Posted on 01/15/2009 5:15:55 PM PST by markomalley
A surprising and mysterious belch of methane gas on Mars hints at possible microbial life underground, but also could come from changes in rocks, a new NASA study found. The presence of methane on Mars could be significant because by far most of the gas on Earth is a byproduct of life — from animal digestion and decaying plants and animals.
Past studies indicated no regular methane on Mars. But new research using three ground-based telescopes confirmed that nearly 21,000 tons of methane were released during a few months of the late summer of 2003, according to a study published Thursday in the online edition of the journal Science.
"This raises the probability substantially that life was there or still survives at the present," study author Michael Mumma of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center told The Associated Press.
But Mumma also said claims of life need far more evidence and this isn't nearly enough. By 2006, most of the methane had disappeared from the Martian atmosphere, adding to the mystery of the gas, he said.
The Mars belch is similar to what comes out of the waters near Santa Barbara, Calif., which comes from decaying life in the sea floor. Microbes in the Arctic and other extreme Earth environments that don't use oxygen still release methane and they have been examples of the type of life astronomers look for on other planets.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
Guess it's up to what you want to believe...
I believe the EPA will tax them for it.
21,000 tons of Methane? Al Gore is going to have to slap a carbon tax on Mars. Might get him another useless Nobel Prize.
Consensus will give us the truth. ;-)
AL must have passed out when he heard the news.
ROFLMAO...
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,493611,00.html
Cows are methane-making machines, with their inefficient digestion producing hundreds of liters of the greenhouse gas every day. Now scientists are looking at ways to make things go down a little more gently for the ruminanting grass-munchers.
Plumes of methane identified on Mars
- Finding could influence choice of landing site for Mars...
Nature News | 21 October 2008 | Eric Hand
Posted on 10/21/2008 2:54:46 PM PDT by neverdem
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2111534/posts
Life found on Mars? [”haze of methane”]
The Sun | 1/14/2009 | Paul Sutherland
Posted on 01/14/2009 7:25:06 PM PST by MarketR
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2164774/posts
Clouds of Methane May Mean Life on Mars
Fox News | 01/15/2009 | Fox News
Posted on 01/15/2009 8:36:23 AM PST by Dallas59
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2165087/posts
-sidebars-
BREAKING NEWS: Gas Explosions Occuring on Mars!!
10/30/2008 | eekitsagreek
Posted on 10/30/2008 9:01:58 PM PDT by eekitsagreek
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2120388/posts
Giant deposits of ice found by Mars orbiter
chron | Nov. 20, 2008
Posted on 11/20/2008 11:39:43 PM PST by JoeProBono
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2135807/posts
Carbonates Found On Mars Adds To Mystery
Scientific Blogging | December 26th 2008
Posted on 12/26/2008 4:42:01 AM PST by CE2949BB
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2154383/posts
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