If there's life on Mars, it may survive cooking

Scientists were pleasantly but 'totally' surprised when they found DNA on the outside of a spaceship survived a journey to space and back -even after exposure to re-entry temperatures as high as 1000 degrees Celsius (1832 degrees Fahrenheit). It's exciting because it could mean any Alien DNA a spaceship might pick up somewhere, could be detected on return to earth. Or, as Cora Thiel and Oliver Ullrich from University of Zurich (the scientists who carried out the experiment) say:

'The experiment could be the basis for "a model for nucleic acids that could serve as biomarkers in the search for past or present extraterrestrial life."

..which sounds more scientific than my explanation, but less exciting.

The experiment was carried out on the TEXUS-49 rocket mission back in 2011, but the study was only published yesterday. There is a little bit of a downside though; 'The scientists say the results raise concerns about contaminating space crafts, landers and landing sites with DNA from Earth.'

They don't say anything about concerns Alien DNA might be brought back and contaminate earth, but I guess that's because as scientists, it would make their day to get a hold of some.

Do read the article at the link for a more technical report about the findings.

http://www.france24.com/en/20141127-dna-may-survive-trip-suborbital-space-back/

Photo link: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2013/05/30/exhuming-e-t-buried-game-may-soon-see-light/

I had a debate with myself whether to post a photo of Bowie as Ziggy Stardust or ET. You can see my sentimental side won.

[video=youtu;v--IqqusnNQ]http://youtu.be/v--IqqusnNQ[/video]

A Baby Boomer’s History of Mars

The Red Planet has fascinated humans since ancient times. The idea that it has intelligent life – advanced mostly by self-taught astronomer Percival Lowell – gave us a century-long case of “Mars fever.” On the 50th anniversary of Mariner 4’s quest for an up-close look, how many of these Martian moments do you remember?
1898: The War of the Worlds in H.G. Wells’ sci-fi classic. Martians use robotic fighting machines to take over Earth.
1938: War of the Worlds (radio) Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre make an alien invasion seem just a bit too real.
1953: Invaders From Mars The surreal frightfest begins with a 12-year-old boy seeing a flying saucer land out back.
1962: The Three Stooges in Orbit Moe, Larry & Curly Joe foil Martians intent on destroying Disneyland – and the rest of the planet.
1963: My Favorite Martian The TV series features Ray Walston as an anthropologist from Mars who’s stranded on Earth.
1964: Mariner 4 The spacecraft takes off to capture the first images of Mars from deep space.
1971: Sesame Street’s Yip Yips These bug-eyed little Martians have terrifying encounter with everyday Earth objects.
1977: Marvin the Martian The soft-spoken but evil villain created by Chuck Jones in 1948 costars in Bugs Bunny in Space.
1990: Total Recall Arnold Schwarzenegger travels to Mars to uncover who he really is and why his memory was erased.
1996: Mars Attacks! Tim Burton lines up big stars for his parody of sci-fi B movies, based on the cult trading-card series.
2024: Mars One A one-way trip to Mars? Would you volunteer for a permanent human settlement?

(Saw the OP as Mars - thought I'd post this!)

Daily Mail:

'I saw men walking on Mars': 'Former NASA employee' claims there was a secret manned mission to the red planet

• Woman, named 'Jackie', called in to US radio station, Coast to Coast AM
• Said she was downloading telemetry from a NASA Viking Lander in 1979
• She claims that's when she saw two humans walking on Martian surface
• According to Jackie, six other Nasa employees witnessed the same thing
• Conspiracy theorists say this is evidence of a 'secret space programme'

Click to expand...

story at link

wfgodot said:

Daily Mail:

'I saw men walking on Mars': 'Former NASA employee' claims there was a secret manned mission to the red planet

story at link

Click to expand...

Damn, I need more sleep, I almost read that incorrectly. :scared: