Curiosity touches down on mars.

[3v0]

Given that I worry about inconsistencies in the space time continuum why shouldn't I expect a car or anything else to fix itself. Stranger things have happened.

EDIT:
Given that systems like Curiosity have extensive code for detecting and correcting errors it does in fact fix itself. In that light the joke about the software engineer and the car is quite lame.

Software together with hardware can do things that neither by itself can achieve. This is one of the reasons I love embedded systems work.

 

[MrAl]

I fully expect the rover to come up with unexpected things. Most every craft we have sent in that direction has. With the subatomic stuff we theorize about it then go looking for proof. With space exploration we theorize then take a look and realize how clueless we really are.

What is important to each of us is an individual thing. For many people the discovery of life or former life on mars is no less important the the discovery of yet another subatomic particle. Both are interesting to me. Personally I am more interested in where cosmology is going with the dark matter and dark energy thing. The fact that what we can see is but a small fraction of what exists.

Maybe some day they will tie it all together.

Hi,

I guess i am too used to expecting the unexpected after i've seen so many errors. But sometimes the importance of a find is overstated anyway. If past life is found on Mars, it wont help with the more immediate problems on Earth. Like problems over the next 20 years, unless we get lucky and some find helps us understand what might have killed Mars and it helps us prevent out own planet from going the same route.

This may sound funny at first, but if they found precious elements or diamonds that could benefit the whole Earth soon after they found a way to get that stuff back here. They could fund their own research and development for years to come, and even expand operations so they could work on 10 Mars Rover's at the same time and send them all to Mars to do more studies.

Then there is always the chance that they might find a new species, dead or alive. Or a species that could live under super extreme conditions, etc. The possibilities are endless but unfortunately we have to wait to find out, and one of those possibilities is that nothing too interesting is turned up. Hopefully that's not the case though.

 

[3v0]

If they find life it would have a large impact on the origin of life theories. Even more interesting if they can find DNA. Leading thinkers are now speculating that life is way more common then anyone expected and only the vast distances keep intelligent lifeforms apart.

The cost of sending anything back form mars to earth is too high to ship anything back. But I have heard that it would be profitable to ship H3 from the moon to earth.

The process that made mars what it is is fairly well understood, unless we get surprised again. Mars being smaller cooled faster. When the core solidified mars lost its magnetic shield and the solar wind stripped off most of its atmosphere.

 

[JimB]

I have heard that it would be profitable to ship H3 from the moon to earth.

H3 ?
Tritiium?

JimB

 

[3v0]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium-3


H3 results from the decay of Tritiium

 

[Mikebits]

This was pretty cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZX5GRPnd4U&feature=youtube_gdata

 

[jpanhalt]

Software together with hardware can do things that neither by itself can achieve. This is one of the reasons I love embedded systems work.

Since this is getting so philosophical, consider this: plants and animals face the same challenges for survival. Animals have evolved many specialized organs and systems. Call those hardware solutions. Plants do it by software.

At the end of the world, which one will you bet on?

John

 

[3v0]

I expect in the long run bacteria and virus are from more sturdy then plants or animals. Current thinking is that life may spread through space via bacteria.

 

[jpanhalt]

I expect in the long run bacteria and virus are from more sturdy then plants or animals. Current thinking is that life may spread through space via bacteria.

That is an intriguing thought, but do you have any credible reference that such spread by bacteria is the state of "current thinking?"

I am skeptical that vegetative bacteria or even bacterial spores could be the seed of life throughout space. In particular, I doubt that vegetative bacteria would survive whatever event caused them to be kicked into space. I think that viruses, prions (or some polypeptide or protein), and free nucleic acids are more likely or at least equally likely candidates for seeding life.

As for nucleic acids, it is widely assumed that RNA came before DNA. That has been used as an explanation for why RNAases are so ubiquitous. RNA can exhibit enzyme-like activity and self organize. One interesting fact that is often stated, but I have never independently confirmed, is that the source of 90% of the nucleic acids (mostly DNA) found in mid-ocean samples cannot be identified.

John

 

[3v0]

Most of what we know today was once viewed as incredible speculation.

Google "bacteria from space" and you will find that the rigors of space will not kill some bacteria. To date no actual bacteria have been been found. Seems more a matter of when then if.