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posted by n1 on Saturday July 22 2017, @04:41AM   Printer-friendly
from the Idiocracy dept.

During a hearing of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Tuesday, Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher managed to baffle and amaze when he asked about life on Mars.

[...] "You have indicated that Mars had a, was totally different thousands of years ago," the California congressman said, addressing a panel of space science experts.

"Is it possible that there was a civilization on Mars thousands of years ago?".

[...] Kenneth Farley — NASA Mars 2020 rover project scientist — had to start off his answer by correcting Rohrabacher's question.

"So, the evidence is that Mars was different billions of years ago, not thousands of years ago," Farley said.

[...] "Would you rule that out? That — see, there are some people — well, anyway," Rohrabacher said.

Farley answered: "I would say that is extremely unlikely."

Source: Mashable


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @12:12PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @12:12PM (#542867)

    I'm thinking that intelligent life would have figured out metallurgy.
    Structural engineering too.
    Maybe have combined the 2 to make some stuff that would still visible maybe even impressive. [google.com]

    They might also have made vaults to stash their cool stuff. [wikipedia.org]
    (I saw that story in the 1980s on the retread of The Twilight Zone.)

    -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

  • (Score: 1) by Virindi on Saturday July 22 2017, @06:06PM (4 children)

    by Virindi (3484) on Saturday July 22 2017, @06:06PM (#543002)

    After a billion years? It would all be dust (anything that can corrode) or buried (stone, concrete and brick). Structures wouldn't last 1/10000th of that time without maintenance.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @08:55PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @08:55PM (#543080)

      Where are you gonna get the water/air for that?
      Mars doesn't have either in any significant volume; there's no evidence that it ever did.
      ...and what water it does have is sequestered at the poles in solid form.

      ...and Spirit|Opportunity didn't sink into sand when they were roving.
      You are concocting scenarios that aren't the case on Mars.

      ...and lifeforms on Mars would need to be significantly different than where liquid water and oxygen-rich atmosphere are common.
      Quit thinking that every place is|needs to be just like Earth.

      -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @08:57AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @08:57AM (#543310)

        Huh? This was based on the hypothesis that a long time ago Mars was more Earth-like. That cannot currently be ruled out as far as I know.

        Besides, in a billion years there will be a lot of asteroid impacts alone, throwing material into the atmosphere and covering up the surface. Let alone small amounts of wind-spread erosion material building up over time. And even a small amount of atmosphere blowing around dust grains would erode buildings after awhile. I do not think you appreciate the timescale.

        You seem to be responding to me as though this is some kind of crazy conspiracy theory or religious thing. I am just saying it is possible.

        • (Score: 2) by isostatic on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:38AM

          by isostatic (365) on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:38AM (#543320) Journal

          A lot of people fail to grasp just how long 1 billion years is. Dinosaurs were around 1/10th of that time ago.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 25 2017, @05:29PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 25 2017, @05:29PM (#544247)

      Structures on Earth have lasted thousands of years, which is the time-frame posited in the question. Mars is drier than the Earth and has a much thinner atmosphere, hence weathering ought to be less there. Can a member of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology be expected to know such things prior to questioning NASA's scientists on the topic? It's as though he didn't ask his staff for even a 5-minute briefing.