Methane on Mars!

[Jimbeaux]

New call to arms: Follow the gas, where there are farts, there is life!

[thinfourth2]

Does this mean i have to pay more tax as it is bound to be the fault of man?

[Jimbeaux]

thinfourth2 said:

Does this mean i have to pay more tax as it is bound to be the fault of man?

Goes without saying.

[mybrainhurts]

Fart on my Mars bar, and you're a dead bunny...

[Spiritual_Beggar]

Oh no!!!! Mar's climate is changing!!!!

Quick...we must do something!!!!!! Lets tax the martians for use of their spaceships (or in the event there aren't any martians, lets just increase the tax back here on Earth)

[groucho]

I really hope they find life on Mars. It will certainly make a stir in religious circles. Plus, David Bowie would have his answer.

[Jimbeaux]

groucho said:

I really hope they find life on Mars. It will certainly make a stir in religious circles. Plus, David Bowie would have his answer.

Until now, looking for life on Mars meant follow the water, now it might be follow the methane. IIRC, methane is 99% produced through biology, not geology.

[shalmaneser]

Jimbeaux said:

New call to arms: Follow the gas, where there are farts, there is life!

Linky?

[tinman0]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7829315.stm

[GilbertGrape]

groucho said:

I really hope they find life on Mars. It will certainly make a stir in religious circles.

Do you have faith that there are Alien beings somewhere in space?

[Jimbeaux]

GilbertGrape said:

groucho said:

I really hope they find life on Mars. It will certainly make a stir in religious circles.

Do you have faith that there are Alien beings somewhere in space?

I have religious beliefs and finding aliens would not infringe on them at all.

[Eric Mc]

There could be a possibility that any life found on Mars might not be native to Mars. Since 1974, over 10 probes have landed on the surface of the planet (about 50% of them successfully) and, even though stringent procedures were carried out to sterlilise them before launch, there is the small chance that some Earth microbes or bacteria could have survived the journey to Mars and have flourished on the surface.

[dirty boy]

Eric Mc said:

some Earth microbes or bacteria could have survived the journey to Mars and have flourished on the surface.

Possible, but for them to be able to produce on a measurable scale?

[Eric Mc]

Why not - if the first Mars lander (Mars 1 in 1974 which landed successfully but broke down after only 45 seconds of transmitting) had not been properly sterilised by the Russians, that would have given microbes 35 years in which to survive and possibly even flourish.

I wonder have they tied in the detection of the methane with the known landing zones of earth probes?

[Bing o]

Jimbeaux said:

GilbertGrape said:

groucho said:

I really hope they find life on Mars. It will certainly make a stir in religious circles.

Do you have faith that there are Alien beings somewhere in space?

I have religious beliefs and finding aliens would not infringe on them at all.

What if the aliens had categorical proof that there was no god - that would piss on your chips somewhat?

[Eric Mc]

Bing o said:

Jimbeaux said:

GilbertGrape said:

groucho said:

I really hope they find life on Mars. It will certainly make a stir in religious circles.

Do you have faith that there are Alien beings somewhere in space?

I have religious beliefs and finding aliens would not infringe on them at all.

What if the aliens had categorical proof that there was no god - that would piss on your chips somewhat?

For goodness sake, can we keep religion out of this particular thread. There have been enough pointless "there is a God, there isn't a God" discussions over the past few months on PH. There are at least two enormous threads on that topic elsewhere on the forum.

This is a discussion about the possibility of life on Mars, which, if it exists, I doubt will have the intellectual ability to have an opinion either way - so not likely to cause to much consternation to devout Earthlings.

PS - I did notice the smiley but the debate may well get dragged way off topic.

Edited by Eric Mc on Monday 19th January 08:46

[dirty boy]

Eric Mc said:

Why not - if the first Mars lander (Mars 1 in 1974 which landed successfully but broke down after only 45 seconds of transmitting) had not been properly sterilised by the Russians, that would have given microbes 35 years in which to survive and possibly even flourish.

I wonder have they tied in the detection of the methane with the known landing zones of earth probes?

But even for such a small amount of bacteria not only survive, but as you say flourish, to produce 19,000 tonne flumes of methane does seem somewhat unprobable.

[suthol]

I wouldn't expect the Welsh or the Southern sheep shaggers to grasp the possibilities but you lot really.

They probably have heaps of little green cows, we are constantly being told how much methane the planetary herd emits.

[Bing o]

Eric Mc said:

This is a discussion about the possibility of life on Mars, which, if it exists, I doubt will have the intellectual ability to have an opinion either way - so not likely to cause to much consternation to devout Earthlings.

I've always been of the opinion that there must be life out there, but finding it on our door step, astronomically speaking, would be remarkable.

The next question, is how do we interact with them if they do exist?

[fathomfive]