First, the story:
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/nasa-says-doughnut-rock-on-mars-is-like-nothing-weve-ever-seen-before-29931351.html
My reasoning for this likely being life:
1. NASA describes the substance as being a jelly. I challenge anyone to find a jelly-like substance on Earth that is not derived from life. My search of Wikipedia finds the different types of jellies:
All of these things, as far as I can tell are derived from life. I'm not 100% sure on Naval jelly, but it appears to be made by humans. It's not something that you would find under a rock in the desert.
2. The jelly is high in manganese. That piqued my interest. My quick research found a research article titled "Manganese-oxidizing photosynthesis before the rise of cyanobacteria". http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/06/20/1305530110.abstract
This jelly is supposedly underneath the rock, but I'm not sure what evidence NASA has of that. The thing appeared out of nowhere, after all.
So what am I missing, Science-GAF? Why are there no articles claiming or debating that this jelly is a lifeform?
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/nasa-says-doughnut-rock-on-mars-is-like-nothing-weve-ever-seen-before-29931351.html
Experts said they were completely confused by both the origins and makeup of the object, which is currently being investigated by Opportunitys various measuring instruments.
Astronomers noticed the new rock had appeared without any explanation on an outcrop which had been empty just days earlier. The rover has been stuck photographing the same region of Mars for more than a month due to bad weather, with scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California monitoring the images it sends.
Nasa issued a Mars status report entitled encountering a surprise, and lead Mars Exploration rover scientist Steve Squyres told a JPL event it seems the planet literally keeps throwing new things at us.
He said the images, from 12 Martian days apart, were from no more than a couple of weeks ago. We saw this rock just sitting here. It looks white around the edge in the middle and theres a low spot in the centre thats dark red it looks like a jelly doughnut.
And it appeared, just plain appeared at that spot and we havent ever driven over that spot.
Squyres said his team had two theories on how the rock got there that theres a smoking hole in the ground somewhere nearby and it was caused by a meteor, or that it was somehow flicked out of the ground by a wheel as the rover went by.
We had driven a metre or two away from here, and I think the idea that somehow we mysteriously flicked it with a wheel is the best explanation, Squyres said.
Yet the story got even stranger when Opportunity investigated further. Squyres explained: We are as we speak situated with the rovers instruments deployed making measurements of this rock.
Weve taken pictures of both the doughnut and jelly parts, and the got the first data on the composition of the jelly yesterday.
Its like nothing weve ever seen before, he said. Its very high in sulphur, its very high in magnesium, its got twice as much manganese as weve ever seen in anything on Mars.
My reasoning for this likely being life:
1. NASA describes the substance as being a jelly. I challenge anyone to find a jelly-like substance on Earth that is not derived from life. My search of Wikipedia finds the different types of jellies:
Jelly may refer to:
Jelly (fruit preserves), a clear or translucent fruit spread or preserve
Gelatin, a translucent substance extracted from the collagen inside animals' connective tissue, made from bones and pig skin
Gelatin dessert, referred to as jelly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other countries
Jelly fungus, the class Heterobasidiomycetes
Jelly shoes, shoes made of a soft plastic, resembling sandals
Naval jelly, phosphoric acid in a rust removing gel
Petroleum jelly, a gel used as a topical ointment, such as vaseline
Royal jelly, made by bees and fed to the larvae to turn them into queen bees
Temazepam, a powerful hypnotic drug, street name "Jellies"
Jellyfish, also known as jellies
An informal, temporary Coworking gathering, also called "jellies"
A slang term for Jealous
All of these things, as far as I can tell are derived from life. I'm not 100% sure on Naval jelly, but it appears to be made by humans. It's not something that you would find under a rock in the desert.
2. The jelly is high in manganese. That piqued my interest. My quick research found a research article titled "Manganese-oxidizing photosynthesis before the rise of cyanobacteria". http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/06/20/1305530110.abstract
This jelly is supposedly underneath the rock, but I'm not sure what evidence NASA has of that. The thing appeared out of nowhere, after all.
So what am I missing, Science-GAF? Why are there no articles claiming or debating that this jelly is a lifeform?