Mars Find Boosts Prospects For Life

In a recent article by The Sydney Morning Herald titled Mars find boosts prospects for life, the second rock from the sun is examined.  Our shuttle "Curiosity" has been mulling around the surface for some time now, and its finds have been increasingly interesting.  Scientists have always speculated that there used to be water on Mars, but now it is fairly clear.  Using its on board "laboratory", Curiosity drilled into some sedimentary rock and discovered many clay minerals: sulphur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon.  Okay that might not sound so interesting, but this means that Mars could potentially support life.  Not four legged dinosaurs or green spacemen to be sure, but microbes.  Microbes are extremely important though, as they are how life started on Earth.  As stated within the article, though, merely finding elements that have the potential to support life does not mean that evidence for life has been found.  It does show that water was involved though.  The water was also fairly neutral, and as vice president of Mars Society Australia Guy Murphy states: "I could have drunk a glass of that water and been fine."  These elements were found in a clay material under layers of rock.  This clay was not oxidized, meaning it could be a source of food for the organisms in question.  Scientists have long thought Mars capable of sustaining life, and the finds of the rover Curiosity are affirming these thoughts. The rover has collected important data in the past, as well.  Some of its first samples were of topsoil that is fairly ubiquitous across Mars.  It contained organic carbon molecules.  As Murphy states: "This new result is of an ancient rock tied to a specific location – and so gives us historical information the windblown sample could not."

Could Mars be the next home of human kind after we use up all our resources?  Because I mean come on, humans pretty much destroy everything we touch.  Short of us all becoming buddhist monks and respecting each other, I feel humans may be doomed.  If that is the case, maybe scoping out possible habitable planets is a good idea.  So my prognosis is THROW MORE MONEY AT NASA!