this univerNot actually... The many factions of Christianity have come to this conclusion. The early Church which evolved to the Roman Church and now to modern Catholicism applauds the possibility of outside of Earth life, evolutionary growth by understanding that God being the eternal pusher or giver has the ability to create life anywhere in this universe as we understand it to be.
It is not by god.
Here's one for you, Kevin: the Bible never states that God only created life on Earth. It only speaks to what is here. The interpretation of "We are it" seems to be an assumption and not a statement from the Bible. And I'm not sure omission of any comment on it in the Bible has a direct relation to absence of life elsewhere. Perhaps God only wanted us to be concerned with Earth......because He knew we would ultimately screw it up.
Kevin, where are you getting your facts from?
Life as we know it, doesnt mean it is as God knows it. So before you make bogus claims, speak with someone who is educated in the faith, and dont listen to what the media says, for if they lie about earthly matters, how much more then would they lie about heavenly matters that they have no knowledge of?
God Bless you .
Kevin, You're wrong. The Biblical creation story is a PARABLE of how life began on Earth. As I posted earlier the story is local to Earth; it starts with the Big Bang, drills down to our solar system and then Earth. Life began in the sea, moved to the land, and one day people showed up. Once they became self-ware, they screwed the place up. Sounds pretty accurate to me,
So Christianity, nor any other religion, needs to be revamped if evidence of life is discovered else where. They may need to be revamped, but that is another discussion.
I have been a Christian for a long time, protestant, not catholic, and I don't recall ever being taught or hearing in a sermon that a basic tenet of Christianity is that we must be alone in the universe. You are obviously not a Christian, so you may want to consider refraining from commenting on something of which you know absolutely nothing about.
"the Christian belief has always been that Life is limited to Earth."
Uh, no it hasn't. In fact, I'm not aware of any Christian doctrine that holds such beliefs.
If there is life, it wouldn't be in this universe because, this universe was cursed do to sin that Adam and Eve committed. it didn't just affect just all of man kind, but the entire universe. That is why stars burn out after eons, galaxies collide, black holes. The bible and science agree that this universe is winding down. I truly believe that God tried this again outside of the universe we live in, but this time that Adam and Eve if they were named that obeyed! What is the chance of man coming in contact of this sinless life, zero. He would not let that happen! Just my opinion..
It is hilarious to watch the religous scramble to cover their collectiv azz even before any announcment is made. "We didnt say that!" Yes you did. "That's not what we meant." It was yesterday. etc.. etc.. etc.
Evolution happens everywhere. The primordial soup did not have complex organisms but very simple ones (from fossilised records). Also, as we evolve stuff that we do not find usefull tends to die off. For example, more and more people find religion useless (the latest polls show atheism increasing dramatically) when they have more believable and plausible explanations from science. That is part of the evolution of a civilization. Hence, you are a dying breed. If you want to be part of human development, try reading up on evlution
Its interesting that you say this about the rise of atheism. This type of event is predicted in that outdated old book.
@knothead of course it was predicited in that book. If you tell a lie sooner or later, it will come out. Religion has always been about power to control others. No mater what religion it was all the way back to the witch doctor of cave men times. You can still see it in the tribes of the Amazon. The pharaohs even claimed to be gods or Xerxes and countless others.
If that post represents your understanding of chemistry, biology, and physics it's no wonder you mistakenly think that biological evolution is something you can choose to "believe" or "not believe". I'm sure a lot of things must seem like magic to you.
You mean it's not all magic?
Your comment is riddled with contradictions. What does that remind me of??? Oh yeah, religion and the bible.
Your entire life is a contradiction. For you have lied and acted selfishly, and by acknowledging that, by default u give acknowledgment that a moral standard of good truly exists and that you havent always lived according to it. and that Moral law exists in us, yet we cannot explain it neither can science-just as science cannot explain the purpose of a rock beyond what it observess the rock doing. So cant we explain what is above and beyond the Moral Law. Therefore, by saying the bible is contradictory, you actually judge yourself.
So before you judge others, look in the mirror.
God bless you.
They can.Religion cannot get details.Volcanologists cannot detects earthquake swarms with the bible.
