What about John Brandenburg?

wwkirk

wwkirk

Divine
Dr. John E. Brandenburg has argued that in the distant past, there were nuclear explosions, probably due to a war, on the planet Mars. Is he legit? How seriously should we take his research and conjectures?

News article:
Intelligent life on Mars was wiped out by nuclear war, says scientist

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Death on Mars: The Discovery of a Planetary Nuclear Massacre

His online article on the topic:
Abstract: Evidence for two massive, air-burst, thermonuclear explosions on Mars in the past is presented, as well as the apparent correlation of the explosion locations with sites of apparent archeology. The explosions were apparently large enough to permanently change Mars climate from being Earth-like in the past, to its present barren state. This suggests that the Fermi Paradox, the apparent silence and uninhabited character of the Cosmos despite the abundance of extra-solar planets and life-precursor chemicals in the universe, may be due to agencies hostile to less developed civilizations. An immediate human expedition to Mars to investigate this matter is therefore urged.
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pigfarmer

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Heard a podcast interview with him a few years ago. Didn't sound nuts but I'm guessing whatever he's offering as proof is equivocal
 
Thomas R. Morrison

Thomas R. Morrison

Meh
pigfarmer said:
Heard a podcast interview with him a few years ago. Didn't sound nuts but I'm guessing whatever he's offering as proof is equivocal
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I looked at his theory a few years ago and it turned out that he's looking at the isotopic abundances of an element or two on Mars, and interpreting their prevalences as nuclear fission detonation by-products...when in fact a much more rational explanation exists: neutron capture precipitated by intense on-going cosmic ray bombardment (Martian soil gets exposed to much higher energy cosmic rays than the surface of the Earth, due to our dense atmosphere and magnetosphere).

It's also pretty crazy to talk about about civilizations arising on Mars 3.8 billion years ago...billions of years earlier than multicellular life evolved here on the Earth where conditions were much more favorable.
 
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