is this discussion serious? science content: sublimation is caused when a substance's vapor pressure does not equal ambient pressure at a given temperature. because of this, particles evaporate from the solid to try and equalize pressure. check the ice cubes in your freezer--they're shrinking, but it's not because someone sneaks in and licks them during the wee hours of the night.

adamdouglasking

and we thought the alien in the window was fake...

Coolio911911

What if it's alien semen?!

halfshafter

@Pope John Peeps II: @Seni:

ice dosent do so...evian if you put an ic cube in a 400+ degree oven..the pice would first got to water then boil away

as well as col air is gry air..and its dyhydrashion prosses..

as well as in since class thair wasent a single thing about

water ice being able to do what is desrived..

if thair was moist soil in the trech where the ice had sat then it would be more beliveable...

as well as till moisture is actuly found by the probe..its.just dry ice..witch is entirely plasable given the primary atmosphire is Co2

angelwolf71885

@angelwolf71885:
From the Article: "June 19, 2008 -- Dice-size crumbs of bright material have vanished from inside a trench where they were photographed by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander four days ago, convincing scientists that the material was frozen water that vaporized after digging exposed it."

From Wiki: "Snow and other water ices also sublime, although more slowly, at below-freezing temperatures. This phenomenon, used in freeze drying, allows wet cloth to be hung outdoors in freezing weather and retrieved later in a dry state (although strong sunshine is required to drive the process)."

Seni

Yippee - the polar bears are saved!

Um, they might need help migrating, however.

Monty

@angelwolf71885: Water-ice can't SUBLIMATE?! Uh. I think you might want to check yourself on that fact. It entirely can sublimate.

Also, what's the deal with your spelling of words?

Pope John Peeps II

@schwnj:

you forgit the insalateing propertys of soil..and that its in the artic circle of mars...

lets not forgit the alaskin permafrost...

angelwolf71885

@schwnj: water ice CAN'T sublimate

only a few compounds can like ammonia and Co2

given the distince from the sun and the presints of an atmoshpire..protecting it from direct soler exposher

then the water ice would become liquid...

evian at the 200+ temps on mars..we would still see liquid before evaparshion..

angelwolf71885

Dear NASA: Please leave martian ice on Mars. Please DON'T bring it back here. Thank you.

homerjay

I was hoping to see Ice Cube, but in this election year I guess van winkle is a more popular and PC figure.

kavex

@bandit, et al.: It might be something else, but the temps on Mars fluctuate between about -110F and -40F daily. Since this stuff was right beneath the surface, wouldn't it have to be something that could stay frozen at -40 over time? I think dry ice sublimates around -110F or something like that--I find it hard to believe that something that rapidly sublimates at -110 could just be sitting around under the surface.

schwnj

@Vonn64: what if its cheese

enchantedgoose

Margarita Time!

MagnoliaBoy

@bandit: What if it's cancer.

Vonn64

@angelwolf71885: RTFA--it's water ice.

schwnj

Can't other stuff sublimate? What if it's ammonia or something?

bandit

Ummm...sublimation on Mars? Pretty sure that happens all the time there. I agree with the earlier post that the evaporation of dry ice (CO2) is more likely what we are seeing. Cool photo, but yawn...

paulnptld

I foresee the next big luxury item to be imported martian water. Celebrities will pay top dollar for it, trading in their expensive leer jets and lamborginis for a taste.

bobide

so we just found dry ice on mars...

how dose that help us agian?

untill we find water ice..its just woopty fuckin doo

its not a big supprise ither given that mars atmosphire os made up of primarly Co2

angelwolf71885

"The chan-ces of e-ny-thing coming from Mars... are a million to one", he said. Weeeeeeoooooooooowwwwwwww....

askii

Holy crap, my childhood fears of aliens watching me sleep just got all too real.

GiantEnemyCrab

ROFL@Vanilla Ice on the main page pic!

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Adam420

Great.. when are we going there now?

TehCheetSpot

cool. now lets spend 45 million dollars to send some guy up there to get it and have it just evaporate on the way back to earth

enchantedgoose

@angelwolf71885:

Jeez... Dude, the atmospheric pressure on Mars is less than 5% of that at sea level on Earth. Because of such LOW PRESSURE, water will SUBLIMATE from solid to gaseous form at ALMOST ANY TEMPERATURE.

Now maybee yoo wil chek ur spealingz to see if yoo wuz rite or nawt.

...lol.