Wow! You must be a genius! Tell me you are making millions of dollars at a cutting edge technology company because of your genius in disproving our entire scientific knowledge through simple access to a PC and keyboard.
you are an idiot.
'Believers' used to slaughter their children in the hope that it would make the Gods happy so they would send some rain. They probably read the book of Moron or something like it.
MrHanson, your words sound like a perfect reason to believe in creationism rather than random events evolution. I'm not sure where you were going with that.
Unlikely. The atmosphere was never probably thick enough to support much more than bacteria.
Life exists because it can. Everything in the universe that is not forbidden by the laws of physics is compulsory, somewhere, sometime. Life's 'purpose' is to reproduce and continue existing. Any chemistry based transient organism that has a different purpose doesn't live long and ceases to exist.
It's probably just that ball that Albert Pujols hit against the Astros in the playoffs a few years back.
This will probably be like the Moon landing, they probably planted something and then say "oh look what we found on Mars".
Hmmmm. Clown. How appropriate.
So we went to the moon to plant something?
SPOCK?
The shiny things they found were the shells of some crusation from when there was water. We spent billions to find out clams on Mars had legs. LOL
I agree. Science is such a stupid waste of time.
Your science teachers throughout your schooling did you a great disservice as so many who should not be teaching still are. I feel sorry for you because science is so facinnating.
A popular opinion among the underemployed.
And this stupid science is what allowed you to type on your computer, ipod, search the internet, talk on your phone, drive your car and yes give you the clothing you wear or perhaps a bank account. But you wouldn't get that.
Findings like these may save our planets life as a whole. Mars was once like earth and look at it now. Billions spent will save your life, no matter how stupid you are.
Oh, you're one of those people. How sad. You live in the age of instant information yet you do not have any. You choose not to have any. For example, you choose not to know that NASA's budget represents less than 1% of what the federal government spends every year. You cry about the 2.6 billion we spent on this but not the 600+ billion we spend every year on the military. There's just no helping people who are willfully ignorant.
President Obama just gave 6 BILLION (not 2.5 B) but six billion dollars to China for them to have clean energy. How can anyone complain about how the working people's tax dollars are spent when we just give it away. Billions to black farmers!!! Billions to China!!! May as well give billions to NASA.
Wow – you are stupid. Without science what would you have? Not that smart phone, computer, microwave, car or anything else you use everyday. Without sceince we would be back in the stone age – maybe you belong there. Think about it – humans are only differnt now verses the stone age due to science.
Crusation?
short for cruise vacation
The religious right and islamic extremist fear. Curiosity will finally confirm that all religions are based on man made concepts. Religion was established by wealthy to control the poor. The fear of God has been used to control society and keep the status quo. As an agnostic, I am open to a God, but understand that it can't be proven with science. I do feel we are all energy and the universe doesn't waste anything. Religion defines this as a soul and science has been working to prove life can be explained, but hasn't been able to prove it. If it takes the fear of God to make you a better person, go for it. God may be the answer because it is easy. I for one would take the study of science and the search for truth. If that truth is God, I am open to it. But don't pressure science for trying to search for answers.
I'm agnostic - I'm open to Leprechaun on the backs of flying lizards.
Hello Rich.
there is a God, and His name is Jesus Christ. Now the job of science is not to explain the purpose beyond the actual facts observed. Science is the study of what already exists, the chemical/atomic make-up of things and how they behav. Humans on the other hand give acknowledgment to something above and beyond what we see. The moral law being one of them. Truth be told, if this universe had no god, then it would have no purpose, and humans being just a peice of the purposeless picture would not even have ever questioned whether there was a purpose or not. So before you go off and make science your god, sit and pray. God Bless you.
The only place you are going to find a 'purpose' is within yourself. If you are so empty that you need to imagine a 'god' in order to have meaning in your life, then I pity you. Don't bother praying, nothing is listening. Meditate if you want, but know it for what it is.
