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SUMMARY:Searching for Life on Mars - Peter Smith\, Lunar and Planetary Lab
 \, University of Arizona
DTSTART:20100311T163000Z
DTEND:20100311T173000Z
UID:TALK22125@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:scott chapman
DESCRIPTION:Since at least the 17th century\, scientists have wondered abo
 ut the\nchances of finding life on Mars.  They were taunted by blurry imag
 es\nseen through primitive telescopes that allowed a wide variety of\ninte
 rpretations concerning the surface characteristics.  By the early\n20th ce
 ntury science fiction writers created fantasy worlds that\nbrought great e
 xcitement to the first missions to Mars in the 1960's.\nBut space missions
  reveal a dry\, cold barren world albeit with a wet\nand volcanically acti
 ve past so that any lifeforms could only have\nthrived in the early years 
 of Mars' history\, that is billions of\nyears ago. Any existing life on Ma
 rs is scarce and microbial in size\nlimited to those locations that allow 
 liquid water to be periodically\nstable.  Scientists are encouraged in the
 ir search by the diversity\nof hardy communities populating the most extre
 me environments on\nEarth.  Despite the dead-planet model a new series of 
 missions is\nfinding habitable zones that may yet contain clues to Martian
  life. \nThe Phoenix mission is one such attempt to find habitable\nenviro
 nments associated with the permafrost in the northern polar\nregion.
LOCATION:Sackler Lecture Theatre\, IoA (tea at 4:00 pm)
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