Martian saltwater announcement

Today NASA announced that there once was large bodies of saltwater on Mars. They say that they have studied what appears to be an ancient shoreline where a salty sea crashed its waves sometime in the history of the red planet.

With the traces of a vast sea of salt (as opposed to a standing body of freshwater) and the warmer climates that Mars might have enjoy all those years ago, my curious nature begs me to ask the question, could there have been oceanic life on Mars?

This opens another theory. There once was ancient life in Earth's oceans. These creatures became extinct a long time ago, but not before some perished and were embeded in the bedrock. We find these creatures today in the form of fossils. If Mars had an environment capable of evolving and sustaining life, then wouldn't there be fossils waiting to be found?

Thoughts?

That is exciting indeed!
The conditions sound right for what we might expect for life- you never know what we might dig up on that planet. I think the chances are good that we will eventually find something there even if microbial is size. There have been quite a few failures concerning Mars and this is a big step forward.

I would love to simply be driving home one day and hear on the radio that one of the rovers found a large skeleton in the soil. I mean, we have had a lot of progress in terms of exploring the vast expanses outside of our own world, but there has never been a real break. This would be a pretty big jump.

On the other hand, now that I think about it, I pretty much believe in life outside of Earth. All the theories around the topic over time have desensitised me to the idea of discovering alien life. Yes it would be a huge acheivment for man, but we've fantasised about it for so long that the real thing cannot possibly live up to the expectations of the vast wisdom, knowledge, and technological advancements we expect from such a discovery. If tomorrow NASA shows images of a fish-like fossil, I will probably ponder the idea for a few minutes, then change the station to find some music.

That is a good point we know damned well the universe is huge and there is going to be life out there- if we ever find it is another question....
I think if they found a human skeliton or a wreaked space ship on mars that would make a few billion soil there drawres of at least glue there head to the TV for several days

What I meant by being not surprised about the eventual discovery of alien life is that in a Universe as big as ours, over a period of 15 billion years or so, there must have been and will be in the future, the development of living creatures.

What I would find fascinating is the discovery of life in our very own solar system, relatively close to our evolutionary state (not necessarily intelligent, but somewhere between microbial and god-like) and either still living or recent enough to leave behind recognizable fossils.

I'd say the best chance is on Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. Read up on it, you'll be surprised how good the condition are for life there.

Very cool indeed. Alien life is cool even if its just dead bacteria. If Mars had life, that ice ball Europa might have life too.

One of the most interesting theories ive looked at is the one regarding human evolution, what if humans or a humanoid species - of reptilian origin evolved tens of millions of years ago and left the earth in ships to clonaise the galaxy, what if they one day returned home and genetically engineered primates to resemble them. Would these creatures be thought of as gods that created us in their image!

As a hindu ive studied deep into my cultures mythology, and there is an extremely strong reference to an anceint race called the "NAGA". For those of you who are un fimiliar with this name, simply put - the Naga according to ancient variuos asian cultures where a reptilian or serpent like race with the ability to change into human form (perhaps this could be some very advanced form of camoflage in the same way that a cameleon can change its colour pehaps the Naga could change their skin colour texture and shape of their bodies to resemble humans!) Either way in Hindu myths they are greatly revered and said to possess great knowledge of the universe

Celts have a similar idea except except shaman took on animal forms. [shape shifters]
Salt water? How did they determine that water exists on Mars? Didn't see the article.

Rajpal, I've heard of many ancient cultures referencing to just such accounts of either extra terrestrial or evolved reptilian humanoid shape shifting species.

And that theme when coupled with ancient and modern symbol use, along with notions of royal bloodlines as having been given divine right to rule by these "gods", leads into a fascinating alternate history.

Some go so far as to link it to modern day conspiracy theory, but at that point, the mammalian humanoids (us) would be more a form of cattle to them.

Whatever the case, ancient history is apparently littered with such referrences and so probably should recieve more attention and looking into.

