Liquid Water lake revealed on Mars

[Deleted member 40371]

Researchers have found evidence of an existing body of liquid water on Mars.
The proposed "lake" sits beneath the Red Planet's south polar ice cap, and is about 20km across.
Previous research found possible signs of intermittent liquid water flowing on the martian surface, but this is the first sign of a persistent body of water on the planet in the present day.

So exciting... other teams will now try to replicate the result.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-44952710

 

[Simone411]

Thank you for sharing! Saw it this morning in one of my email newsletters.

Here's another article about it.

Giant Lake of liquid water found hiding under Mars' South Pole

 

[Cachoo]

Well this is good news---congrats to the team that found it.

 

[Japanfan]

Oh, to fast forward several hundred years into the future.

I'm convinced there is intelligent life out there in the galaxy.

 

[Deleted member 40371]

Oh, to fast forward several hundred years into the future.

I'm convinced there is intelligent life out there in the galaxy.

I always wondered what constitutes a intelligent life form. On earth, apes and cephalopods are very intelligent, however most people won’t consider them so. That leaves the question of what we consider intelligent?, if we will even consider our own ancestors intelligent?, if not, the benchmark is our stage of evolution. If we have these biases, won’t another intelligent creature at a much higher stage evolution consider us not even intelligent, further complicating any chance of encountering them. This is a bit star Trekkie of me.

If cephalopod like creature is what we are looking for, then it is possible they may exist even in our solar system, moon like Europa is still a candidate.

 

[Deleted member 1204]

I always wondered what constitutes a intelligent life form.

Certainly not Donald Trump.

 

[Deleted member 40371]

Certainly not Donald Trump.

That was an intelligent observation.

 

[watchthis!!]

If we are able to successfully colonize Mars by the time we've destroyed Earth, then that would be proof that we could colonize somewhere else once we've decimated Mars.

 

[VGThuy]

That's a good question actually.

 

[Japanfan]

First one-way trip to Mars planned for 2024:

https://www.theguardian.com/science...sion-a-one-way-trip-to-the-red-planet-in-2024

I always wondered what constitutes a intelligent life form.

According to Miriam Webster, the capacity to learn and understand things (rules out Donald Trump).

People by and large have tended to underestimate the intelligence of other beings, particularly animals/mammals. Many animals have demonstrated intelligence (monkeys, dogs and horses being the obvious) - for example, pigs have exhibited a capacity for abstract thought.

There may come a time in future when we do recognize that intelligence, and as a result, stop eating meat (from livestock in any case, given that clean meat is coming soon).

On earth, apes and cephalopods are very intelligent, however most people won’t consider them so.

I've never heard/thought of cephalopods as particularly intelligent, but certainly always thought of cetaceans as such.

I always wondered what constitutes a intelligent life form. On earth, apes and cephalopods are very intelligent, however most people won’t consider them so. That leaves the question of what we consider intelligent?, if we will even consider our own ancestors intelligent?, if not, the benchmark is our stage of evolution.

We would be foolish not to consider our own ancestors as intelligent, given that got to where we are thanks to them. That is putting aside the whole issue of human folly and whether we really are that intelligent after all. (Brings to mind Kurt Vonnegut's theory that our problem is that our brains are just too damn big, which is a theme of his book 'Galapagos', in which humans have devolved. The book is a tale and as is usual for Vonnegut, full of social commentary).

If we have these biases, won’t another intelligent creature at a much higher stage evolution consider us not even intelligent, further complicating any chance of encountering them. This is a bit star Trekkie of me.

Many sci fi/fantasy books have been written about encounters between humans and more evolved creatures. Octavia E. Butler's 'XenoGenesis' series comes to mind. And the works of Sherri S. Tepper.

Presumably, the more evolved species may have some interest in learning about humans.