Building Blocks of Life Found on Mars

National Geographic ^ | 06/07/18 | Michael Greshko

[AppyPappy]

Legos?

[ClearCase_guy]

Methane’s presence on Mars is puzzling, because it survives only a few hundred years at a time, which means that somehow, something on the red planet keeps replenishing it. “It’s a gas in the atmosphere of Mars that really shouldn’t be there,"

I suspect cows.

[commish]

Marvin the Martian farted. That’s why he calls the Space modulator a PEW-36

[Repealthe17thAmendment]

“It’s a gas in the atmosphere of Mars that really shouldn’t be there," says NASA Jet Propulsion Lab scientist Chris Webster.

This is the kind of statement that shows how some scientists have difficulty admitting that they don't know all there is to know about science.

It's incredibly arrogant to say that something shouldn't be there when it now has shown to be there. But, he couldn't just say, "We don't know why it's there."

[rdl6989]

That’s funny right there.

[jmacusa]

Fisher-Price?

[Rio]

[DungeonMaster]

That’s really.....something...

[shotgun]

The Martian dry cleaners destroyed the planet with their perchlorate...

[wally_bert]

Petrol still in Gene Hunt’s Cortina?

Maybe leaked oil?

[Karliner]

I suspect cows.

As there was once a cow that jumped over the moon back in my verbal ancestral tales millions of years ago when I was a child who is really to say maybe a few made it to Mars?

[Billthedrill]

I work with an amazing group of people on Mars, and we have discovered so much.

Jennifer, don't let the cat out of the bag! There are no Martians. Repeat again, there are no Martians...

[roadcat]

“It’s a gas in the atmosphere of Mars that really shouldn’t be there,"

Global warming! They're driving a Rover around on Mars. Mankind is polluting the Martian atmosphere! /s

[TomGuy]

Was just thinking the same thing.

Maybe, when the cow jumped over the moon, she actually went further and landed on Mars — and farts occasionally.

[Avalon Memories]

I think you are mistaking a figure of speech for a dogmatic assertion. We all use figures of speech in common everyday language. “I love meatballs,” or “I’m sweating my ass off.” There are literally thousands of examples. The scientist saying “that shouldn’t be there” is using a figure of speech to say it is something unexpected, something new to add to his knowledge and to be explored. Not arrogance, but wonder.

[robroys woman]

There is actually a youtube video that makes the claim, based on the substances that have been found on mars, that it was wiped out by a nuclear war.

[plain talk]

That’s correct. Also — it is a noteworthy statement because it indicates a surprise finding.

[InABunkerUnderSF]

The molecules mentioned in the corresponding NASA/JPL release, in addition to methane, are "thiophenes, benzene, toluene, and small carbon chains, such as propane or butene".

Could be cows but my guess is volcanoes.

[Steely Tom]

Day to day, it’s easy to lose sight of an astonishing fact: Since 2012, humankind has been driving a nuclear-powered sciencemobile the size of an SUV on another planet.

Do you think that if Russia, or India, or China had successfully landed a nuclear-powered robot on the surface of Mars, and driven it around doing science for five years, they would have graciously assigned credit for their achievement to "humankind" ?