The Dude wrote:the first sentence says the rocks themselves are rare, i understand the second part, though

Some researchers, for example, claimed to have found fossil evidence of ancient Martian life in a meteorite called ALH84001, which was discovered in Antarctica in 1984. (Most scientists regard the claim as unconvincing.)

The Dude wrote:it says rare in your dang article bro

Monkeyboy wrote:

The Dude wrote:it says rare in your dang article bro

he's talking about pristine rocks that people will want for serious scientific purposes. It's rare to find a sample that hasn't been covered in mud for thousands of years. Martian rocks are not rare. This is why I don't believe finding life on Mars doesn't mean "There is life everywhere," which is what some people would say. We are next door neighbors. Some of our shit gets into their yard. And it only takes once, if the rock is covered in bacteria or some kind of spore.

Woody wrote:don't you guys think in geologic time scales? wtf

Houshphandzadeh wrote:for some reason I was sure that was going to be about drinking your own pee

The Dude wrote:i think most people think it's pretty cool, that's all

The hybrid synthetic and biological system works, but not quite as well as Yang would like. For example, he wants to find a synthetic catalyst that can do the required chemistry, rather than relying on bacteria.

"Bacteria live and die," he said. "That's a problem."