God I hope someone with money and clout starts reading the Mars epic by Kim Stanley Robinson and gets the brilliant idea of doing something with it.

*crosses fingers and hopes that childhood dreams of terraforming Mars come true*

gizmodo_is_my_crack

Great... now the future Mars astronauts can make snowmen and taunt each other about cold shrinkage.

alinear

I still need more proof

UniComp

Stop. Hesitate and listen.
Houston's psyched with a successful mission.

OMG!!! Ponies!!!

Mars ice FTW!!!!!

Evangelion

Vanilla Ice looks like the american flag... But where are the stars, you ask?

They twinkle in his eyes. His eyes.

ASCurtis

@angelwolf71885: LOL. I don't think I can, in good conscience, take you seriously until you start spell-checking. No insult intended.

All solids sublimate. Unfortunately, I don't think Vanilla Ice sublimates...

adamdouglasking

You don't KNOW someone isn't licking the world's ice cubes during the nights. There could be elves.

It's just a theory, like evolution, until you provide me proof that people aren't secretly licking my ice cubes.

im.thatoneguy

Congrats, NASA, for wasting gobs of taxpayer dollars on more useless "research". Why don't you tools find real work in the private sector? Oh, nobody will hire your taxpayer-sanctioned asses because you don't actually contribute to any sort of progress in the world? Sorry, I forgot.

bobdobbs

Hey! If the moon was made of spare ribs, would you eat it? I know I would

[www.funnyordie.com]

im_back

@adamdouglasking:

if the ice in the freezer is shrinking..then how come frozen solid rods like the yellowknife ice road..aglest over the lakes that doo freez solid..

how come thay dont chance thickniess over the corce of the sesion?..witch is -40F and C bc at about that tem both scales are equial..

angelwolf71885

Alright! Stop, collaborate, and listen.

scarbrtj

@MagnoliaBoy: hell yes nothing would be better than a margarita made with martian ice!

SirNirian

@angelwolf71885: hahahaha I can't believe people think you are being serious! oh man, nicely done.

atuck

I can Haz Angelwulf zubliemated?

GiltProto

Hey Giz! You guys are too funny :) Ice, ice, Baby!

apeguero

Clearly Vanilla Ice sublimated.

Sora57

So that's where Vanilla went!

I knew he couldn't hide from us much longer! Bowie and Queen are still pissed!

Tomahawk214

...baby.
I love the throbbing ice pic too...
ahahahahaha. I'm so clever with my double entendre.

tehdahl

@Hiphopopotamus:
@bobdobbs:

Jesus, it's like people don't pay any attention to where things come from.

[www.thespaceplace.com]

yesthisisapc

My god..i think they also found the 30G iPhone!!... :P

Mike918

@gizmodo_is_my_crack:

ice in a vacume on a hot plate will go to water and then gas

it more then likely dry ice given the atmosphire is primarly Co2...

dosent mean thair isent water thair..it just means thay havent found it yet...

i dont see any wet spots in that pic..i see dark soil and light soil

and a white still unided substince...

untill the probe actuly gits a scoop of it and anilises it

we dont know what it is..

angelwolf71885

Finally! After all that money and effort... We have the cure for cancer!!!

What? It's just ice? Fuck you NASA. Your last contribution to science was the Tempurpedic Mattress.

Hiphopopotamus

@ all the people who keep saying that this is fake because ice will melt before evaporating and think they're geniuses because the only thing they remember from high school chemistry is that dry ice sublimates: learn to read phase diagrams, and remember that the Martian surface is both extremely cold and has no atmospheric pressure. Thanks.

ScotteusMaximus

Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking? Didn't Total Recall call out ice on Mars before anyone (except scientists in the know of course). Now all we need is a big machine to melt it all, or maybe just some nukes, and it will all sublimate (evaporate) voila, BLUE SKIES ON MARS.... I can't wait...

wsder

So when do we send the Governator over there to activate the hidden alien machinery that heats the planet's ice to create a breathable atmosphere in less time than it takes for a man to soffocate in space? Oh wait, not a man, but the Governator, to suffocate in space?

Zlevee

Some inspired artistry in the photo.

Zlevee

@yesthisisapc: Horseshit propaganda. Private industry's return on investment is infinitely greater than NASA's. The entire organization is a cold-war relic and feel-good government boondoggle (hey, look at the teacher in space! oh, she got blowed-up real good? well, dang!).