Not sure if Howie gets it.. We are finite creatures therefore we can't create ourselves so thus what is our true purpose... Well anyways we can let him chew on that for awhile. They offer intro to philosophy at the local colleges hopefully he takes a course
Yeah, moral law, like The Crusades. That was an incredibly moral time, all in the name of God (sarcasm, if that wasn't sarcastic enough for ya). And Jesus Christ was the son of God and Mary. You may be confusing "God" with "Lord". Jesus was essentially a demigod, like Perseus or Theseus (see MYTHOLOGY). He was, by no means, God. That would mean that he was responsible for his own "birth", which would contradict his existence. And I doubt prayer is going to change any agnostic's/atheist's mind on a belief in a "higher being". It'll probably just make them feel silly...
"there is a God, and His name is Jesus Christ."
This statement would be considered heretical and blasphemous by every Christian sect – past, present and future. It belies a deep, fundamental misunderstanding of Christianity.
Gee and here I thought Jesus was supposed to be the son of god all this time. Could you please get together and get your story straight? Thank you.
But, according to the Bible, Jesus kept saying, over and over, I am God's son - never claimed to be the father (creator). Man made Jesus to be God, but the Bible didn't.
....thought Jesus was the SON of God..... I see why you guys liked Romney so much..... he keeps changing his lies, too!
Now explain why we HAVE to have a purpose......we just are...
Yeah, let's start a religion based on the raping of another man's wife.....oops, already been done!
Good moral code.....Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife...... but I can!
I'm going to go with you on open mind but there is a good chance it will be those mismatched socks... :-))
Howie,
May the Lord open your heart and make you see how corrupt and radically depraved you really are as a humna being. The very fact that we have the ability to ponder whether we have a purpose or not is due to the reasoning that the very God you deny has given you. So, honestly, I pity you sir. God bless you. Seek Truth.
I used to be a humna being, but I decided it was more satisfying to be a HUMAN being......NyNick can't you spell at all? That is at least the 8th typo from you. Your intelligence(lack of) is showing.
Yea who is not radically depraved, cast the first stone....
Religion was established well before wealthy people roamed the earth. It can be dated back to tribal and nomadic existence. There's nothing that the Mars rover could find that would change most people's views on religions. According to studies about 80% of all people are religious in some form and of those 60% believe in extra-terrestrial life. Evidence of life on other planets would not impact most people.
....actually, the first caveman who had 6 sheepskins and 4 wives (probably a Mormon)was considered rich. In rich guy fashion, he probably stole the skins from a blind guy.
No, the rich caveman set up a hedge fund, became a corporate pirate, made a fortune in vulture capitalism, and ran for Presuident as a "successful businessman...
they found a hot steaming turd, and the rover stepped in it. Now it will take 6 months to scrape it off the wheel.
Haha!! I'm happy to see not everybody is so uptight.
They found a twig last week. Those are good for digging out the grooves.
They have discovered that the red dust is actually cinnamon?
maybe they found a decent head coach for the Cowboys.
love it
NASA has found Jimmy Hoffa.
I always said – Jimmy Hoffa & Howard Hughes faked the moon landing on Mars !
You reached really deep for that one, eh Petey?
I see another Quizno's franchise opportunity. Gotta be the 1st one to the market.
They found the profits and stellar reviews for John Carter?
Good News! A microscopic crystal of water was found by the rover. That mean's there is chance Mars can be inhabitad in 37 Billing years!!
Billable years?
Even if they did find intelligent life on Mars, the GOP would only complain because they are not 'Christians'!?
Costing 2.5 billion huh......Meanwhile, our fellow Americans are asked to help donate funds to help Hurricane Sandy victims....we have such a great country.....
Sandy schmandy. We could have plowed that money into the defense industry like the half of our budget
Moron.
Didn't they also spend like a trillion dollars over the last 30 or so years making those beaches that washed away when Sandy came along? Because a beach is high priority.
The National Defense budget is $699 Billion Dollars!
Less than we gave the European Banks and Wall Street in the first bailout.
why do people always say that? The NASA budget does not just dump money into a black hole a la defense budget which is BILLIONS A DAY. The 2.5 billion spent went to paying thousands of people their salaries, purchasing materials from dozens of American corporations and manufacturers, etc.
