Clouds of Methane May Mean Life on Mars

[tlongII]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,479997,00.html

Is there life on Mars? We don't know — but there's more good evidence there may be.

NASA and Science magazine will announce Thursday afternoon that large amounts of methane have been found on the Red Planet, which could be a sign of biological activity.

"The most obvious source of methane is organisms," planetary scientist Colin Pillinger told London's Sun tabloid. "So if you find methane in an atmosphere, you can suspect there is life. It's not proof, but it makes it worth a much closer look."

On Earth, methane comes mainly from belching animals such as cows and rotting organic matter such as dead leaves. But it's also pumped out by volcanoes.

The catch is that it breaks down quickly in the atmosphere due to reactions with sunlight, and there haven't been any active volcanoes on Mars for millions of years.

So it could be that the large amounts of methane spotted floating over Mars' northern polar regions during the summer months are being created by microbes buried under the soil. Or it could just be the result of some little-understood geological process.

It's "the most important discovery of all time," former British civil servant and fervent UFO hunter Nick Pope told the Sun. "We've really only scratched the surface — it's an absolute certainty that there is life out there and we are not alone."

(American media outlets are not yet reporting the story because they're honoring an "embargo," a promise to not run a story until a designated time, in this case 2 p.m. EST, when NASA is expected to hold a press conference. The Sun "broke" the embargo, prompting other British papers to follow suit.)

London's Daily Mail added that "three giant telescopes on Hawaii" — presumably among the 12 or so observatories clustered atop the two-mile-high summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island — had detected the seasonal methane emissions.

The European Mars Express Orbiter first detected small amounts of methane in the Martian atmosphere in 2004. Other spacecraft have found significant amounts of water on the Red Planet, as well as geologic formations that appear to have carved by flowing liquids.

Mars is much smaller, colder and drier than Earth, with a thin atmosphere and high surface levels of radiation, but there may be large buried glaciers at the poles. It's thought primitive bacteria may exist underground, subsisting on chemicals and water — and possibly emitting methane.

[Re-Animator]

I hope they do find life so you and your God hating pat-na MiamiHeat can live toggther.

[tlongII]

I hope they do find life so you and your God hating pat-na MiamiHeat can live toggther.

That would kind of mess you up though wouldn't it?

[AlamoSpursFan]

Lemme know when they find the Martian chick with 3 boobs.

[pawe]

So I guess Martians are farters.

[RandomGuy]

Lemme know when they find the Martian chick with 3 boobs.

pfft.

I only have two hands, what good would a third boob be? :lol

[Blake]

pfft.

I only have two hands, what good would a third boob be? :lol

.....

you gotta be kidding me

is your mouth trapped shut?

[SpursWoman]

.....

you gotta be kidding me

is your mouth trapped shut?

Seriously...lol.

[Alex Jones]

Who gives a rats ass if they find a million people on Saturn? we can't find jobs for people on earth as it is.

If only NASA would spend 25 cents of every dollar on Cancer this world would be a better place.

[ChumpDumper]

So I guess Martians are farters.Wouldn't they have some kind of Bizarro farts made of oxygen that smelled like flowers?

[Mister Sinister]

pfft.

I only have two hands, what good would a third boob be? :lol
Behold, the power of the facepalm.

[CubanMustGo]

Who gives a rats ass if they find a million people on Saturn? we can't find jobs for people on earth as it is.

If only NASA would spend 25 cents of every dollar on Cancer this world would be a better place.

Yeah that a quarter of good ol' NASA is gonna make a huge difference in what the gov't spends on health already:

US Spending, FY 2009 (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy09/sheets/25_14.xls):

Social Security: $586B
Defense: $552B
Medicare: $375B
Income Security: $366B
HEALTH: $266B
Education, Training, employment: $91.7B
Transportation: $72.9B
Veteran's benefits & services: $72.8B
Administration of justice: $41.2B
Natural Resources & Environment $31.8B
Community & Regional Development: $29.6M
International Affairs: $28.5B
Agriculture: $17.7B
General Government: $17.5B
NASA: $15.3B
Other science: $10.2B

[Alex Jones]

Yeah that a quarter of good ol' NASA is gonna make a huge difference in what the gov't spends on health already:

US Spending, FY 2009 (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy09/sheets/25_14.xls):

Social Security: $586B
Defense: $552B
Medicare: $375B
Income Security: $366B
HEALTH: $266B
Education, Training, employment: $91.7B
Transportation: $72.9B
Veteran's benefits & services: $72.8B
Administration of justice: $41.2B
Natural Resources & Environment $31.8B
Community & Regional Development: $29.6M
International Affairs: $28.5B
Agriculture: $17.7B
General Government: $17.5B
NASA: $15.3B
Other science: $10.2B



Dude pull your head out of your ass! The lunar rover alone was $19 million Dollars.

