Water on mars!!!!!!!!!!

[lord_kungai]

Hmmm, R.Flagg, AFAIK, it has something to do with primordial fluid and the evolution of cellular structure from inorganic liquids... like water.

[Mick]

Cells as we know them are filled with liquid (cytoplasm) which is mostly water. Life that's anything like life on earth (not to say it has to be like life on earth) would need a liquid to be filled with, otherwise it's really hard to transport chemicals around because solids don't allow diffusion. I suppose an alien cell might be able to use some other liquid, but how many have all the great propertise of water ie.
Loads of things disslove in it
It's a polar molecule
It's molecules are cohesive
It has a high specific heat capacity
hight latent heat of vaporisation
High latent heat of fusion
(these are coming from the A-level biology textbook in front of me)

[R.Flagg]

Nice and detailed answer. A more basic way I use to explain one of the main reasons..., is that if you have 2 atoms or 2 molecules or 2 planks or 2 strings or whatever, that need to come together to start reactions which eventually lead to life, it's kind of hard for them to do that if they are embedded in rock, or ice. And water vapor is too 'fluid', things would just fall apart.

So just the fact that it's in liquid form is a big part of it. It allows things to move around and come into contact with each other so that all the magic can begin to happen.

Not currently having teh benefit of university like yourself Mick, I rely on more layman methods to edumacate myself.

NOVA rocks! "Science adventures for the curious adult"
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/origins/essential.html

[Mick]

I take that as a complement, I only started college this school year. University's another 2 years away

[lord_kungai]

Cells as we know them are filled with liquid (cytoplasm) which is mostly water. Life that's anything like life on earth (not to say it has to be like life on earth) would need a liquid to be filled with, otherwise it's really hard to transport chemicals around because solids don't allow diffusion. I suppose an alien cell might be able to use some other liquid, but how many have all the great propertise of water ie.
Loads of things disslove in it
It's a polar molecule
It's molecules are cohesive
It has a high specific heat capacity
hight latent heat of vaporisation
High latent heat of fusion
(these are coming from the A-level biology textbook in front of me)

Nice, Mick!

[Finn_bryant]

This image has just been recieved from a probe that was believed to have gone missing more than a year ago,



Soon after the image was taken, all connection with the probe was lost, although the sound recorder just succeded in sending a message that sounds destinctly like laughter.

Since everyone is being technical,
the sound was detected through the ground (the atmosphere of mars is not substatial enough for sound).

[Bruce9950]

The proxy army of MARS most likely DESTROYED the probe (ouch) (ouch) I should not of told.

[jb]

Heheheh funny

[LoQtUS]

Ya thats great!!!

Its like wheres Waldo.

[GB]

nice to see a picture of Mars they havent coloured red. damn NASA, damn holywood. theres still so many ppl who actually think mars is covered in red dust....

[Zachariah]

Nasa Probe made his proxies mad