"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Four Billion Years Ago

NASA has made a video of what Mars looked like four billion years ago. A little craggier, not so worn down, but not much different than it looks today -- give or take the oceans.


If you were expecting lush greenery, stop and think a minute -- four billion years ago, there wasn't life on Earth yet. In fact, Earth probably looked a lot like Mars. One thing -- the article mentions an "oxygen-rich atmosphere" a billion years before Earth's developed. Last I heard, free oxygen on Earth was the byproduct of early bacteria, causing the first mass extinction -- everything before that was anaerobic. So I wonder what produced the oxygen on Mars.

Via Towleroad.

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