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo_lrv.html


Bush already said he is going to chip in $100 Billion for the lunar program

http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2009/01/president_bush_1.html


Cancer only gets 4.83 billion.
The NCI’s total budget for Fiscal Year 2008 was $4.83 billion. The NCI will invest an estimated $4.79 billion during Fiscal Year 2006. The budget is expected to decrease to $4.75 billion in Fiscal Year 2007. Other Federal agencies, state and local governments, voluntary organizations, industry, and private institutions also spend a substantial amount of money on cancer-related research and services.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/NCI/research-funding



NASA is spending 100 to 150 billion on Manned Lunar Program.
And then NASA spends 200 to 300 billion on Manned Mars program & other sundries.
Total in billions in most money expected spent:
450.5 Billion dollar


http://www.habitablezone.com/space/messages/532325.html

[Trainwreck2100]

life on mars is a good show

[DarkReign]

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/technologies/combat_cancer.html

nasa spins off a shitload of all kinds of techmologies ijits

Alex/Mouse and I have been over the benefits of NASA already.

He doesnt buy it.

[tlongII]

Mouse just doesn't get it. Life on Mars would be the most significant discovery in my lifetime, imo. Maybe the biggest of all time...

[Blake]

It's "the most important discovery of all time," former British civil servant and fervent UFO hunter Nick Pope told the Sun. "We've really only scratched the surface — it's an absolute certainty that there is life out there and we are not alone."

finding life would be a great discovery

finding methane gas.....not so much just yet.

NASA spends a lot of money because they make a lot of money

[DarkReign]

Mouse just doesn't get it. Life on Mars would be the most significant discovery in my lifetime, imo. Maybe the biggest of all time...


You say that like its a stretch. ANY life (bacteria, for example) found outside of Earth is the penultimate discovery of human civilization, period. It would prove without a shred of doubt that life is much more widespread than we think it is, especially if it was found on a neighboring planet.

Because if life exists so close to us, what do you think the chances are that it exists far away in more "similar" conditions as here on Earth?

Pretty fucking likely. Which means we are not alone. Queue the X-Files music.

[AlamoSpursFan]

Just curious here, but what are the odds the life we may find on Mars travelled there on one of the many rovers NASA has sent there with varying degrees of success?

Not trying to argue against it, mind you. I think the possibility is awesome. Just wondering if we could have brought it there by accident.

[Blake]

You say that like its a stretch. ANY life (bacteria, for example) found outside of Earth is the penultimate discovery of human civilization, period. It would prove without a shred of doubt that life is much more widespread than we think it is, especially if it was found on a neighboring planet.

Because if life exists so close to us, what do you think the chances are that it exists far away in more "similar" conditions as here on Earth?

Pretty fucking likely. Which means we are not alone. Queue the X-Files music.

eh, I don't think it would prove there is life outside of our solar system. It increases the odds exponentially to be sure, but it doesn't make it automatic.

We are so close to Mars that it would be no surprise that whatever source sparked life here on Earth also came in contact with Mars.

[Blake]

Just curious here, but what are the odds the life we may find on Mars travelled there on one of the many rovers NASA has sent there with varying degrees of success?

Not trying to argue against it, mind you. I think the possibility is awesome. Just wondering if we could have brought it there by accident.

what if some alien rover brought life here by accident.....

it would explain so many things about some of the posters on this board

[FreeMason]

So when will our government be able to tax them for excessive methane production?

[Blake]

So when will our government be able to tax them for excessive methane production?

I think finding weapons of mass destruction on Mars is more likely than in Iraq

[AlamoSpursFan]

pfft.

I only have two hands, what good would a third boob be? :lol

By the by...for those that didn't get it (and I'm guessing there are a few), see the movie Total Recall.

[tlongII]

Just curious here, but what are the odds the life we may find on Mars travelled there on one of the many rovers NASA has sent there with varying degrees of success?

Not trying to argue against it, mind you. I think the possibility is awesome. Just wondering if we could have brought it there by accident.

I think that is highly unlikely.

[Alex Jones]

Mouse just doesn't get it. Life on Mars would be the most significant discovery in my lifetime, imo. Maybe the biggest of all time...


What makes you think people on another planet want anything to do with us? It's bad enough we fucked up our planet now we are going fuck up theirs?

God you people are so dam ignorant!

Think about the shit you talk about when your fucking miss wool lite tonight.

[tlongII]

What makes you think people on another planet want anything to do with us? It's bad enough we fucked up our planet now we are going fuck up theirs?

God you people are so dam ignorant!

Think about the shit you talk about when your fucking miss wool lite tonight.

If you would post something coherent I might respond to it.

[SpursGirl21]

Are you the guy that likes farm animals?

[tlongII]

Are you the guy that likes farm animals?

Yes. That would be me.

[MiamiHeat]

If there is life on Mars, it is only 2 things :

1) was probably contamination from our exploration of mars

2) God created life in more places than one. the Bible doesn't explicitly say Life is only on Earth.

[tlongII]

If there is life on Mars, it is only 2 things :

1) was probably contamination from our exploration of mars

2) God created life in more places than one. the Bible doesn't explicitly say Life is only on Earth.

Yep. That's got to be it.

[Alex Jones]

I hope they do find life on Mars this way we can export our cars and trucks there to help bail out the auto industry.