Life finally found on Mars

[fromderinside]

Clay I presume.

 

[bilby]

Clay I presume.

Cassius, or siliciclastic?

That is, is it formed from fine particles of weathered rock, or does it float like a butterfly and sting like a bee?

 

[fromderinside]

Who's Cassius Clay?

 

[DBT]

Clay I presume.

Certainly looks like it. But being Mars, who knows. Ice is supposed to sublimate into vapour without forming a liquid state thereby creating mud or clay. But other models allow liquid for a limited time if the water is briny. I can't imagine how the patterns form.

 

[DrZoidberg]

Clay I presume.

Certainly looks like it. But being Mars, who knows. Ice is supposed to sublimate into vapour without forming a liquid state thereby creating mud or clay. But other models allow liquid for a limited time if the water is briny. I can't imagine how the patterns form.

Mineral crystals can form into all manner of cool geometric patterns. Yes, there's plenty of water in the atmosphere as vapor. This can condense around stuff. Mars' atmosphere is not super cold. 0 degrees centigrade (the warmest ever measured) has been measured on the surface. So Mars is warm enough for this kind of stuff to appear. It will take longer than on Earth. But it's not so cold that it is impossible.

The problem with maintaining formations like this is the dust storms. Fine powder consisting of ice and sand will grind and smooth everything. But there's nothing preventing these kinds of things from appearing, if only for a short while.

 

[DBT]

Certainly looks like it. But being Mars, who knows. Ice is supposed to sublimate into vapour without forming a liquid state thereby creating mud or clay. But other models allow liquid for a limited time if the water is briny. I can't imagine how the patterns form.

Mineral crystals can form into all manner of cool geometric patterns. Yes, there's plenty of water in the atmosphere as vapor. This can condense around stuff. Mars' atmosphere is not super cold. 0 degrees centigrade (the warmest ever measured) has been measured on the surface. So Mars is warm enough for this kind of stuff to appear. It will take longer than on Earth. But it's not so cold that it is impossible.

The problem with maintaining formations like this is the dust storms. Fine powder consisting of ice and sand will grind and smooth everything. But there's nothing preventing these kinds of things from appearing, if only for a short while.

Could be mineral crystals, but the patterns don't seem right (though probably is) - or perhaps a part of the layering that's being eroded at an angle that produces the patterns....I'm just guessing.

 

[fromderinside]

Wasn't something like this that was proposed as prototype for DNA patterns in early life on Earth?

Biochemistry and the organization of cells (page 12) https://books.google.com/books?id=P...ates in clay as model for gene coding&f=false

 

[DrZoidberg]

Wasn't something like this that was proposed as prototype for DNA patterns in early life on Earth?

Biochemistry and the organization of cells (page 12) https://books.google.com/books?id=P...ates in clay as model for gene coding&f=false

Well.... pyramidines. Wouldn't be visible to the naked eye. It depends what you mean by "something like this"

 

[fromderinside]

I refer you to page 12 thereabouts in reference to the photos you posted.