From Scientific American:

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=martian-soil-fit-for-earthly-life

Martian soil around NASA's Phoenix Lander is slightly alkaline and has enough different minerals that it could support Earthly plants and—more to the point—microbes beneath the Martian surface, according to the first results from the probe's wet chemistry experiment released today.

Mission scientists say the soil has a pH between 8 and 9, which places it somewhere around seawater or baking soda in alkalinity. It also contains the minerals magnesium, sodium, potassium and chloride. Further analysis is expected to reveal whether it contains other chemicals such as nitrogen and sulfates. The finding implies that life could indeed survive below the surface, where it would be protected from harmful ultraviolet rays and harsh oxidants that might accumulate on the top layer of soil.

Michael Hecht, lead researcher on Phoenix's Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA) instrument, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said it would be safe, if gritty, to sprinkle a spoonful of the soil on your breakfast cereal.


-See link above for full story.

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

Microbes on Mars = Life!

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

Thank you to the Mods for allowing this monumental data to be presented in the Cafe' where it will be seen.

Hats off to you!

.

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

Damn Gray,gave me a heart attack thought they already found microbes on Mars.

Thanks for the info :D

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Scorpions - Wind Of Change

Mr. Gray.

I was looking for another source, which confirm your thread/message. I haven´t found any since now. Are you sure, that this is true?

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Mr. Gray.

I was looking for another source, which confirm your thread/message. I haven´t found any since now. Are you sure, that this is true?

Does Scientific American Magazine seem reputable enough to you?

Make me wonder why NASA hasn't said anything.

I would envision hour long specials an all major networks about something like this. Not since ALH84001 was announced by Clinton has anything like this been right in our face about other life in our solar system.

I see Bruno posted at about the same time in the SETI science section:

http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=47936

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

Mr. Gray.

I was looking for another source, which confirm your thread/message. I haven´t found any since now. Are you sure, that this is true?

Does Scientific American Magazine seem reputable enough to you?

Make me wonder why NASA hasn't said anything.

I would envision hour long specials an all major networks about something like this. Not since ALH84001 was announced by Clinton has anything like this been right in our face about other life in our solar system.

I see Bruno posted at about the same time in the SETI science section:

http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=47936

Since the dessert storm part two, i have doubt, and try to double check everything which comes from the US.

Sorry.

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Mr. Gray.

I was looking for another source, which confirm your thread/message. I haven´t found any since now. Are you sure, that this is true?

Does Scientific American Magazine seem reputable enough to you?

Make me wonder why NASA hasn't said anything.

I would envision hour long specials an all major networks about something like this. Not since ALH84001 was announced by Clinton has anything like this been right in our face about other life in our solar system.

I see Bruno posted at about the same time in the SETI science section:

http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=47936

Since the dessert storm part two, i have doubt, and try to double check everything which comes from the US.

Sorry.

No double checking going on in the SETI science section.

I agree about US data, though this is poetic on Independence Day.

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

Mr. Gray.

I was looking for another source, which confirm your thread/message. I haven´t found any since now. Are you sure, that this is true?

Does Scientific American Magazine seem reputable enough to you?

Make me wonder why NASA hasn't said anything.

I would envision hour long specials an all major networks about something like this. Not since ALH84001 was announced by Clinton has anything like this been right in our face about other life in our solar system.

I see Bruno posted at about the same time in the SETI science section:

http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=47936

Since the dessert storm part two, i have doubt, and try to double check everything which comes from the US.

Sorry.

No double checking going on in the SETI science section.

I have done it, but it is the same source.

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Mr. Gray.

I was looking for another source, which confirm your thread/message. I haven´t found any since now. Are you sure, that this is true?

Does Scientific American Magazine seem reputable enough to you?

Make me wonder why NASA hasn't said anything.

I would envision hour long specials an all major networks about something like this. Not since ALH84001 was announced by Clinton has anything like this been right in our face about other life in our solar system.

I see Bruno posted at about the same time in the SETI science section:

http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=47936

Since the dessert storm part two, i have doubt, and try to double check everything which comes from the US.

Sorry.

No double checking going on in the SETI science section.

I have done it, but it is the same source.

Scientific American, the oldest continuously published magazine in the U.S., has been bringing its readers unique insights about developments in science and technology for more than 150 years.

In 1845, Rufus Porter founded the publication as a weekly broadsheet subtitled "The Advocate of Industry and Enterprise, and Journal of Mechanical and Other Improvements." A restless inventor, Porter soon turned to other ventures, and after 10 months sold Scientific American - for the sum of $800 - to Orson Desaix Munn and Alfred Ely Beach.

In an era of rapid innovation, Scientific American founded the first branch of the U.S. Patent Agency, in 1850, to provide technical help and legal advice to inventors. A Washington, D.C., branch was added in 1859. By 1900 more than 100,000 inventions had been patented thanks to Scientific American.

For a century, Munn & Company retained ownership of the magazine, which chronicled the major discoveries and inventions of the Industrial Revolution, including the Bessemer steel converter, the telephone and the incandescent lightbulb. Edison presented the prototype of the phonograph for inspection by the editors, and Samuel Morse, father of the telegraph, and Elias Howe, inventor of the sewing machine, were frequent visitors to the offices in downtown New York City.

