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Cyberpunk Now! 5
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Cyberpunk Now! 5 (Disk 2 of 2).adf
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LifeonMars
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LifeonMars
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1992-09-02
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37 lines
IS THERE LIFE ON MARS? - Maybe.....
Recent investigations into meteorites which have landed on Earth and
have known to have originated on Mars show trace minerals containing
water, which can only have come from the planets surface.
It has been known for some time that up to some hundreds of millions
of years ago, Mars was a lot warmer, with perhaps running water,seas,
and a lush tropical climate. It is speculated on that perhaps a
cataclysmic event such as a large asteroid collision knocked Mars
slightly out of orbit, further away from the Sun and causing the
climate to plummet.
However, although much of the Martian surface water would then have
evaporated, it is now thought that much also drained underground
and there may be very substantial amounts locked in wells.
This would make the future colonisation and terra forming of Mars
a much easier task. It had been thought that water might be locked up in
Mars in the form of deeply frozen ice, which colonists would have to free
using controlled nuclear explosions - however,it may know just be a
question of sinking wells.
The only drawback is that the time of the meteorite leaving Mars is
at the moment totally unknown. The water may have existed billions
of years ago - and may now be gone - or, if the meteorite is of
relatively recent origins - the water may still be there. Traces
of amino acids, the building blocks of life have also been found
in the meteorites.
The search continues....
Asgard News Service,April 1995.