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To: AndrewC
"So where are these evolved Martian organisms? Oh, I know, the same place the lunar organisms are, the ones that evolved for living sans atmosphere. We know that terrestrial bacteria survived on some of our space vehicles."

Well, sans atmosphere also implies sans water. Any terrestrial bacteria that "survived" did by sporulating and going dormant, not by continuing to grow and propagate.

However, there are MANY types of bacteria that can survive in highly saline environments, and thrive and grow quite nicely, so your argument is fallacious--a case of comparing apples and oranges..

35 posted on 08/29/2008 6:14:47 PM PDT by Wonder Warthog
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To: Wonder Warthog; metmom
However, there are MANY types of bacteria that can survive in highly saline environments, and thrive and grow quite nicely, so your argument is fallacious--a case of comparing apples and oranges..

No it isn't. I asked for the location of these evolved Martian organisms. I then provided a tongue in cheek answer for their absence. The fact is, there are no Martian halophilic(or otherwise) organisms. I was pointing out your fairytale as such, a fairytale. The fact that earth organisms exist is no, repeat, no evidence of life of any type on Mars. That evidence has to be developed from purely Martian data. The writers pointed out that high concentrations of salt are inimical to the genesis of life and that high concentrations of salts are evident on Mars for billions of years in the past.

The researchers themselves placed this statement in the abstract for their article.

Our calculations indicate that the salinity of well-documented surface waters often exceeded levels tolerated by known terrestrial organisms.

36 posted on 08/29/2008 6:32:50 PM PDT by AndrewC
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