Atacama in the news

[troybob]

http://news.discovery.com/space/viki...xperiment.html

Viking Found Organics on Mars, Experiment Confirms

Using Mars-like soil taken from Atacama Desert, a study confirms Mars has organics, and Viking found them.

[signa]

I thought it was in Chile?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atacama_Desert

[troybob]

Um. It is in Chile. I don't get it.

Scientists repeated a key Viking experiment using perchlorate-enhanced soil from Chile's Atacama Desert, which is considered one of the driest and most Mars-like places on Earth, and found telltale fingerprints of combusted organics -- the same chemicals Viking scientists dismissed as contaminants from Earth.

[Amaranthuse]

I always thought it was in Argentina.... Sigh...

[Vreki]

Um. It is in Chile. I don't get it.

Scientists repeated a key Viking experiment using perchlorate-enhanced soil from Chile's Atacama Desert, which is considered one of the driest and most Mars-like places on Earth, and found telltale fingerprints of combusted organics -- the same chemicals Viking scientists dismissed as contaminants from Earth.

As far as I understand, the argument is that similar dust on Earth shows similar traces of organics without any external contamination. So the traces in the Mars dust may have been true traces of organics.

I think it sounds a bit far-fetched, unless you have a pet theory desperately in need of support.

[jimykx]

hmmm. intresting

[troybob]

As far as I understand, the argument is that similar dust on Earth shows similar traces of organics without any external contamination. So the traces in the Mars dust may have been true traces of organics.

I think it sounds a bit far-fetched, unless you have a pet theory desperately in need of support.

I get it - I just didn't know if he thought that i thought that atacama was a desert on mars.