I dont know why, but my instincts tell me that theres a huge secret about our past hidden behind the vail of prehistory that will reveal fanstastic revelations about our past and where we came from. As for the Naga, well i have actually written a rather long (13 page) hyperthetical story regarding where these creatures may have come from. Just an idea thats all!

In a nutshell - Mammals evolved from Reptiles, the group of reptiles that mammals evolved from were called the Therapsids. These animals were very diversed but most groups became extinct possibly due to the evolution of the advanced Thectodonts (the ancestors of dinosours).

The survivors belonged to a group called the cynodonts that lived preety much at the bottom of the food chain and also became extinct in the jurrasic, but they managed to give way to mammals. These are considered to be the ancestors of all mammals.

However what if another group of the reptilian ancestors of mammals managed to survive and evolve into humanoid form?

THIS IS A RATHER LONG REPLY SO I MIGHT AS WELL POST MY STORY SO PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED CAN READ IT - AND BETTER UNDERTSAND WHERE IM COMING FROM!!

REMEMBER THIS IS ONLY A STORY - IVE ADDED MY OWN IDEAS TO MAKE IT SOUND A LITTLE SCI-FI - HAVE A READ AND THEN TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK - I KNOW IM GONNA GET LAUGHED AT FOR THIS - LOL

Story – concept ONLY
By Rajpal Saberwal

Naga – The Naga are an ancient race that evolved on earth millions of years ago. They evolved around 240 million years ago. Their ancestors were a group of reptiles called the pelycosaurs (sail back lizards) who belonged to a group of reptiles known as the Synapsids ('With arch'). These pelycosaurs first appeared around 290 million years ago, the one key defining feature that set them apart from other reptiles is that they possessed a sail on their backs.
This feature enabled them to warm up after a cold night much faster than other reptiles giving them a significant advantage, being active much earlier than their competitors and prey meant that the pelycosaurs became the dominant animals on land. The most significant among them was the fierce carnivorous pelycosaur 'Dimetrodon'.
The sail enabled pelycosaurs to remain far more active than other reptiles the following ways:

• The sail firstly enabled them to warm up much quicker
• During the heat of the day they could point their bodies towards the sun and radiate excess heat away thus enabling a certain degree of thermo regulation.
• At night the blood vessels in the sail could be contracted to minimise heat loss.

In this manner the pelycosaurs evolved an advantageous active life style which was leading more and more towards an endothermic physiology. Eventually, the pelycosaurs were replaced by their own descendants. These were known as the therapsids or 'mammal like reptiles'. They included large carnivores and herbivores up to 4 meters in length.
These creatures were warm blooded and used their bulky bodies to maintain a constant body temperature. Contrary to popular theories it is highly unlikely that these animals had fur as the climate would have been too hot and dry for such insulation. Instead they probably had thick hairless hides not unlike those of rhinos.
Around 250 million years ago the greatest mass extension of all time the 'Permian extinction' saw most of the Synapsids disappear along side most other land animals; the survivors eventually faced new competition.
Prior to the 'Permian extinction' a new group of diapsid reptiles evolved. What set these reptiles apart from others is that their teeth were implanted in sockets. They were known as thectodonts.
These creatures survived the 'Permian extinction' and around 245 million years ago began to diversify. It is believed that they started out as semi aquatic reptiles; the majority of these are believed to have evolved into modern day crocodiles. However, somewhere along the line one group of these left the water and evolved a bipedal method of locomotion.
This was unique as it had never been done before in any other group of reptiles. It gave them a huge advantage over the therapsids as it meant that they had a higher plane of view over their competitors and could use their fore limbs to grasp and manipulate their prey.

However not all of the therapsids were large and bulky, some were agile and fierce carnivores. These were known as the brithopopids.
The brithopopids belonged to a group of therapsids known as the
Dinocephalians that were abundant in the late Permian.