Join the NASA-sheep if you want. I'd rather not fund a bunch of a-holes who couldn't find their butt with both hands playing with rockets.

bobdobbs

How Gizmodo cooks up some of these photo shops are beyond me, but Vanilla Ice? New desktop wallpaper.

shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog

@angelwolf71885: No, ice in a vacuum will most definitely sublimate. Pretty much any solid in a complete vacuum will sublimate once the temperature gets high enough. Check your phase diagrams.
@atuck: Sad thing is, I think he is being serious. He hasn't made a single intelligent comment yet since he became a member. UNLESS, of course, he just gets a kick out of acting retarded and has commented in such a manner as a result. Hmm, I think my grammer brokez.

gforce

I dunno if this was already covered but, water will sublimate in pressure situations other than 1 atm. I'm not up on the latest numbers but I'm pretty sure the air pressure there isnt 1 atm. The more you knoooooowwww

Slap Bet

@bobdobbs: I hope you're being facetious.

soggy_cheerio

Darn, Mr. Ice is looking better than eva. Grrrr!

Tohe

@yesthisisapc: Yes - and the last breakthrough was the tempurpedic mattress, the pinnacle of human achievement.

You can jump on it and not spill that wine glass you put on the bed for some reason. Mystery of life... solved!

Hiphopopotamus

@Hiphopopotamus: "Your last contribution to science was the Tempurpedic Mattress"

Measuring NASA's contributions to mankind in medicine is no different than measuring Stanford Medicine's contributions to mankind in space exploration.

Regardless, what's your contribution that's so great? You cure cancer or put a probe on mars yet? Didn't think so.

bpatten

Some people snortin' Tang 'round here.

SlinkyDink

@The Cut Squad: Because Mars is 36 million miles away. It takes more than half a year to get there, and it wouldn't be cost effective to send only mice to Mars (food, air, sanitation). Although, if we do send astronauts to Mars, I see no reason for them to bring along mice or other organisms for tests (barring PETA).

gforce

@bobdobbs and Hiphopopotamus: If that ice is the cure for cancer you're gonna feel soooooo dumb.

P.S. I hate my "tempurpedic" mattress

92BuickLeSabre

ummmm, why haven't we sent Mice to Mars? (<--Title of my upcoming fictional book, Of Mice On Mars. When I say fictional, I mean that I am not actually writing a book, i didn't want to use fictitious.)

But really, are we afraid that we might grow lakes of Algae, etc. on Mars? Let's get some life to Mars and see if it can be sustained, or evolve, who cares if there is or isn't ICE or Water on Mars, I mean it's cool, cause it means that we aren't alone, it still won't help any of those NASA scientists going to sleep with only their left hands to cuddle with. Put LIFE on MARS!!!

The Cut Squad

PARTY HARD

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

w00t!!! Best day ever!!

SirCrumpet

OMG. That's major awesomeness. Yes, NASA doesn't do much, now. But the technology they may or may not produce could save us one day. You never know when a quick exit strategy will become necessary. =P

Wow, I sound like some wierdo. l think learning for the sake of LEARNING is an accomplishment. <-- don't know how to spell that. See? There is no end to the learning!

I thought it was water, and though I do know that water can and does sublimate. The arguments for the dry ice (the mostly co2 atmosphere) have me doubting it. I'm going to need some analysis of the mysteriously dissapearing white stuff first. =P

cissyrene

Hasn't anyone seen the Outer Limits? Those aren't ice cubes baby. Those are the worm/bugs that live in the Martian soil! (Or it's Naquadah crystals. It's hard to tell from here...)

GiltProto

@Pyao lyang shen: I for one don't want my foam to have any memory of what's going on on top of it...

Hiphopopotamus

I hear tumbleweed root is a cure for cancer, it basically reverses the crazy cell replication that causes cancer, it halts it and restores the... ahhhh we need a hollistic science bloggy.

Pyao lyang shen

@92BuickLeSabre: REALLY? that mattress didn't work for you?

I mean, on tv the old lady looks way too excited to sleep on it...

and tv isn't usually correct but she looked damn happy. anyways, what about that foam memory? I mean, I pondered on the idea of my body imprint and then... dang you know... that photo does look like an imprint on the tempurpedic mattress.

Pyao lyang shen

ROFLCopter. Wasn't there a "win a date with Vanilla Ice" contest recently on myspace, he looks good for his age. anywho.

Ice Ice baby.

Pyao lyang shen

@92BuickLeSabre: If its the cure for cancer we should probably stop trying to make it evaporate.