Because they are idiots. Because they just dont get that the money was mostly spent on employees in this country. Because they are in extreme fear that once and for all, incontestable proof will emerge that shows their religious bs to be what it is, mind control. "do like I say, and not like I do.. or you will go to h..."
Tony – NASA's budget is 1% of our military budget. Go clip 10% off the military & it'll be fine !
Since you and some others are so hell bent on cutting MORE military funds, don't come hiding behind us if we ever get invaded you ungreatful SOBs!
P.S. I think this whole thing is pretty fascinating, and I'm not into science that much.
deacon's not into science. You can sure bet his beloved military is.
They found buried E.T. cartridges for the Atari 2600.
lol Angry Video Game Nerd!
Now if they found proof that no life exists or has ever existed on Mars would they tell us?
I'm not quite sure that's possible. The door is always open to amazing discoveries, and just like the process of discovering one fossil for every billion organisms that have existed, sending one rover to tool around for a bit on the surface of mars can hardly be sufficient evidence to declare the nonexistence of life.
How would you prove a negative? Please tell us/
Very difficult to prove that type of a negative... all it takes is a single microbe or fossil to prove the positive, but how would one prove none exists or ever did? "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."
Proving a negative aside, that was the prevailing thought for decades. The reason they are looking at it again is that someone found a reason why the old experiments would produce false negatives.
Curiosity must have found a cat. And then promptly killed it.
Excellent!!
Best post so far today! 🙂
Best post of the year...more,more,please
Haha!
Jimmy Hoffa, of course. Finally.
Human skeletal remains would be really cool.
Why doesn't man learn how to take care of Earth and cap oil wells before venturing with trillions of money and years on hope of living somewhere else on another planet. Hasn't it occured to anyone that Mars does not have a shield like Earth and Meteorites pound that place all the time? I'd rather tough out a hurricane.
Hasn't it occurred to anyone how many people have pounded your mom?
How dare you talk about the mother of some of my children that way. His mother is the sweetest and most affordable woman I know.
Earth has a shield? Like the death star? I hope we have all the exhaust vents covered so some hotshot jedi doesn't lob a bomb down it and blow us up.
There are other purposes for the rover than expectations of colonizing mars.
Mars may not have a magnetosphere today .. and the atmosphere may not be the same as earth .. but it is NOT constantly pounded by meteorites. Regardless .. the purpose is to discover whether life ever existed on Mars .. not whether we want to go vacation there. If we found proof of this it would tell us a lot about the prevalence of life in the universe. Two side by side planets where life existed would mean that it's not as rare an occurence as we once thought.
I hope they found my old eight-track of Led Zeppelin II. I lost it a long time ago... possibly in an old Chevy Nova. Mars is the only place I didn't look.
ha!
They found out that Santa Claus really did conquor Mars right after the Martians sent scouting teams here because they needed Earth women
They found skinny Oprah and straight Anderson Cooper in a parallel universe wormhole. LOL
How about a straight Oprah and a fat Anderson Cooper?
Straight Opra is an oxymoron. A complete impossibility.
A Twinkie?
Jimmy Hoffa?
They found a republican with a sense of decency and compassion.
I think they'd have to go a little further.
Or maybe a Democrat that doesn't want a handout.
not all democrats want a hand out
Well they don't have to go far becaues I do not want or need a handout and I am a veteran. Are you?
A Republican screamed at Paul Ryan: Get your gov't hands off my Medicare!
Hey Joe, ask Mina for stats, my guess would be 1 in a 100 don't want a hand out.
Don't be absurd!
Maybe it was a democrat that's not an athiest..
and what is wrong with being a democrat and an atheist ????
If prayer were effective all us democrats and atheists would be dead
Some children develop normally and stop believing in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny after 1st grade, I guess believing in magic never goes away for Republicans,
@RSFan Enough with the far-fetched science-fiction okay? Sheesh!
Or maybe they found a democrat with a sense of personal responsibility.
I hope they are not trying to get us excited about some unusual dirt again to keep the funding going. While the general public is anticipating Marty the martian with antennas and all, the scientists would get just as excited over some fossilized bacteria.
The funding for Curiosity is already long since secured. Although it is entirely possible that what a team of scientists gets excited about isn't something you will get excited about.
