Posted on 06/22/2019 4:27:50 PM PDT by BenLurkin
High levels of methane could potentially be generated underground by microbes called methanogens that survive without oxygen and produce the gas as a metabolic byproduct. Project scientist Ashwin R. Vasavada told the Curiosity science team in an email that “Given this surprising result, we’ve reorganized the weekend to run a follow-up experiment,” the Times wrote.
The readings on Wednesday are over three times that of a sudden spike in 2013 that lasted several months; after first finding nothing after its touchdown in 2012, Curiosity detected approximately seven parts per billion of methane later in the year. The newest measurements are 21 parts per billion.
However, it is also possible that the Curiosity rover has simply detected pockets of methane leaking from deep under the surface, the Times wrote, and the readings are only preliminary. When methane was similarly detected on the surface of Mars in 2004, scientists said that the methane could also be generated by geothermal reactions involving water and heat, though the exact mechanism by which that could occur on Mars remained an open question. (Since then, research has suggested Mars may not be as geologically inert as previously thought.)
The Curiosity rover has currently been diverted from its scheduled scientific work to do followup on the methane readings, according to the Times, with more data expected on Monday.
(Excerpt) Read more at gizmodo.com ...
Martians gotta stop eating beef! Ask Mz. Cow Fartz.
That ain’t Mars. It is Washington DC.
*** “Mars only has 12 years left” ***
Nope... only 11.94 years (but we will never know)
SPACE COWS!!!!!
I guess mars needs to adopt socialists green plans now.
Cows. This is why Mars is warming.
has Nadler made a surprise visit to issue supoenas to illegal aliens for testimony agains trump?
The desperate search to prop up evolution ...
Very informative. Thanks for posting.
Damn human rover activity...
Maybe the Martians, along with Algore, are making Martian versions of Mel Brooks’ movies.
It only proves that CH4 is a basic building block of our hydrocarbon system in our solar system.
Spike in methane ? You’d better get him out of there before he chokes to death.
=ducking=
There isn’t a rocket ship in the world that he can squeeze into.
It's just Marvin lightin' a fart.
Martians eating beans?
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