Hiphopopotamus

@bobdobbs:

Obvious troll is obvious, oh wait what website am I on?

mcknn

@bobdobbs: I doubt private industy's return on investment has been "infinitely" greater than NASA's. How would you even quantify that? Since your statements are all so grandiose and sweeping I'm assuming you meant your statement literally. My advice: put down your copy of Atlas Shrugged and join us in the real world. I don't see "private industry" working on scramjet rockets! Private industry is still trying to squeeze a profit out of the airline industry.

(Before you pout, I am pro-capitalism. I am also anti-idiot.)

coketown

@bobdobbs: Wow. Just wow. Your comments have been so unbelievably ignorant and short sighted, I don't know where to begin.

soggy_cheerio

@gforce: Hmm, you may be right. I didn't check the previous comments. I just saw the first one, and then thought he was doing it to be obnoxious to people that didn't get the joke... Looks like I didn't take my cynical pills this morning. OMG Is szo imberazed!

atuck

@Monty: Sounds vaguely farmiliar to that futurama episode where all the penguins are on pluto.

Oh and,

ICE ICE BABY *DUN DUN DA-DA-DA-DA*

mcknn

Just when all the funding for NASA was being cut. woohoo!

SowndOfDeth

@OMG!!! Ponies!!!: Its unnatural how funny you are. What do you do for a living?

SuperCollider

shubblimenayshun!!!

johnnyabnormal

I've seen this story posted on a couple blogs and forums, and I think it's hilarious/tragic how many internet commenters casually and forcefully dismiss actual scientists. And not just scientists, but scientists who have been working on this particular mission for literally over a decade. "It's probably CO2, cuz water ice can't sublimate, dumbass NASA scientists." Mike Judge had it so right. We're fucked. Brawndo, it's got what Mars craves.

superbad

@bobdobbs: The following products were made brought to you, made possible, or improved upon by your friends at NASA:

Kidney Dialysis machines, Freeze dried food, CAT scan and MRI technologies, Cordless power-tools, Invisible braces, Scratch resistant lenses, Memory foam, Ear thermometers, Athletic shoe insoles, Long distance communications (through use of satellites), Adjustable smoke detectors, Charcoal water filters, etc, etc, etc.

I'm not arguing for or against NASA, but to say they haven't done anything is just ridiculous.

They've done a lot...

Rabid Penguin

@angelwolf71885: i fucking hate you so much. i am drunk off my ass, but i can still spell better than you. either you are a comedic genius or the dumbest asshole alive.

danger_the_pirate

@superbad: So true...

[uk]

+ Watch video

johnnyabnormal

Top 20 NASA spinoff products (PDF):

[ipp.nasa.gov]

bandit

@superbad: If you think this is bad, you should see some threads on global climate change. Er...sience BAD!...shublimiashun is putting us in ice age. Was cold in my yard this past winter, so THERE!

johnnyabnormal

One cool thing that was invented by NASA but has recently come to the commercial market is the Lightning Switch. Gizmodo readers should appreciate it. It uses no batteries but mechanically emits an RF signal to the outlet recepticle which can turn your lights (or anything else) on and off. Very useful way to get a light switch next to the door (or portable) without having to tear open your walls and put in wiring. Check it out.

[www.lightningswitch.com]

bandit

Sweet ! Next step is the finding of proofs that life existed on Mars... micro organism or whatever, but life !!!
Well, we got water, CO2, alrighty temperatures, Rock n Roll baby !

Ycare

Doesn't look like much other than wind blowing some items away giving the appearance that they evaporated.

JordyT

There is so smart people here. Smarter than the NASA dumb asses, of course. What I fail to understand is why are they here commenting bullshit and not there designing a gadget and operating it thousands of miles away. Go sublimate yourselves.

MACPollo

@angelwolf71885: Are you a moron or do you just play one on TV? Your atrocious spelling suggests the former over the latter, and makes your unthinking outbursts very hard to decipher. You keep saying things like "ice in a vacume on a hot plate will go to water and then gas." and"water ice CAN'T sublimate" [I had to double check to make sure that was you, it's spelled correctly] and the gem "evian at the 200+ temps on mars..we would still see liquid before evaparshion.." Let's try to educate you, shall we? You keep bringing heat into the equation. We are dealing with a -40 (Celsius, Fahrenheit, take your pick they meet at -40) ambient temperature. Water ice most definitely WILL sublimate at these temperatures. Let's do us a little experiment, okay? Fill an ice cube tray with water. Place it in an unused corner of your freezer. After it freezes, make a note of the level of the tops of the cubes relative to the side of the tray (making a mark might be helpful). Leave it alone for about a month (assuming you don't break down and use it to chill the rubbing alcohol that I have no trouble believing that you drink). Come back and check the tray, you will note that the cubes have indeed shrunk in a place where liquid water CANNOT exist. Oh yeah, when you come back with a (not so) clever comeback about what a dumbass I am while repeating the same flawed arguments that many people have taken apart already, try to spell correctly.