Milestones

At the turn of the century, vehicles were of particular interest, and in 1899, a special issue was devoted exclusively to bicycles and automobiles. The editors took great delight in reporting new speed records, including a land speed record of a mile in 39.4 seconds set in 1904 by Henry Ford while driving across the ice of Lake St. Clair, Michigan.

By this time, the magazine had established its hallmark for pinpointing emerging trends before news of them reached the general population. Articles on Marconi's experiments appeared two decades before the advent of radio. Scientific American published photographs of the Wright Brothers' plane nearly two years before the successful Kitty Hawk flight. Robert Goddard contributed an article in 1921 defending and explaining his work on developing a rocket capable of reaching "interplanetary distances." In 1927 Scientific American reported on a practical demonstration of television that sent the voice and moving image of Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover over telephone wires from Washington, D.C., to New York.

In 1948 Gerard Piel, Dennis Flanagan and Donald Miller purchased Scientific American from Munn & Company and founded Scientific American, Inc. In their quest to increase the immediacy, timeliness and authority of the magazine, they insisted that the majority of the articles be written by the people who actually did the work described - a unique distinction among consumer magazines that still applies.

With ahead-of-the-curve reporting, Scientific American continued to cover groundbreaking events in science and technology. An article prophetically entitled "Computers in Business" was published in 1954. From the successful launch of Telstar to a single-topic issue that identified "Key Technologies for the 21st Century," the magazine has alerted its audience to the expanding possibilities of communications. Medical coverage included Jonas Salk writing on the development of his polio vaccine, Robert Jarvik detailing the creation of the Jarvik-7 artificial heart, and single-topic issues on AIDS and the immune system. New technologies that revolutionized the automobile industry were explored.

Renowned Writers

More than 120 Nobel laureates have written for Scientific American, most of whom wrote about their prize-winning works years before being recognized by the Nobel Committee. In addition to the likes of Albert Einstein, Francis Crick, Jonas Salk and Linus Pauling, Scientific American continues to attract esteemed authors from many fields:

World leaders: former Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway, former United Nations Secretary-General Trygve Lie

U.S. Government Officials: former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, former Secretary of Defense Les Aspin

Economists and Industrialists: John Kenneth Galbraith, Lester Thurow, Mitchell Kapor, Michael Dertouzos, Nicholas Negroponte

In 1986 Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck, a German-based publishing group, bought Scientific American, Inc.

Today, under the leadership of Editor in Chief John Rennie - who at the age of 43 is just the seventh editor in Scientific American's history--the magazine continues to identify and deliver the latest developments in science and technology across a broad range of fields. Rennie received the 2000 Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science, which is given annually "to honor those who have become concurrently accomplished as researchers and/or educators, and as widely recognized magnifiers of the public's understanding of science."

Scientific American is a truly global enterprise. The magazine publishes 15 foreign language editions and has a total of more than 1,000,000 copies in circulation worldwide.

A New Medium

Scientific American understood early on the importance of the Internet, so in March 1996, it launched its own Web site at www.SciAm.com.

The site has grown into a dynamic resource that includes articles from current and past issues, online-only features, daily news, trivia and weekly polls. Visitors to the site also have access to Scientific American Careers, the career board for professionals in the science and technology industries; Scientific American Digital, which houses downloadable issues of the magazine from 1993 to the present; a bookstore, shop and much more.

At ScientificAmerican.com visitors can subscribe to the magazine, and existing subscribers can access their accounts, make online payments or renew a subscription.

Scientific American has distinguished itself by looking ahead for more than 150 years. More relevant and topical than ever, it is a powerful tool for forward-thinking readers.

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

Thanks for the info MG. Now if only I could find another source to help verify.....

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Thanks for the info MG. Now if only I could find another source to help verify.....

That would be very nice of you.

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See post below - before yours.

Message ID 778803

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

Thanks for the link, MrGray. I used to read it as a teenager. Never knew they had a web site. It's now bookmarked.

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Thank you Sky and Telescope for adding another source :)

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LOL,

After all that let's read this again together:

Martian soil around NASA's Phoenix Lander is slightly alkaline and has enough different minerals that it could support Earthly plants and—more to the point—microbes beneath the Martian surface

Some Mod want to change the name of this thread to something like:

Martian Soil Fit for Earthly Life

:D


You should see my email and how it's filled 9 moderation notices, 9 private message notices, and one friend confirmation.

Kind of makes me wonder what Mods would do if someone posted about a confirmed signal from outer space should it be posted in the Cafe' or somewhere where forum "rules" actually required a mod to "think".

Happy Independence Day!

:D


~And sorry for noticing so late what the article actually says along with some 150 some-odd others here.

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

Kind of makes me wonder what Mods would do if someone posted about a confirmed signal from outer space should it be posted in the Cafe' or somewhere where forum "rules" actually required a mod to "think".

Star Trek:Voyager - "Future's End" comes to mind. Mind you that Seti bird, she was a nice bit of totty.

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Just wish they would find something soon. That's really interesting news. If they can find Martian microbes, it's such a step forward. Fingers crossed.

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'No one can make you inferior without your consent.'
Eleanor Roosevelt.

I've been hiding in my garage after this post went sour,

But... my fingers are crossed as well.

:D

Back to the garage for a while. But I did prove no one visits the "Science (non-SETI)" section.

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

BBC Phoenix Diaries
this a running commentary on the Phoenix Lander.

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Old enough to know better(but)still young enough not to care