To paraphrase: All those boring scientists could find was the presence of life on a different planet. DWTS is so much more fun.
You are aware of what fossilized bacteria would mean aren't you?
He may not be aware of what it would mean, but I bet there are a whole grunch of religious Apologists that are sweating how they will spin *this*....
I know what it means. If they find a fossilized bacterium or diatom the next planet over, it means life is a given, not a fluke. It arises wherever conditions allow. It means the whole freakin' Cosmos is alive!
People keep saying that finding evidence of alien life will have some impact on religion. Whio are they talking about? Most religious people are open to the possibility of alien life. Nothing in the Bible or Koran or any other Holy Book says that there is not life on other worlds.
I would be excited by fossilized bacteria.
We sure could use that $1B around the northeast right about now and not on MARS.
Tea Party Patriots would call that 'socialism'. And we can't have any of that now.
Maybe use the $1,395,318,942,236 they spent on on war or maybe the 1 Trillion they spent on the war on drugs over the last 40 years. Nah, will just take money away from scientific research.
epic lol
I will see you 2 wars- one which did not need to be fought but which at least we won and the other which did need to be fought and the democrats were able to take over before we could win. Then I will raise you a yearly $800,000,000,000.00 "stimulus" package WHICH IS ALREADY MORE THAN THE WARS and adds to the deficit every year.......
Actually the Northeast could use a good pay cut.
The "$1B" you talk about isn't stuffed in a compartment on the rover you know. It was paid to thousands of engineers, scientists, programmers, machinists, managers, and others who designed, built, tested, flew and drove the rover. It paid for JOBS. Get your head out of your posterior.
They found that Mars was created in 6 days 6000 years ago
Maybe they found that the universe was created by athiest robots who were themselves created by other athiest robots who engineered the big bang with a stick of bubble gum that came from nowhere.
They found Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders.
Amelia Earhart
They found a dance partner that could lift Bristol Palin when she appears on DWTS.
Or we could have her do the dancing on Mars, there's less gravity over there. And not tell her we are not coming back for her. While at it, we could also send Snooki to join her and save her son the shame.
There has to be something in the Prime Directive against this...
They probably found a an empty Russian vodka bottle.
Heh, Pioneer One was a good web series. Too bad no season two.
Now that's funny!
They probably found fortune cookies
Commander Christopher 'Kit' Draper. The lander actually crashed at the end of Robinson Crusoe on Mars but Paramount wanted a happy ending.
They've found the ruins of a civilization that collapsed long ago due to the leadership of a true amateur. Among the ruins are signs with slogans such as "Change" and "Forward" (and tons of food stamp coupons). HHHHHmmmmmm.
Loser.
So that's where Ronald Reagan's remains went! LMAO
Just can't get over the fact that not everyone is as ignorant as those that call themselves "republican" can you?
Can't get over the fact that the prison is being run by the inmates.
We all know what RW wants. More for him and NOTHING for everyone else. And while he does that, he'll talk about Jesus and America's 'greatness'
I certainly want to keep as much as I need (and I get to determine that amount) for my family. I don't mind helping others that are trying to help themselves but I do not want you to take it from me and my family to give to some that won't work. So I guess you are right.
Some Republicans hold their beliefs because they view redistribution as destructive to the economy, which causes a lack of opportunity and horrible living conditions. The idea that a socialist utopia exists never works out in reality. Thomas Jefferson once said that Democracy will cease when those who won't work are able to take from those who do. We're at that point.
That is the best one yet! Don't worry about those hippie loser Dumbocrats, who don't make enough money. Great thought
Your dude lost. Get over it.
Are you mad Bro?
They found John Carter's bones.....
you mean jimmy hoffa
You should read more.
You need to read more.
Ha! I've got news for all of you. Scientists at the prestigous Sarah Palin University are light years ahead of NASA on this one. They have already determined that Mars was once inhabited by an ancient race of Tea Party Patriots as evidenced by the remains of a prehistoric trailer park and adjoining nascar track. The discovery of skulls with only one tooth is further proof.
My money's on "something relevant to an extremely specialized area of science that the general public will not be able to understand the real importance of."
