Given recent developments in our understanding of water/ice bodies on Mars, is it possible that we could one day be surprised by Martian fossils? Or do we have reason to believe that Martian life would be limited to microorganisms? | AskScience Blog

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Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Given recent developments in our understanding of water/ice bodies on Mars, is it possible that we could one day be surprised by Martian fossils? Or do we have reason to believe that Martian life would be limited to microorganisms?

Given recent developments in our understanding of water/ice bodies on Mars, is it possible that we could one day be surprised by Martian fossils? Or do we have reason to believe that Martian life would be limited to microorganisms?


Given recent developments in our understanding of water/ice bodies on Mars, is it possible that we could one day be surprised by Martian fossils? Or do we have reason to believe that Martian life would be limited to microorganisms?

Posted: 29 Nov 2016 08:20 AM PST

I keep reading about Martian water, ice sheets, Lake-Superior-sized deposits of H2O, et cetera, fascinating stuff, and I'm wondering- is it possible that we Earthlings could send astronauts to the Red Planet, to ultimately discover fossils of extinct Martian flora & fauna? Or, if we can eliminate this possibility, how?

submitted by /u/JOHANSENATOR
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How does a pregnant body "decide" when it's time to go into labor?

Posted: 29 Nov 2016 07:41 AM PST

I know labor can be a long drawn-out process, but it all starts with the first contraction. What makes the body say "alright guys, this is it, let's get this sucker outta here"?

submitted by /u/Dr-Not-a-Milkman
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What are some organizations to donate to that support science?

Posted: 30 Nov 2016 12:15 AM PST

This may not be the right place to post this, but I'd like to donate to organizations that support science. I'd just like to donate to the right ones.

submitted by /u/har_r
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How does Nasa communicate with their spacecrafts when they are in deep space?

Posted: 30 Nov 2016 02:54 AM PST

Ask Anything Wednesday - Biology, Chemistry, Neuroscience, Medicine, Psychology

Posted: 30 Nov 2016 07:05 AM PST

Welcome to our weekly feature, Ask Anything Wednesday - this week we are focusing on Biology, Chemistry, Neuroscience, Medicine, Psychology

Do you have a question within these topics you weren't sure was worth submitting? Is something a bit too speculative for a typical /r/AskScience post? No question is too big or small for AAW. In this thread you can ask any science-related question! Things like: "What would happen if...", "How will the future...", "If all the rules for 'X' were different...", "Why does my...".

Asking Questions:

Please post your question as a top-level response to this, and our team of panellists will be here to answer and discuss your questions.

The other topic areas will appear in future Ask Anything Wednesdays, so if you have other questions not covered by this weeks theme please either hold on to it until those topics come around, or go and post over in our sister subreddit /r/AskScienceDiscussion , where every day is Ask Anything Wednesday! Off-theme questions in this post will be removed to try and keep the thread a manageable size for both our readers and panellists.

Answering Questions:

Please only answer a posted question if you are an expert in the field. The full guidelines for posting responses in AskScience can be found here. In short, this is a moderated subreddit, and responses which do not meet our quality guidelines will be removed. Remember, peer reviewed sources are always appreciated, and anecdotes are absolutely not appropriate. In general if your answer begins with 'I think', or 'I've heard', then it's not suitable for /r/AskScience.

If you would like to become a member of the AskScience panel, please refer to the information provided here.

Past AskAnythingWednesday posts can be found here.

Ask away!

submitted by /u/AutoModerator
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To what extent do female and male brains differ biologically, not taking into account cultural conditioning?

Posted: 29 Nov 2016 02:24 PM PST

I have a friend who thinks female and male brains are literally the same before social conditioning. He's a feminist, and his argument seems to be based in ideology rather than science, so I just want to ask the question to you guys to resolve my confusion.

Just in basic biological terms, how does the brain of each sex differ, if at all?

submitted by /u/sapien5491
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In the Rain Forest greenhouse of Biosphere 2, there is a forest with 90 species that is 25 years old. Being in a greenhouse in Arizona, why hasn't the heat trapped in the greenhouse baked this forest?

Posted: 29 Nov 2016 08:00 AM PST

What are some theories and principles regarding spring compression and loss of springiness?

Posted: 30 Nov 2016 07:17 AM PST

So this is in regards to the spring in a handgun magazine. There's a gun debate about whether loading your magazine to max capacity, i.e. Max spring tension, for long periods of time (think year(s))will cause the spring to weaken and therefore hinder the performance of your firearm. So common tips you will find are to load your magazine with one less bullet. So if your magazine can hold 15, load 14. Another tip is to swap magazines every few months. The recommendation is 2-6 months depending on who you ask. The purpose is to let the magazines "rest" and reclaim some of their springiness. But it's also common to find people saying that these practices are obsolete with modern handgun springs. Some people claim to have found old loafed magazines from decades ago and fired them with no problem. So my question is what is the science, theories and principles of springs? Does one side make more sense than another?

submitted by /u/Siphon1
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Does 'bracing for impact' actually help during minor impacts?

