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Monday, April 6, 2009

Robert Ballard

Robert Ballard: Exploring the ocean’s hidden worlds

This is a condensed version of the talk I saw him give a few weeks ago (see post).  He leaves out a few things here, most notably the life on Mars segment and an extension of the Black Sea segment.

The life on Mars segment is an extension of the part about chemosynthesis (photosynthesis in the dark).  He says that the bacteria that utilizes chemosynthesis is the most probable origin of life on this planet; he also says that if there’s water, this bacteria will be there.  NASA has already discovered traces of water on Mars.  Ballard believes that if they just drill down, they will find life—in the form of this bacteria—on Mars.

In the extension of the Black Sea segment, he adds that if the wood of a sunken ship and honey seals are perfectly preserved, so will human bodies. Imagine finding a perfectly preserved corpse—from the time of Caesar, or even before.

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