Breaking news! Nasa scientists discover a mineral on the surface of Mars with a zincblende crystal structure with seeds of boron!!
silly ...... simple comments ....... shows why the U.S. is dead last ( in the wrold ) in science and engineering. If signs of life .... no matter how small .... is found ....... such evidence will be the greatest discovery of all times ...... and should be treated as such.
I agree with you, but we have no idea if evidence of life is indeed what the news is. Another poster hit the nail on the head- NASA has been guilty of terrible PR, not explaining highly technical information in ways a lay person can understand or get excited about. A real shame, because what NASA has done in the last 40 years is nothing short of awe-inspiring.
"it will be several weeks before the public may know anything further about the matter."
In true NASA fashio, the general public is treated like a bunch of morons.
Mike H.,
The sad truth is that the majority of people are a bunch of morons and need to be kept in the dark. A good example would be the people on The Jersey Shore, Honey Boo Boo, and The Turtle Man. What about the millions of people who watch these shows regularly? If they (NASA) leaked a little information on what they found, no matter how many times they said; "it requires more research", "more information is needed" or even "it looks like...", somebody would treat it like its already a fact, would twist it, and would run wild with it like its a done deal.
Engineers are sooo cerebral. Lighten up, some of these comments are actually funny. I'm still waiting for NASA to declare they found intelligent life here.
We have researched your entire planet earthling. There is no intelligent life to be found here. Moving on to Mars.
Really?? And I thought that landing a Mini Cooper sized nuclear powered laser rover with a built in chemistry lab made us FIRST in science and engineering.
You obviously don't loathe yourself sufficiently.
In all fairness to you and joking aside, it will probably be something of the caliber as spherule. Some clue that leads to a clue.
Find a sense of humor and a clue in retirement. I would be willing to bet the United States is ahead of Ethiopia in terms of Science and Engineering. You sound like another angry liberal. Besides, we all know that NASA discovered the final resting place of Jimmy Hoffa.
"shows why the U.S. is dead last ( in the wrold ) in science and engineering."
Thanks for moving us down a peg in the spelling rankings.
Assuming these polls come from the US itself, maybe the only thing we are bad at is producing ranking polls.
Sigh...another person who thinks America is terrible at everything. America is still the leader in almost every aspect of society. The problem is people like you look at a rankings list and don't see America at #1 and think we are terrible at it. For instance, education. We do not rank high in worldwide education, yet most education techniques that the modern world uses were derived from America. This is how it is in most fields. We don't perfect everything, but we innovate and mainstream ideas that nobody else can.
Sure, America isn't the best at everything. There is no need for us to be. Nobody needs to be #1 in everything. But as long as a country is contributing to the world with ideas and innovations, then that country is doing service to others. Complaining about everything and whining like a little baby that we aren't number 1 in everything means two things...one, you are a hippy Liberal who only knows how to whine and complain and two, you are part of the problem, not part of the solution. Do something, don't whine.
Interesting assumption that the person is a liberal. I often hear conservatives talk about how America is 'falling' and other such rhetoric around the idea that we are no longer best.
Implicit in any such post is the poster having some idea that 'we would be best if XYZ'.
That you would immediately assume liberal, and even go so far as to call them hippy, shows that you are in fact part of the problem, not them.
nasa already knows there has been life on mars. they probably know exactly what happened to the atmosphere and civilizations that existed there.
they release tantalizing tidbits of information to the public from time to time to keep their funding going.
I miss the good old days when ftards kept their mouths shut for fear of showing they were one. Unfortunately, the t-party, fox, and evangelicals have led them to believe everyone else is also a ftard who shares in their idiotic beliefs.
You're a bit of an exaggerator. In studies on this topic U.S. students tend to finish around 16th out of more than 250 countries. That's not the bottom. Maybe your username should be FIRED NASA ENGINEER PRETENDING TO BE RETIRED
P.S. if you think that U.S. students test below students from countries like Botswana, Peru, and Mexico you're smoking crack. You are one of those guys who just repeats stuff he hears at the bar without researching it.
They finally found marvin the martian
They found Obama's real birth certificate?