Mike the Dog

Take a look at the lawman
Beating up the wrong guy.
Oh man!
Wonder if he'll ever know
He's in the best selling show.
Is there life on Mars?

strider_mt2k

ITS MEGATRON!!!!

HE IS FROZEN BENEATH THE SURFACE!!!

etaripamai

I actually believe it is the spice from shai hulud. Finally, I will get the blue eyes I've always wanted!

mykalt45

@Chromeo: You sir are a nerd of the highest caliber!

bbfreak

So torn. Do I go with a Futurama reference and suggest dropping Martian ice in the Earth's seas to combat global warming or with "Quaid, Start the Reactor."

Numerous

@Rabid Penguin:

NASA didn't invent those...they merely stole the technology...

...from the Klingons...*snicker*...the Klingons ...on...*snicker*...on your...*snicker snicker*...on Uranus!

Chromeo

They can leave the Ice there if you ask me.

IrisMR

Of course water ice sublimates. Haven't we all seen ice cubes disappear in a frost-free refrigerator? Yes it's not quite the same, but it demonstrates the same principle. Mars is dry and has a lower atmospheric pressure than earth so liquids would boil at a lower temperature.

But still, how cool!!!

migraineur

Amazing discussion, all- the sublimation phase diagrams for water are just a Webquery away. But, one doesn't need anything that hifalooting to know what the reality is.
Two processes commonly observed/practiced on most parts of Earth that involve sublimation, one mentioned earlier:

1) Freeze drying (remember Sanka?)
2) Frost formation (the easiest experiment one can do on this is to breathe on a very cold pane of glass or mirror while outside in the winter- ice forms and disappears quickly without liquid phase.

From the latter, can we reasonably infer that those denying the phenomenon of water sublimation hail from frost-free zones?

This is a great moment in science and exploration, even though it seems kinda lame at the moment-but it has doubtless taken a lot of work to figure out exactly where you would want to land to find this and then to get the probe right where you want it- almost seems like Intelligent Design (and with that I retreat to Slumberland while the next dustup erupts...)

Sleep tight in our new planet-packed and water-filled universe- hope I love long enough to see signs of life (even if now gone) somewhere new- but mostly to see the faces and hear the explanations of the perennial doubters. With any luck it will open them (and us all) to a wider view!

sciencerequiresdata

@angelwolf71885: >>water ice CAN'T sublimate

Then why do ice cubes in our freezer slowly fade away to nothing?

MyPetFly

"These little clumps completely disappearing over the course of a few days, that is perfect evidence that it's ice"

We are not talking minutes, we are talking DAYS between photos. I am sure there very well was a "water" phase, we just had our eyes closed at the time.

All this science mumbo jumbo hiding such a simple answer.

Thank you and good day.

xes

Reading comments on this story is such a perfect piece of evidence of what happens when the public school system stops teaching science and starts teaching self esteem.

"I totally faled 7nth grade science, but thos sientists are dumasses!"

After the current batch of American engineers and scientists retire or die, we won't be doing any more exploration, because our country will be completely populated by gamma minus idiots. I guess we can leave the real work to the Chinese and Indians.

superbad

All right stop collaborate and listen
Phoenix is on Mars with a brand new mission
Finding ice on Mars has got our attention

Ice Ice Baby!!!

yoshi

@xes: "I am sure there very well was a "water" phase, we just had our eyes closed at the time."

What was the temperature there again? Thank you, and Good Day to you, too.

gadgetplay

@angelwolf71885: "water ice CAN'T sublimate"

Yes it can, it does on Earth as well.

@angelwolf71885: Just STFU.

@GiltProto: "I can Haz Angelwulf zubliemated?"

Abzolootly!

@atuck: "I can't believe people think you are being serious!"

It doesn't matter whether he's being an asshole or just pretending to be. And you shouldn't encourage his asssholosity.

@Hiphopopotamus: "I for one don't want my foam to have any memory of what's going on on top of it..."

If only that foam could talk...

