Mars Site May Hold 'Buried Life'

sridharo sends in a report from the BBC that researchers have identified ancient rocks from Nili Fossae that could contain fossilized remains of life. These rocks are very similar to Pilbara rocks in northwest Australia. The rocks are estimated to be up to four billion years old, which means they have been around for three-quarters of the history of Mars. "[Many] scientists had hoped that they would soon have the opportunity to get much closer to these rocks. Nili Fossae was put forward as a potential landing site for NASA's ambitious new rover, the Mars Science Laboratory, which will be launched in 2011. ... But Nilae Fossae was eventually deemed too dangerous a landing site and it was finally removed from the list in June of this year." The research, led by a scientist from the SETI Institute, was published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

Obligatory quote...

[Anonymous Coward]

I for one welcome our new Fossilized Martian Overlords!

Re:SETI?

[oliverk]

When we realized we all came from "Eve," the human/cylon hybrid. :)

Re:"too dangerous a landing site"

[Anonymous Coward]

build em out of lego mindstorms and crazyglue them together and use plentu of duct tape. then the only cost is getting 'em there!

Re:SETI?

[Hylandr]

Convince the American people that Mars has weapons of mass destruction and give the military the funding it asks for. There will be a colony in no time and local Martian girls will be handing out free beer when the sailors get off the ships.

- Dan.