No, President Obama's real birth certificate can be found in the Hawiian Department of Health. Here is a link to it: http://msgboard.snopes.com/politics/graphics/longform.pdf . Do you Tea Klux Klan freaks have to insert your idiotic, irrelevant opinions into EVERY discussions?
Ahhh...how original...another Liberal who thinks it's ok for Liberals to bash EVERY politician they don't agree with and try to invalidate their position at every turn, but when it's done to you then you just call people names and make up ignorant statements. Never seen that before...
No it was his college transcripts.
A teapublican reading a science article?? I guess life on Mars is possible after all!
Teapublican, living proof that with Evolution Humans can both Evolve and DeEvolve!
I do have to wonder why so many (Republicans/God freaks) hang out here! Its not like any of them understand Science, Biology or even Math for that matter. Its all about faith with the Religious, so do why even post here? Its like watching little kids stomping they're feet and screaming NOT SO over and over. Look you guys lost, Obama won, Game over Man! I realy hope its life, real Martian life! talk about a one two punch to the Guts! The Religious right well never pull its self out of the ditch again, Amen.
kilroy ...
They found my wife's libido?
LOL I hear you, brother!
They found Jimmy Hoffa?
If they found my mother in laws body I'm in trouble!
NASA NASA NASA That is all I read in the news papers–man landed on the mooh–BULL–that was all a put up deal between the United states and Russia–by doing this alot of money saved on both sides. Some of the NAS personnel were a bunch of over paid whiners–Their motto was -Why should we bother to do any work ? The goverment is paying us to come to meetings and to go out to lunch.. God bless my Mother country–Russia.
Lol,
You do realize that the flags placed on the moon are now visible by orbiting telescopes right? I guess that is all a big hoax too. R
He believes the orbiting telescopes are fake
Do your research before you make such an ignorant comment.
You didn't even use any examples to back up what you said. Idiot.
One word... stupidfreakingidiotwhohasnoconnectionwithrealityandinsistsonblowingbullcrapoutofhisazzinpublicplaces.
Maybe they found my virginity. I lost it many years ago.
Lol. Nice one
WMD
they have found a little green man that has obamas dna proving once and for all Obama was not born in the usa
Yeah.... DNA carries genetic information. Not information about where somebody was born.
"For several weeks in autumn (Earth-time)" Earth-time? I was unaware that the entire planet experiences autumn at the same time. FYI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_sun_angle_on_climate
Wrong. Only half. The other half is enjoying spring.
They found tire tracks, but first they want to follow them and see where they go.
Mitt Romney's tax returns?
No, we have Romney's tax returns now. It's Obama's birth certificate.
They found Joe Biden's village. They are still missing their idiot.
They found nude pictures of Nancy Pelosi.
the ones he said he would show if Kennedy showed his then lied?
They discovered that carbon based life was once common on Mars. That the ancient life found on Mars matches the profile of life on Earth. That the life on Mars was the basis for life on Earth.
Sorry to break it to you. There's no way this much information could have been uncovered by this rover.
Carbon based life on Mars? Maybe... But if there is life anywhere in the universe, the odds are HUGELY in favor that it will be carbon based. It's most reactive element (more reactive than all elements combined), as well as the most common element in the universe. If we discovered life 10 billion light years away, there's a 90% chance (give or take) it would be Carbon based.
The basis for life on Earth? Maybe. Maybe not. But if we find signs of life on Mars, then suddenly life becomes something that can happen anywhere. When this happens, the odds of other evolved life forms in the Universe go from possible to probable, or maybe probable to near definite. It will be a HUGE discovery, if it is in fact what was found.
", as well as the most common element in the universe", that would be hydrogen and not carbon..
But if they dug into a pile of dirt and found a fossil or a bone or struck oil (which is created from the remains of past life) that could change the whole ballgame for us down here.
To alex - since the instrument in question is a chemical analyzer, not a microscope, it wouldn't be the source of a discovery of any fossil. At most, it will have discovered chemical reactions that are a signature of present-day, not long-dead, life, which would be pretty incredible. The odds are better, though, that it's discovered evidence there was life, with present-day life still indeterminate.