@sciencerequiresdata: "...we reasonably infer that those denying the phenomenon of water sublimation hail from frost-free zones?"

And drink so much that their ice-cubes don't have time to shrink.

@danger_the_pirate: "...either you are a comedic genius or the dumbest asshole alive."

My vote is cast.

@johnnyabnormal: "If you think this is bad, you should see some threads on global climate change. Er...sience BAD!"

Science only bad when it disagrees with Al Gore. Which it does pretty regularly. C'mon, get it right.

gadgetplay

Water ice can sublimate and its entirely possible on the surface of Mars. If you haven't had any chemistry I would understand your confusion. The pressure on the surface of Mars is really low (think Total Recall where his eyes were popping out) and the temperature is also low. In these conditions water in the form of ice would transition straight to a vapor (gas) when heated by exposure to the sun's rays. Non believers look at the pretty picture.
[www.lsbu.ac.uk]

Hansedog

it looks like the ground is dancing. i've got to lay off this bad acid.

itouchgadgetsinappropriately

You know, its kinda annoying that so many people are against expanding human knowledge. Especially when the way we got to this point with our fancy computers and etc is by doing just that. Granted finding ice on Mars isn't going have an impact today or maybe even tomorrow but it may in the future.

bbfreak

@askii:
"The chan-ces of any-thing coming from mars are a million to ooo-one, but sti-ill they come!" Dun dun dun dundundun dundundun!!!!

*puts it in cd player / ROFLS*

Human Bomb

Just a thought... different planet... maybe it has different compounds?
Maybe it's not H2O .... maybe its something different.... maybe its not even Hydrogen at all... maybe its Hy-dead-drogen? and... when combined with large amounts of Carbon Dioxide... its explosive... and as soon as they bring it back to earth.... ***transmission ended***

icegnome

Ice finally finds an audience, only to once again vanish into thin air.

GeekyNerdGuy

@gadgetplay: Nope, I got it right the first time. Global climate change deniers cling to:

1) Reflexive bashing of Al Gore, even if he's no part of the science discussion.
2) Believing TV pundits.
3) Believing fraudulent "science" by the oil industry.
4) Believing conspiracy theorists instead of climatologists.
5) Believing there is no such thing as a scientific consensus.

I used to ask deniers to supply me with 10 climatologists (the tiniest fraction of those that exist) that aren't accepting money from big oil that disagree with the consensus on global climate change: All of them come up empty handed.

To deny the data or consensus is to deny the scientific process and the respect that it deserves. Seriously, I could care less if someone wants to scapegoat Al Gore because he eats 25 cheese burgers an hour while flying a jumbo jet in circles: It doesn't change the validity of the science that proves the impact of industrialized pollution on the atmosphere.

But! At the end of the day...the true believers trade knowledge (in this case, science) for faith and/or lies. As we all know, faith requires no proof. Therefore, it's almost impossible to present said proof to a believer since it is instantly invalidated to maintain their faith, regardless of the subject. But, I still try!

Back to this thread in particular, I'm not the only one in here who is alarmed at what seems to be a demonization of science by those who think their ego in more knowledgeable. Thus the comparisons to the movie "Idiocracy", because we are all being reduced to uneducated, screeching idiots like this guy (Kevin James):

+ Watch video

johnnyabnormal

"angelwolf71885 has no friends."

Dr. Spaceman, Esq.

@etaripamai: PFFFT! Everyone knows it's the ghost of Starscream!

Human Bomb

You know, it should be noted that we've already known for a LONG time that Mars has ice... It has 2 polar ice caps that were confirmed to be WATER ice and not CO2 ice a long time ago. The excitement for the Phoenix team is that they have the scientific packages on board to study the ice and determine if any microorganisms are alive or were alive in it. Water = cool Life on mars = pwnage

SandersElephstan

START THE REACTOR

FREE MAAAAARS

Bogart Shwadchuck

@Dr. Spaceman, Esq.: I guess that means he'll be lonely on his 23rd birthday. It's less than a month away...

Mike the Dog

@angelwolf71885:
Water DOES sublimate under certain conditions only...
Like ice cubes in your freezer.
Given enough time, the evaporator coil being at a much lower temperature than ice (which you can get way below 32°F) will eventually absorb moisture (water molecules) from your ice cubes by the rushing air. (most freezer evaporators discharge into the ice maker / ice bin first, therefore sublimating it.
That's why ice cubes left in the freezer a long time seem to evaporate into funny shapes.

aec007