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Post by rick on Oct 12, 2009 13:24:19 GMT -4
Has this been covered here?
What ever happened to that rock they found by the south pole from Mars that had some sort of microscopic evidence of life?
Is it Yes? Is it No? Is it now doubtful?
Could natural nonliving chemical processes cause this sort of worm like structure?
Something for Myth Busters I guess if they want to really take the show up a few notches.
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Post by echnaton on Oct 12, 2009 14:47:17 GMT -4
IIRC, the conclusion that it was proof of martian life was undercut by fairly reliable evidence showing that the patters could have been created here on earth. There has been no persuasive rebuttal to this criticism from the discoverers, although the case is not closed either.
This is something like the water on the moon phenomenon. The evidence fails because earthly causes cant be ruled out.
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Post by rick on Oct 12, 2009 16:57:25 GMT -4
I wonder where the thing is and who last studied it.
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Jason
Pluto
May all your hits be crits
Posts: 5,579
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Post by Jason on Oct 13, 2009 12:20:51 GMT -4
It's referred to as the ALH84001 meteorite (ALH indicates it was found by Allan Hills). It was found in 1984, but the estimates are that it landed on Earth roughly 13,000 years ago - that's a long time for Earthly contamination. I found an article in 2007 that said the meteorite had been analyzed by the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory. That might qualify for "who studied it last".
The study theorized that the organic compounds found on the meteor were created on Mars by chemical reactions within the rock rather than via Martian life forms, either when the rock was first formed (during volcanic activity) or during the rock's impact ejection from Mars.
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