Ancient Martian Lake discovered!

Ever since we discovered about space, many questions started coming into people's mind. Are there any other life forms out there? How big is the universe? Are there any other "rocks" just like the moon? Many of these unanswered questions are were asked. One question was regarding if there was life on Mars. Out of curiosity, NASA sent the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to take picture of Mars. Recently, a crater was spotted by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM). Apparently, it seems that there was water on the Martian planet. Today, the water may have been all dried up or sunk deep inside a crater (McLaughlin Crater) where they spotted this. Wherever there is water, there is hydrogen and oxygen, meaning there will be life too. This has raised lots of questions and keeps astronomists wondering. Scientists believe there was life on Earth about 100 million years ago. 

The author says the following important things:

- There may have been life on the surface of the Martian planet

- There is a volcanic crater

- They believe the surface of Mars was formed due to water, not just meteors

- The surface of Mars is shaped similar to flowing water in a lake

Potential Strength/Advantage:

- If there truly was life on Mars, that would give us proof that there are other life forms out there
- It would increase our knowledge about planets and would lead us to bigger explorations
- It would mean that there would be other planets like Mars, meaning humans, with the require and correct technology, can find another planet like what Mars was a 100 million years ago.

Weakness/Disadvantage:

- People might panic about the fact that there are other life forms out there
- It may have been another factor that Mars is shaped like that on the surface
- If we have the wrong facts, then we will only be leading ourselves to wrong conclusions. If it was not water, then the fact that other life forms do exist, is still a refutable theory.

Questions:

Are other life forms actually truly out there? What will happen if we figure out other life forms do exist and once inhabited Mars? Will humans find another planet like Earth and Mars a 100 million years ago? Will the world panic if they know aliens do exist?Will there be more scientific discoveries and explorations? There's just so much questions to ask.




Knapp, Alex. "NASA Finds Remains Of Ancient Martian Lake." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 21 Jan. 2013. Web. 22 Jan. 2013.