However, these fierce carnivores didn't survive beyond the Permian and left no descendants – None except one species known as 'Titanophoneus'.
Titanophoneus had a large elongated skull whose interlocking teeth were used to grab, kill and dismember large animal prey. Brithopopids bore a superficial resemblance to earlier predatory Synapsids such as Dimetrodon. It lived about 255 million years ago and was the only member of the brithopopids to survive the Permian extinction. Its descendants competed with the ancestors of dinosaurs. It is now known that they evolved in a similar way to the ancestors of dinosaurs in order to compete with them more effectively.

This evolutionary journey began soon after the Permian extinction 250 million years ago. Titanophoneus started off as a quadruped, its limbs were not kept underneath its body like its competitors and sprawled out slightly.
The first step in its evolution was to evolve limbs that were tucked beneath its body and thus didn't sprawl out. This enabled Titanophoneus to run with agility.
With the arrival of the thectodonts around 240 millions years ago, Titanophoneus began to evolve a more bipedal form of locomotion. The early thectodonts included animals like Euparkaria and later Ornithosuchus; these evolved a bipedal locomotion and led to dinosaurs.
By around 230 million years ago the descendant s of Titanophoneus had become fully bipedal and superficially resembled primitive dinosaurs. They successfully competed with dinosaurs when their relatives were dying out.
Around 225 million years ago the descendants of Titanophoneus took a revolutionary new step in their evolution. By now more and more dinosaurs species were evolving and competition was stiff.
In order to compete with the dinosaurs the descendants of Titanophoneus began to evolve bigger brains and complex social behaviour similar to that shown by primates. By now, they were no longer purely carnivorous but omnivorous. This was an evolutionary step taken to enable them to utilise other food sources since meat although a very important part of their diets had more competition behind it.
The advanced Titanophosaurids were now evolving on a line of evolution similar to humans their managed to evolve a brain size the same as modern humans within 20 million years. By 205 million years ago Titanophosaurids had reached a level of intelligence equal to modern humans!

They now had a complex social society and began developing civilisations. They competed with an ever increasing number of dinosaur species. Physically the Titanophosaurids now superficially resembled humans. However they only evolved hair on their heads, the rest of the body consisted of smooth skin; there were also very faint impressions of scales in parts of the body. The skin was a light brown colour, with green eyes. Physically they were far more robust, agile, stronger, had much quicker reflexes, were more naturally muscular, and were taller than modern humans.
Their average life span was around 120 years and some were known to live as long as 140 years! They averaged around 2 meters in height going up to 7 feet! All their senses were extremely sharp and they could see and hear objects that were far away as well as see well in the dark!
One major advantage they had was an extremely strong immune system and ability to regenerate from great injuries even regenerating limbs in the process. But, they needed all this, theirs was a harsh world, they had much more numerous and fiercer competition than our ancestors in the form of dinosaurs!
Their tough evolution (competing with dinosaurs) influenced them even after they had developed the use of fire and agriculture leading to a sophisticated civilisation. This led to a society that led ritualistic hunts to prove the prowess of individuals and to initiate them into man hood! Despite this fierce nature the Titanophosaurid people were also very gentle and showed great interest in the welfare of other species as well. The Titanophosaurid people were powerful hunters who used their weapons and technology to defend themselves, theirs was however a very close society and unlike us they didn't wage war on each other.
The civilisation evolved tens of thousands of years beyond our current cycle and they advanced greatly in technology and science, they possessed great knowledge of the universe.
However at this time their relatives the 'Cynodonts' (the ancestors of mammals) were among the few therapsids left. These were to compete with dinosaurs until the mid Jurassic where they would dye out; their descendants would remain as small rodents like animals living at the bottom of the food chain until the demise of the dinosaurs at the end of the cretaceous.
The Titanophosaurid began colonising other planets in the galaxy and soon left earth. During this process they literally took their entire civilisation with them leaving very little evidence of their existence. They tera formed many planets to resemble earth and took many species from earth and placed them on other planets and monitored their evolution over millions of years.
The Titanophosaurid people visited earth from time to time and monitored evolution on earth.

