> data from three of Curiosity's drill sites had siderite, an iron carbonate material, within sulfate-rich layers...
The article makes this sound related to atmospheric CO2, so not 'carbon' as I had initially hoped from the headline -- carbon like coal, ie, from life.
But atmospheric CO2 and a water cycle may match Earth-like conditions for life?
I did not see a date in the article, ie, how many million years ago this carbon layer was formed.
The term "carbonate" always, AFAIK, refers specifically to minerals containing the carbonate ion, CO3 with 2- charge. It's nothing particularly to do with coal or similar carbon sources. In this case, iron carbonate.
iron, CO², sulfur, water, and related compounds, sounds like there was water with a low ph, which would leach out all sorts of elements from the rocks and "soil" of mars
the implication bieng that there was a varity of "soups" possibly condusive for life to occur, or take hold in.
and even if not, there are now confirmed surface deposits of elements snd minerals usefull for any potential humans setting up shop on mars.....think, rocket fuel and the elements needed for growing food in greenhouses
* still need to find a big pile of nitrogen compounds before getting excited*
rocket
I believe that you are using ASCII to approximate the chemical formula, which really does depend on subscripts to be accurate. I'm simply being facetious in the GP, but superscript is really beyond inaccurate, IMHO. Superscript means other things entirely. Don't you agree that's more confusing than collapsing it into ASCII?
The Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry System (SMILES) is a specification in the form of a line notation for describing the structure of chemical species using short ASCII strings. SMILES strings can be imported by most molecule editors for conversion back into two-dimensional drawings or three-dimensional models of the molecules.
Double, triple, and quadruple bonds are represented by the symbols =, #, and $ respectively as illustrated by the SMILES O=C=O (carbon dioxide...)
my non scientific take is life once existed on mars. not the kinda life - we think as similar here on earth but with it's own unique chemical composition - but however there was a planet wide extinction event.
> data from three of Curiosity's drill sites had siderite, an iron carbonate material, within sulfate-rich layers...
The article makes this sound related to atmospheric CO2, so not 'carbon' as I had initially hoped from the headline -- carbon like coal, ie, from life.
But atmospheric CO2 and a water cycle may match Earth-like conditions for life?
I did not see a date in the article, ie, how many million years ago this carbon layer was formed.
The term "carbonate" always, AFAIK, refers specifically to minerals containing the carbonate ion, CO3 with 2- charge. It's nothing particularly to do with coal or similar carbon sources. In this case, iron carbonate.
iron, CO², sulfur, water, and related compounds, sounds like there was water with a low ph, which would leach out all sorts of elements from the rocks and "soil" of mars the implication bieng that there was a varity of "soups" possibly condusive for life to occur, or take hold in. and even if not, there are now confirmed surface deposits of elements snd minerals usefull for any potential humans setting up shop on mars.....think, rocket fuel and the elements needed for growing food in greenhouses * still need to find a big pile of nitrogen compounds before getting excited* rocket
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O2 is the oxygen gas molecule. Two oxygen atoms stuck together. CO2 is carbon dioxide, a molecule with one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms.
I believe that you are using ASCII to approximate the chemical formula, which really does depend on subscripts to be accurate. I'm simply being facetious in the GP, but superscript is really beyond inaccurate, IMHO. Superscript means other things entirely. Don't you agree that's more confusing than collapsing it into ASCII?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_formula
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_Molecular_Input_Lin...
The Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry System (SMILES) is a specification in the form of a line notation for describing the structure of chemical species using short ASCII strings. SMILES strings can be imported by most molecule editors for conversion back into two-dimensional drawings or three-dimensional models of the molecules.
Double, triple, and quadruple bonds are represented by the symbols =, #, and $ respectively as illustrated by the SMILES O=C=O (carbon dioxide...)
my non scientific take is life once existed on mars. not the kinda life - we think as similar here on earth but with it's own unique chemical composition - but however there was a planet wide extinction event.