Posted: 30 Nov 2016 07:15 AM PST

Even mentally?

submitted by /u/TheTvdroid
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Would cooking in a tall stock pot increase the boiling point (and thus cooking temperature) at the bottom of the pot due to the water pressure?

Posted: 30 Nov 2016 06:20 AM PST

I do realize that the cooking temperature at the bottom of a stock pot would also be hotter due to the fact that it gets heated from the bottom (especially if what you are cooking is thick).

submitted by /u/grondboontjiebotter
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How does electron beam lithography on a curved surface work?

Posted: 30 Nov 2016 05:37 AM PST

Is there a difference between electron beam lithography on a planar surface and electron beam lithography on a non-planar? If so how does lithography on a curved surface work? For example should the electron beam be perpendicular to the surface at all times?

submitted by /u/The0010
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Does the Moon have any affect on the earth's temperature?

Posted: 30 Nov 2016 05:21 AM PST

So I was having a discussion with a friend about global warming being man made which he does not believe. He brought up the idea that the Moon (and the Sun) makes the winters colder or hotter. I had never heard of this before and was unable to find anything online about it. Here are the exact quotes:

"think abou thow huge of an impact the moon alone has on our climate. it effects tides. which moves water currents. the supermoon had a huge impact on it."

"the moon affects our weather more than we could ever hope, and its cyclical in nature. so, its cycles will help determine a hotter or colder winter, months, weeks, etc.

same with solar output. we may have a super cold winter this year, because sun is in a minimal output cycle." and "the tides being effected by the moon means that the oceanic streams of hotter and colder water are also manipulated by the moon to some degree

thus, the cyclical pattern of the moon also has an effect on changing the oceanic streams, thus having an effect of bringing in cooler or warmer weather patterns"

submitted by /u/Cackfiend
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Why can't we put Cyanobacteria on planets to make them habitable?

Posted: 30 Nov 2016 04:59 AM PST

So I'm a 14 year old science noob, but my question is, if there was a planet with suitable temperatures, why couldn't we just put Cyanobacteria on there to make it habitable? Because this is what made earth habitable, then why not on other planets? Please explain. I has the stoopids so if I'm missing something tell me!

submitted by /u/SfpDTheWeaboo
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I understand that the losing of an electron by silicon creates an electric field, thus how solar panels work. Do they ever run out of electrons to lose, making the solar panel have a life-span?

Posted: 29 Nov 2016 06:10 PM PST

I read from this source on how solar panels work. What I want you guys to help me understand is, how can solar panels keep running if the silicon is losing electrons?

Or, since the electron is transferred from the N-silicon to the P-silicon, do they alternately transfer to each other, virtually making the solar panel to work 'forever'?

submitted by /u/billabonski
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Electrons can be in two places at once, but how do we know it's the same electron present in Location 1 & 2?

Posted: 29 Nov 2016 08:47 PM PST

So, this: http://bigthink.com/dr-kakus-universe/nobel-prize-awarded-to-two-quantum-physicists Impressive stuff! But I'm struggling with Point A: how do we "tag" electrons and know that it's the same electron present in Location 1 & 2?

submitted by /u/lexthesmex
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Would the seasonal temperature changes/differences be drastically different on smaller/larger planets?

Posted: 29 Nov 2016 07:35 PM PST

Winter on Earth and summer on Earth are quite different temperature-wise. How different would the seasonal temperature changes be on smaller planets like Mars or Mercury? What about on larger planets like Saturn or Uranus?

submitted by /u/kwall24
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Which are some of the diseases that are caused by the replacement of one amino-acid with a different amino-acid?

Posted: 30 Nov 2016 03:24 AM PST

Example: Sickle Cell Anemia, where the Amino Acid of Glutamin Acid is replaced by Valine. This causes a severe change in the nature of hemoglobin HbA causing it to becomes HbS. As a result we have sickle cells and the disease.

Are there any other diseases with the same proteinic-background?

submitted by /u/Ghostzz
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Is entropy responsible for uncertainty in quantum physics?

Posted: 29 Nov 2016 10:36 PM PST

Edit: I understand that statistical uncertainty in a system doesn't mean the same in quantum mechanics, what am I trying to say is that since entropy has to always increase, it causes particles to be unpredictable.

submitted by /u/2explosive
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Do any of the transition metals have negative charges? If so, why?

Posted: 29 Nov 2016 06:42 PM PST

How are wake and drag related in objects moving through water?

Posted: 29 Nov 2016 08:36 PM PST

What is happening to the animal tissue when meat gets overcooked?

Posted: 29 Nov 2016 04:03 PM PST

Why are Europe and Asia considered two continents?

Posted: 29 Nov 2016 07:00 PM PST

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