I'd be very grateful if someone could tell me, assuming the geezers in the article are right, where did all the water come from and where did it go?

You just wanted to use 'viz;' in an article, didn't you?

Paris because she, well, just because, ok?

The water presumably came from the combustion of hydrogen in an oxygenated environment. As for where it has gone, that is what the NASA types are trying to figure out, current theories mainly focus on the water either having reacted with various minerals and being 'locked' into the rock or vast underground ice reserves (which would probably be centered around the poles).

Alternative theory to humour creationists: Sky fairy giveth and sky fairy taketh away.

Penguin - 'cause they are the secret rulers of the martian ice.

Well, I didn't like to do any Viz jokes...

Given earth and water temps are what we know, Martian atmosphere is thinner and the planet is further from the sun, so temps are lower so it doesn't actually have to be at the poles though it will most likely be in the ice form.

It will be underground as the planets has gravity and that will draw it in, any surface water will either have evaporated or become gas through sublimation (skips the liquid phase) over the years and the rotation to and away and towards the sun.

Still good news for us all wanting to get off this rock.

There is plenty of water out in space, think about comets - mostly water ice.

In this case water probably formed directly from combination of O and H ions in space rather than any 'burning' of H2

Jolyon

Venus is currently Hydrogen poor, but the remainder is enriched in heavy Hydrogen (deuterium), as that takes longer to escape.

Has the same study been done on Mars?

That would distinguish between escape and lockdown (in buried ice).

Why don't they send a nuclear bomb to Mars and use a spectrometergraphthing to see how much H2O shows up when it explodes?

Unless they're *still* all busy doing shockingly amateur alien autopsies, NASA will be looking at the 'buildings', but keeping everything under wraps.

Of course, to make a really good conspiracy, they'll have to involve hundreds or thousands of people, somehow knowing in advance that not *one* of them will spill the beans even though what they know would make an amazing story.

Really, it's cunning on NASA's part.

Rather than carefully checking out all their images and witholding any that had evidence of martian construction, they carefully let a few sneak out so they could identify the people who are resistant to all the mind-control drugs they sneak into our water supply.

However, it could be that they're even smarter than that, actually holding back all the *real* martian-construction pictures, and just releasing a few they've doctored with features at 'Bigfoot resolution' (just blurry enough to look like there might be something there). Of course, when people spot the features, they can do a legitimate higher-resolution image later and show that there was really nothing there all along, and it was just an artifact in the original image.

The really sneaky thing is that by releasing those few interesting pictures, it makes people think that all the images they release with nothing on are both boring and legitimate, when in fact some are doctored to cover up the *real* buildings.

Mars also has a significantly lower mass and gravity, which also explains why it is unable to cling on to an atmosphere.

Paris, because she's still moist.

Paris Hilton because they haven't found intelligent life there, either.

when you said, "Paris because she, well, just because, ok?" what

you really meant was "paris, because it's the closest thing we have to the lovely Sarah."

@AC re the lovely Sarah (not that I disagree) but you bloody creep

Paris.

and to quote the Moderatrix

Because the boat.

Uh, you seem to be COMPLETELY forgetting the Martian cities of Helium and Zodanga.

Next you'll be telling me that when I look at the clouds and see a horsie and a piggy that I'm not actually seeing horsies and piggies up there.

Sheesh!

Calm down, Mr. Pimpare. We believe you. In fact, I believe there are two fine reporters in that room over there. You can tell 'em everything that you've said here, and they'll make sure the right people hear the right words.

They'll be the ones in the sharp-looking black suits. Don't mind their habit of wearing sunglasses indoors--they've been spending their time indoors for quite a bit.

...when you actually find Martians. I'll even be interested if it's just simple alien bacterium. (Just be careful about bringing it back or you'll destroy the Earth!)

I'm pretty sure there were no civilizations, or "intelligent" life forms evolved before the end-I sure hope so anyways. But what about flora? any sort of animal or vertibrate life? Did things run and hunt and live and die on Mars that were gone before vertebrate life crawled from the seas here on Earth? What lived in those martian seas? Were they radically different, alien life forms, or were they easily recognizeable for what they were? Would evolution itself work the same as it did here or perhaps even that "universal truth" worked differently?

Sometimes, it's what is lost that has more impact than what was found, eh?

"....ETs EXISTS we can prove it! Go to google video!.."

well, if it's on google video, that's proof enough for me!

Where did the watter come from?

Remember when god made it rain for 40 days and nights and only Noah and his family survived? Well, when the waters receded god had to put it some ware. He put it on Mars. That is why they call it the NOACHIAN period.

The reason it is missing is because he is gathering it up to flood the earth because of the the filthy lying sinning atheist sinners posting comments on el reg.

"WRITTEN TESTIFY UNDER OATH!"

Well shit, if they written testify under oath, we're really... wait, what?

"you are all on DENIAL."

I'm not, but if you can tell me where to get it, I'll try anything once.

So the lesson we must learn from Mr. Pimpare is that we're all stupid and his form of grammar is superior to ours. It's not quite alien (only amanfrommars has mastered an extraterrestrial tongue), but it's damned close. The flame because that's what we use to burn heretics who dare to criticize the Holy Truth of NASA.

>>"Please go to google video and search "disclosure project" and watch all the videos."

Don't listen to Sylvain!

That's just what NASA *want* you to do, so they can hunt you down.

this, children, is what happens when amanfrommars and Webster Phreaky make love

>>"this, children, is what happens when amanfrommars and Webster Phreaky make love"

What - *two* piles of Kleenex, each in front of their own full-length mirror?