[HN Gopher] Alkanes on Mars
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       Alkanes on Mars
        
       Author : nick__m
       Score  : 58 points
       Date   : 2025-03-27 17:10 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.science.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.science.org)
        
       | perihelions wrote:
       | (.pdf)
       | https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sed/content/uploadFiles/public... (
       | _" Long-chain alkanes preserved in a Martian mudstone"_)
        
       | jugg1es wrote:
       | So much circumstantial evidence of past life on mars is
       | infuriating. Wish we could find something definitive!
        
         | augusto-moura wrote:
         | It will probably take a long time still. Might mot even be on
         | our generation.
         | 
         | Maybe if research gets more investment we could get there
         | faster
        
           | tim333 wrote:
           | I know he's gone a bit nuts but Musk + SpaceX are working on
           | sending stuff.
        
         | semi-extrinsic wrote:
         | Note that we see a lot of complex polyaromatic hydrocarbons in
         | interstellar dust across the galaxy. And we know these can
         | sometimes have quite long alkane chains attached or "inside". I
         | don't think we can rule out stuff like that decomposing at
         | those GC/MS conditions and giving the same signal. And that's
         | even before the leap to fatty acids which may or may not have a
         | biological origin.
        
         | symbolicAGI wrote:
         | There is sufficient circumstantial evidence for bacterial life
         | on Mars.
         | 
         | The (perhaps religiously) conservative science establishment
         | refuses to conclusively accept it.
         | 
         | When a robotic mission is sent to Mars with the express purpose
         | of finding current life, then it will become obvious that
         | hardened bacteria spores not only survive in our solar system's
         | space, but thrive in the most difficult environments. And what
         | about that stuff growing outside the international space
         | station?
         | 
         | The question about why certain bacteria on earth are very
         | resistant to the sun's harmful radiation is waiting to be
         | solved.
         | 
         | The threat to some of the world's religions is the hypothesis
         | that the simplest life did not originate on this planet first.
         | So what?
        
           | CamperBob2 wrote:
           | Eh, religions have to dispel a dozen graver epistemic threats
           | than that before breakfast every morning. If and when
           | evidence of extraterrestrial life is found, religious people
           | will adapt their beliefs to accommodate it and retcon it,
           | just like they always have.
           | 
           | It's what they've done, very successfully, ever since they
           | had to stop burning heretics at the stake.
        
             | kulahan wrote:
             | >adapt their beliefs to accommodate it and retcon it
             | 
             | I believe this is called "learning" in common nomenclature.
             | They do the same thing in science very regularly, and it's
             | a pretty obvious part of discovering the world around you.
        
       | api wrote:
       | The presence of hydrocarbons would be useful to potential future
       | settlers too, since it can be used as feedstock for things like
       | plastics and petrochemicals.
       | 
       | It can be made from CO2 + H2O with a lot of energy, but it'd be
       | easier to have at least some ready-made to get started.
        
         | floxy wrote:
         | Does anyone know if these hydrocarbons are in "useful"
         | concentrations, or "detectable" concentrations (ppb).
        
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