Soon after the demise of the dinosaurs, around 40 million years ago the Titanophosaurid people who now called themselves the 'Naga' (serpent people) returned to earth. They were now truly a universal civilisation.

During their evolution, the Naga encountered another race. The Naga at first couldn't comprehend these strange beings as they at first were very discreet in their interaction with the Naga. At first the Naga encountered strange occurrences in space, these included unusual electrical storms and other incidents such as mother ships disappearing and then reappearing thousands of light years away!
In one incident the Naga came to planet with extremely high levels of storm activity in the atmosphere. The storms were so grand and spectacular that huge lightning bolts could be seen moving across the planets atmosphere. The entire sight seemed almost un-natural!
Suddenly, there was a surge of electrical activity in the atmosphere below the ship and a huge lightning bolt reached out approximately 300 thousand miles and struck the ship!
All of a sudden the ship was transported 130 thousand light years away on the other side of the galaxy. Such incidents only made the Naga more inquisitive.

The Naga eventually began to make contact with these strange entities. At first they took on the form of the Naga! However later they showed the Naga their true form, this was a kind of formless energy. They had simply taken on the form of the Naga in order to communicate with them more effectively! The strangers called themselves the 'Ancients' and professed their fondness for communicating and interacting with other more primitive species!
The Naga then began to be able to comprehend the immense power of these 'Ancients'.

The Naga never learned were these beings came from or how they evolved! But being inquisitive they hypothesised several theories regarding the Ancients, these included:

• The ancients were being that had evolved from biological organisms and reached an extremely advanced level of evolution where they gave up their physical bodies and became pure energy.
• The ancients evolved in another universe perhaps, predating that of ours.
• The ancients existed as primeval entities since before the big bang and have remained the same since, taking on any form they please.
Either way the Naga created an alliance with the Ancients which developed over many millions of years.

The Naga now took great interest in a group of placental mammals within which they saw great potential – primates.
They began manipulating the d.n.a of an early primate group known as the 'Adapids' these were lemurs like primates that lived across the old world and North America.
The Naga genetically experimented on primates to see how they would evolve; they used their technology to speed up the process and also combined their d.n.a with them to see the reaction. By 30 million years ago primates had diversified into various groups including monkeys, these were further experimented on.

By 25 million years ago the Naga had created a race that resembled them. This race was divided into groups where each group was created on a different colony planet. The proto humans that were created on earth where given the genetic superiority similar to that of the Naga.
One other group of the proto humans created on another colony planet at the same time was also given a genetic superiority similar to that of the Naga. To see how they would cope, other groups however were only given basic knowledge.

For the ones on earth, the Naga created their civilisation and taught them much of their knowledge. For the other group also possessing Naga genetic superiority, the same level of nurturing was given. After this the Naga left these two groups aside and the proto humans there were left to evolve on their own for a few million years. But the Naga had made mistake by teaching the ones on earth much knowledge to begin with. The Proto humans on earth evolved technologically into a fierce and destructive race known as the 'Asuras' and soon challenged the Naga.

They spread and colonised many of the planets originally tera formed by the Naga but left alone to evolve and subjugated all life there.


On the contrary the other group of proto humans that inherited the same boon from the Naga evolved technologically into an equally fierce but constructive race. These came to be known as the 'Yaksha', a noble and just race who modelled their civilisation upon that of the Naga!

The two civilisations at first evolved in isolation from one another, but when they came into contact with one another. The apposing natures of both races and the desire of both to spread their influence and jurisdiction led to war.

No matter how many of the Asuras fleets the Yaksha destroyed in war, their numbers simply replenished soon after as they too possessed great regeneration capabilities inherited from the Naga. These wars went on for thousand of years with neither side backing down. The Yaksha knew that the Ancients would not interfere with the evolution and affairs of other species as they followed strict rules of non interference, Also many of the Naga had left the galaxy all together in search of new planets to colonise so they wouldn't destroy the Asuras either.

