Life found on Mars?!
Discussion
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/nasa-fin...
Article:
Evidence of life on Mars could have been found by Nasa's Curiosity Rover.
One of the instruments on the robot found mysterious spikes of methane that cannot easily be explained by geology or other theories. Scientists can’t be sure what is causing the spikes, but it is possible that it could be very small, bacteria-like living organisms.
If the gas is coming from living, breathing microbes then it would mark one of the biggest discoveries in history. On Earth, 95% of methane comes from microbial organisms.
Article:
Evidence of life on Mars could have been found by Nasa's Curiosity Rover.
One of the instruments on the robot found mysterious spikes of methane that cannot easily be explained by geology or other theories. Scientists can’t be sure what is causing the spikes, but it is possible that it could be very small, bacteria-like living organisms.
If the gas is coming from living, breathing microbes then it would mark one of the biggest discoveries in history. On Earth, 95% of methane comes from microbial organisms.
eharding said:
Pupp said:
Somebody please tell them we give in now and there's no need to inflict Justin Hayward or David Essex on us... 
Odd weather we're having.....unseasonably mild...doesn't seem like winter will ever start...seems like it might be (brace yourself) Forever Autumn
ETA: It'll be an amazing discovery if it's confirmed.
Edited by Hooli on Tuesday 16th December 21:00
One of the most significant ever, without exaggeration.
You are making it up.
One of the moons of Jupiter (Europa) PROBABLY has a sea of WATER, under a thick crust of ice.
Another moon, Io, is the most geologically active body in the solar system. The other moons are all frozen solid - probably.
However, Saturn's moon, Titan, has a dense atmosphere of mainly nitrogen where it rains hydrocarbons and has rivers and lakes of hydrocarbons, such as methane and ethane.
Methane can be formed by biological processes, but also by chemical reactions and geological processes - so the detection of fee methane on Mars does not automatically mean proof of life. However, the interesting revelation about the most recent discovery is that the methane levels on Mars seem to fluctuate quite dramatically - and that is why this news is interesting.
One of the moons of Jupiter (Europa) PROBABLY has a sea of WATER, under a thick crust of ice.
Another moon, Io, is the most geologically active body in the solar system. The other moons are all frozen solid - probably.
However, Saturn's moon, Titan, has a dense atmosphere of mainly nitrogen where it rains hydrocarbons and has rivers and lakes of hydrocarbons, such as methane and ethane.
Methane can be formed by biological processes, but also by chemical reactions and geological processes - so the detection of fee methane on Mars does not automatically mean proof of life. However, the interesting revelation about the most recent discovery is that the methane levels on Mars seem to fluctuate quite dramatically - and that is why this news is interesting.
LordGrover said:
One of the moons of Jupiter has a sea of liquid methane doesn't it? Doesn't mean it's teaming with life. Or am I making that up? 
Close, not quite a sea. http://www.space.com/27187-saturn-moon-titan-icy-r...Until they find the microbes it remains just one hypothesis.
In fact methane is found in most of the gas giants (particularly Neptune). And there is disputed detection of methane on Venus. So it's pretty common really.
Edited by XM5ER on Wednesday 17th December 10:14
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