Frankly, I think we should be exploring the sub-surface oceans of Europa and Enceladus, as they are more likely to be active, living, environments. But it's also a lot more expensive and difficult to get there.
To Lizard – Out of curiosity why would it be more expensive to explore the oceans than another world. Is it because we haven't developed the technology for that yet?
Carmen: Europa is a moon of Jupiter. Enceladus is a moon of Saturn. Both are covered in frozen water and likely have some liquid water beneath, thus possibly harboring life.
Basically nothing you said was accurate. Florine is the most reactive element, alkali metals in general are the next most reactive elements, and as pointed out hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. If the rover found traces of methane then this would be clear evidence of life on Mars at some point.
Carbon units infest Enterprise.
Jimmy Hoffa
They found evidence that Autobots and Decepticons DO EXIST. Prepare for invasion folks!
They found that a republican controlled house destroyed all life on the planet. with drill baby drill. they fracked till they blew the planet up.
You sir are a FRACKING IDIOT!!!
Brilliant
Chlorophyl.
More like BORE-ophyl
lol Billy Madison.. I love it!
They found Statue Liberty sticking up out of ground?
They blew it up They really did it. Damn then all to hell.
Take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape!
"A giant pile of unmatched socks that disappeared from the Earth's washing machines."
Somebody has been watching Ren and Stimpy.
All joking aside.... this is sooo cool.
350 billion-tillion stars...most with planets....and we may find the building blocks for life on the planet right next door! The universe is not a lonely place.
Stolen iPads?
Unsold Zune Players?
Can't wait
romney 2016.
I hope he runs again, I really do as I'm a Democrat !!!
That means either you are willfully unemployed or you don't pay taxes!
So is Romney.
Birdman – you have a brain to match.
Romney is being scapegoated by his own party! He has no ideas and is so secretive the majority can never trust him.
They found my innocence.
Wonder if it's Alice Kramden? Maybe Ralph sliced his last shot to the kisser...
She would be on the Moon, not on Mars...
Oh, sad. You didn't understand that second sentence. 🙁
I think they found evidence of a carbon based life form. Maybe fossils in rock? They wouldn't be this hush-hush/leak hints unless it was evidence of life on Mars. Why is that so alarming? We are not alone – never have been. Wake up humans!!
Not humans, Earthicans !!!
And the language continues to grow, adapting a new word. I LIKE it.
Not if it's from the SAM instrument. That is chemical. Fossils would be something from the camera.
They are being "hush-hush" because they want to be absolutely sure before they say anything. Wouldn't you? After all, what's the hurry? A couple of weeks to re-confirm whatever they have wouldn't hurt, and they certainly don't want to say anything this important without a thorough re-check. It'd make them look mighty silly if they were mistaken.
They have discovered Joseph Smith living there with his 27 teenage wives. Jesus !
obamas birth certificate
Troll much?
@birdman Donald Trump's brain.
Jerk!
What would be truly shocking would be if they found some sort of fossil of a large creature.
if they find that, they'll never admit it.more likely, they'll say they found some chemicals or elements that COULD indicate life.
But they just did admit to finding "something". Why not admit to a large fossil, which would be pretty conclusive. But I doubt it...Most likely organic compound traces.
Why would they not "admit" it? That is stupid and paranoid. No reason to hide a discovery like that at all.
"OMG" is exactly what I suspect thirteen year old space enthusiasts to say.
Its Jimmy Hoffa they have found !
Running water? If so, expect a manned mission in 2030.
Life? If so, expect a manned mission in 2020.
Oil? Expect a manned mission in 2013!
Now THAT is a true story!
Excellent Nic!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
OMFG!!.. that rocks.. I wish I could have come up with that one.. exactly my kind of humor!.. good job bro!
Spot on!
Though Obama does not approve of oil so it will most likely be russia or china and then America will be doomed to continue to overpay for oil.
Great joke !
Though it would be great to see a manned mission to Mars within our lifetime. Hope it happens.
Gold ... if so I expect a manned mission by next week
They found Elvis and Jim Morrison living in a shack there. True story.
Cool story bro...
They've found martian cat poop buried in the sand
Lincoln Logs