But the Naga were willing to lend a hand in establishing a treaty. The Yaksha realised that they couldn't possibly be everywhere to protect every planet, so they used their power to enforce this treaty with the Asuras. Seeing that the Yaksha couldn't be defeated, the Asuras agreed to negotiate a treaty with the Yaksha.
Within this treaty the Yaksha indicated that earth would be placed among a selection of 'Protected planets', in addition, the Yaksha indicated that the Asuras would leave the region of the galaxy where the earth solar system is located.
In this manner, the two races, under the guidance of the Naga (Their creators) established the treaty.
The Asuras agreed and left this region of space, and also left the selected planets.
The Yaksha now colonised earth in the place of the Asuras and established a blissful golden age! Life on earth could now continue peacefully!

Learning from their mistakes the Naga ensured that any humans species created by them wasn't given their genetic superiority and that they were only taught the basic knowledge required for civilisation, so that such a terrible race wouldn't be created again. This truly was a Pandora's Box better left closed!

With earth now being ruled by the Yaksha, the Naga created a new race of humans on earth but didn't give them their genetic superiority; they also provided them with only basic knowledge (agriculture).
The Yaksha having great admiration and respect for the Naga cared protected and guided the new humans!

The Yaksha however, were also an intergalactic civilisation that explored many galaxies far and wide. As time went by the Yaksha also diversified into separate groups across the universe, they encountered many species one of which a species known as the 'Aswastas'. This species was not a complex organism like humans but a type of virus. A virus however is a simple organism that simply multiplies, in order to be intelligent you have to have lots of cells working together to perform complex tasks. One brain cell on its own cannot accomplish anything; it has to connect with billions of others to achieve intelligence. Hence, the Aswastas was a virus capable of doing just that!

The individual viruses were capable of connecting with others and forming complex connections almost like a brain. This enabled them to pass information between each other and hence create a kind of neural network. This evolution enabled the Aswastas to develop a kind of intelligence and evolve into virus based entities! The Yaksha that encountered them gradually over time began to get infected.

The Yaksha possessed a genetic immunity only similar to that of the Naga and not exactly like them, so over thousands of years of exposure to the Aswastas, some of the Yaksha began to mutate.

The Naga left the earth and then frequently visited; the Yaksha also kept the Naga informed regarding the state of the new humans.
Since the Naga were masters of all knowledge they manipulated the d.n.a of their subjects to show no sign of alteration. The reason for this was that in the future when the humans would reach a level of civilisation where they could understand genetics, they could not see the alteration to their d.n.a and know about their genetic manipulation.
Also, in their early experiments on primates, the Naga had created ape like creatures that had failed to evolve into humans, these evolved over millions of years into species like 'Australopithecus', the Naga used such fossil evidence to confuse humans into thinking that they were their ancestors and that they had not been created by the Naga!

The d.n.a of humans was also engineered to resemble these dead end primates. Humans were actually created 20 million years earlier!
But many millions of years of civilisations developing and then destroying themselves and starting all over again occurred.

So therefore the work of the Naga always went into disrepair, the humans lacked the wisdom of the Naga people and after developing civilisation to a level about 200 to 400 years ahead of us now, they destroyed themselves through war.
Such cycles went on for many millions of years until the end of the ice age, when civilisations previously advanced were destroyed by global floods!
The survivors had to start all over again. This made it easy for the Naga to make creatures like Homo erectus look like our ancestors.
The evolution of humans could be made to look as though they had only evolved in the past few million years!

In this way the Naga disclosed the secret of human evolution.

The language of the Naga was known as 'NAGA KRIYA' it was from this that the ancient and extremely advanced language of 'SANSKRIT' evolved and from this later other human languages evolved.