Maybe it's just my geekiness shining through – OK, no maybe there. But even someone who likes to stuff nerds into lockers would have to admit that the prospect of life on other planets is way cool. Discovery.com reports that scientists are intrigued by what the Phoenix Lander has found on the red planet: "There's nothing about it that would preclude life. In fact, it seems very friendly," mission scientist Samuel Kounaves of Tufts University said of the soil. "There's nothing about it that's toxic."
This is especially relevant if you believe the "Wall-E" vision of the future. I haven't seen the film yet, but my understanding is that the plot stems from the notion that humans will eventually use up all of Earth's resources, so we all have to leave the planet behind. (Nothing like a cheerful summer flick.) So we could either move to Twin Earth, Mars, or, as "Wall-E" suggests, a space station.
(Aside: This is actually very similar to a story that recently showed up in the "Fantastic Four" comics. In that case, some scientist was building a copy of Earth for everyone to move to once we managed to screw up this one.)
Whether or not any of these doomsday scenarios are plausible, I love the idea of being able to visit another planet. And, since we're geeking out here, what if Mars' sun gives Earth people super powers? How cool would that be? Of course, that might also mean that Martians would gain power from our sun. Unless there are no Martians, meaning we can go and colonize Mars, moving mountains with our newfound super-strength.
(UPDATE: a commenter below points out that Mars and Earth share a sun. Yeah yeah yeah. You and your SCIENCE, always ruining my fun.)
First we've got to, you know, build spaceships that can transport non-astronaut human beings. But that'll happen. Until then, we'll have to be content with these nifty pics from the Phoenix Lander. No little green men/women/children (yet), but there is ice, soil, and… I don't know, its photos from Mars! Check 'em out here.
image: anythingofinterest
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