Large Caves Found on the Surface of Mars 191
David DelMonte writes "Space.com is reporting on the discovery of seven dark spots near the Equator on Mars. The thinking is that these are cave openings. The openings are the size of football fields, and one of them is thought to extend approximately 400 feet below the surface.'The researchers hope the discovery will lead to more focused spelunking on Mars. "Caves on Mars could become habitats for future explorers or could be the only structures that preserve evidence of past or present microbial life ," said Glenn Cushing of Northern Arizona University, who first spotted the black areas in the photographs.'"
We're not as unique as everyone thinks... (Score:1, Insightful)
Wait, what? (Score:4, Insightful)
Surprise? (Score:5, Insightful)
Should be at all surprised to find caves on Mars?
I thought we already believed that all solid planets had plate activity like Earth, that formed the mountains and valleys. Aren't caves a natural extension of that thought process?
I thought this was a given.
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No matter how much changes... (Score:5, Insightful)
Does anyone else find it slightly amusing that as humans move out into space we may yet again end up living in caves?
Re:Surprise? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Surprise? (Score:2, Insightful)
2001 A space odyssey (Score:5, Insightful)
If we're going to be on Mars, it is therefore fitting that we should be cavemen. That's where we started, and that's where we will start again.
Re:We're not as unique as everyone thinks... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:We're not as unique as everyone thinks... (Score:1, Insightful)
Of course, this also implies that if you consider the set of all possible arrangements of matter that we live in the one where humanity exists alone in the visible universe. So, since:
a) mathematically it's possible humanity is alone in this universe, and
b) we have seen no evidence of extraterrestrial life,
does it surprise ANYONE why most people think we're alone in the universe?
And I didn't even feel the need to pick on religion to explain it.
Re:Wait, what? (Score:2, Insightful)
2 weeks? To Mars? I think you've got your scales a bit wrong.
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Re:It Still Amazes Me... (Score:3, Insightful)
If we missed this... (Score:3, Insightful)
Humans have been scrutinizing Mars to the best of their ability given available technology for centuries. We have sent probes to map the surface multiple times and robots to probe in various ways. And all this time we missed seven caves whose openings were larger than football fields (and in some cases larger than two football fields) which just happen to be near one of the most prominent features we know about. Whether these features are caves or not, the facts of their size and location should be a wakeup call to us as far as the limitations of our efforts thus far. Who knows what else we are missing; one must also wonder at the difficulty of finding microbes on a planet where we were unable to detect features of this size.
I hope one day we can place colonies on Mars, as inhospitable as it is. Once we have done that we will be in a better position to explore the planet as we have ours. Every time we think we have found everything worth finding on Mars and further exploration will not yield any results that change our impression that it is a dull, lifeless planet whose only saving grace is that it is nearby we find something that surprises us. We can only hope this trend continues.
Re:2001 A space odyssey (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:We're not as unique as everyone thinks... (Score:4, Insightful)