Worms from Hell on Mars?

Well here we go...

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c21c2063916b.jpg[/atsimg]

"We tried to get the title of the paper to be 'Worms from Hell,'" said study author Tullis Onstott of Princeton University. "But Nature didn't go for that."

This is an interesting recent discovery here on Earth which leads us to the improved possibility of life on Mars. Is this really a possibility? Well maybe. According to the article these worms were found almost a mile deep and in conditions/environments which were previously thought uninhabitable. So now we have to start drilling on Mars. Sounds a bit fishy to me. Peak oil?

In all seriousness. This opens another location for us to search for non terrestrial life. This and the Ice moons. Who knows what life [If Any] could be possibly down under the ice crusts near possible underwater volcanic vents similar to what we have ere on Earth...?

Discovery of Deepest Worms Holds Promise for Mars Life

How low can worms go? According to a new study, at least 0.8 miles (1.3 kilometers) below the Earth's surface.

That's the depth at which scientists discovered a new species of worm, dubbed Halicephalobus mephisto in honor of Faust's demon Mephistopheles. The worm, reported this week in the journal Nature, is the deepest living multicellular organism ever found and opens up the possibility that multicellular life could lurk below the surface of a planet such as Mars.

I misread the thread title and thought it said "Women from Hell on Mars?". I was in for a bit of a surprise when I saw the picture.

Its my belief mars has some rather large sized ones. More like Dune the book. Hopefuly they don't bring them here, we don't want them.

Fascinating creature! However I prefer giant desert worms on Mars. If we can go for that.

IMHO, if there are any worms on Mars, let's just leave them there.
*remember the movie "Tremors"?

reply to post by SLAYER69


There are no worms on Mars. Martian soil is so high in oxalates it will actually dissolve organic compounds.

Yet for some reason none of the brilliant conspirators on here knows about this and they keep pushing to look for life on Mars.

Smells like conspiracy to me. I don't think they are really going to Mars myself.

If there is every a colony on Mars, you can have that ocean front property to yourself.

Originally posted by siren8
Yet for some reason none of the brilliant conspirators on here knows about this and they keep pushing to look for life on Mars.

Smells like conspiracy to me. I don't think they are really going to Mars myself.

If there is every a colony on Mars, you can have that ocean front property to yourself.

I'm not making the claim of life on Mars and it appears that some over at NASA disagree with your assessment. Time will tell.

Farther from home, the discovery of very deep multicellular worms opens up possibilities in the search for extraterrestrial life, said Michael Meyer, the lead scientist for Mars exploration at NASA, who was not involved in the study. Researchers have assumed that any subsurface life on a planet like Mars would be unicellular, Meyer told LiveScience.

"This kinds of opens it up to, well, even multicellular life could be possible," Meyer said.

reply to post by Nosred


Yes I misread it as Women instead of Worms too

Absolutely hate worms so this is my worst nightmare.

reply to post by siren8

Oh I don't know man, the worm is one tenacious survivor:
Inhospitable Areas Still Have Life
According to the article, they could be powered by radioactivity. How can we accurately determine the ecology on Mars, thoroughly enough, without going there? Who knows what kind of natural systems are there.

Peace,
spec

Originally posted by Nosred
I misread the thread title and thought it said "Women from Hell on Mars?". I was in for a bit of a surprise when I saw the picture.

Lol....I did the same thing at first.

I've said all along that what we know may not be the same for every type of species. That's why ancient aliens had helmets because they can't breathe the good ole Oxygen,

Originally posted by siren8
reply to post by SLAYER69

 

Martian soil is so high in oxalates it will actually dissolve organic compounds.

Do you have anything to back this up? Last time I checked there was a debate on the compounds found on Mars and whether or not they were a result of life processes.

EDIT - You may be referring to the fact that they found high levels near the arctic region but not everywhere.

"Hey guys...there's oil on Mars!"

That should do the trick, see you there in 2 years.

Originally posted by siren8
reply to post by SLAYER69

 

There are no worms on Mars. Martian soil is so high in oxalates it will actually dissolve organic compounds.

Yet for some reason none of the brilliant conspirators on here knows about this and they keep pushing to look for life on Mars.

Smells like conspiracy to me. I don't think they are really going to Mars myself.

If there is every a colony on Mars, you can have that ocean front property to yourself.

Mars has some distinct problems as a colony. As an industrial planet, it has tremendous opportunity.

Now, how they are going to feed people....that'll be the thing.

reply to post by Aeons

Now, how they are going to feed people.

voila

How are they going to feed them? All that mountainhouse dehydrated stuff 'they've' been stockpiling lol

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


Ah. See, you can't grow anything in Mars soil. So really what I meant way....getting food to an industrial base on Mars is going to be very expensive. Shipping celery from Earth to Mars is a pretty big crimp in the ol' plan.

Shipping dirt from Earth to Mars for hydroponics might not be much better.

I would love to see us moving out to the Red Planet. I just want to see it done sensibly - people refusing to see the problems isn't going to led to a successful run. And Mars has more than one problem for harbouring life.

The plans for Mars being preferential seems to be based on gravity being less cumbersome for entry, and the idea that starting from a blank slate maybe easier.

I think that the usefulness of Venus is being seriously under appreciated as an alternate. Cooling a system down may turn out to be easier than making a system from scratch.

Either way - food shipping, production, and management will remain one of the most important obstacles, followed closely by radiation/magnetosphere problems. Both Venus and Mars lack the radiation protection for human work or habitat. Finding a way to compensate for this from the orbit of the planets is the most realistic solution.

The "hey-let's-live-underground" solution is ridiculous. If that worked, then there would be animals and plants living subsurface from these planets that supposedly could harbour life at one point. That there aren't, when it is widely speculated that both planets were Earth-like at some point, should be a serious warning sign. The life on these planets would have had time to slowly adapt - unlike us. That they didn't should speak to the seriousness of the problem.

Replace or Fix the magnetosphere, and the rest of the problems become far more manageable.

reply to post by Aeons


Agreed Aeons, but hydroponics does not require soil, only a suitable medium. So maybe some seeds and a few elaborate hydro systems could be used. If there is no suitable mediums there to grow in, we could always bring some rockwool. Just guessing here, I am not too familiar with the environment there. I would bet though that once we got there and thoroughly checked things out, there would be something to eat, but again, that's just a guess, and how it would jive with our digestive systems could be a little challenging.

spec
ETA: Of course one would need nutrients to feed the hydro plants, and human waste comes to mind, and if not, I guess some liquid fertilizer would have to be sent too. Once the plants began thriving thought, all of it could be recycled for both medium and nutrients. Tis a fascinating notion, making life on another planet that is so different than ours...
And the underground living? If that is how we would have to start, I'd still dig it for a while, after all it's a whole nother planet! Long term though, does not sound so appealing. I see dome technology being more applicable though.

A chill ran up my spine when a thought about oil and the possibility that some form of life (maybe these very worms!) is producing it,

Was Frank Herbert making metaphors about Dune with worms and the spice?

LOL! I had to add I hadn't read the other responses.
I guess we all read the same books here.

Originally posted by Unity_99
Its my belief mars has some rather large sized ones. More like Dune the book.

You are right.

More than you can imagine......

Originally posted by Arken

You are right.

More than you can imagine......

I can imagine 8,456,823,023.

Are there more than that?