 Parzival  | 15 Jan 2009 9:30 a.m. PST |
link Okay, consider the source… but Nasa will indeed apparently be announcing the discovery of methane gas on Mars today at 2p.m. EST (7 p.m. Greenwich, I believe). link This is HUGE news. It may turn out to be the biggest scientific news since… heck, since I don't know when. Life. On Mars. Wow. |
| Gunfreak | 15 Jan 2009 9:36 a.m. PST |
Haha. I can just see the creationists trying to explane this away(if it's true) |
| Parzival | 15 Jan 2009 9:49 a.m. PST |
Well, as to that, even the fundamentalists (which I am not) would probably say nothing in the Bible precludes the existence or creation of life on other worlds. But I'd rather this topic stay on the magnitude of the discovery than on any effort to twit anyone's beliefs. So let's stick with life on Mars. |
 John the OFM | 15 Jan 2009 9:56 a.m. PST |
The Vatican is quite sanguine about the possibility of life on other planets. No problem from the Holy See. Isaac Asimov has said that life on Earth cpuld be detected from space merely by analyzing a spectrograph of Earth's atmosphere. With 20% oxygen, there should be NO methane, but there is. Therefore, it must be continually renewed, and life (he mentioned belching cattle) is the easiest answer. |
| GoodBye | 15 Jan 2009 10:30 a.m. PST |
Haha. I can just see the creationists trying to explane this away(if it's true) I actually don't see where this is a problem. I'm not terribly bright but I can reconcile evolution and creationism. I'm amazed by the folks in both camps that can't; it seems so obvious. Anyway way cool life on Mars. |
 Editor in Chief Bill   | 15 Jan 2009 10:49 a.m. PST |
Debate regarding evolution and creationism should adjourn to the Blue Fez, please. |
 Saginaw | 15 Jan 2009 11:39 a.m. PST |
Okay, consider the source… but Nasa will indeed apparently be announcing the discovery of methane gas on Mars today at 2p.m. EST (7 p.m. Greenwich, I believe). Cows on Mars?? Didn't see that one coming! 
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| Gunfreak | 15 Jan 2009 12:08 p.m. PST |
What is cool, much cooler then just life on Mars for me is that if there realy is life there, then we have to planets in just our own solar system with life, and if we consider that our own system is probebly rather avarge, then chances for life around other stars go up by a large margin, and if we happend to find life on Europa then we have 3 in just one system. And if life popps out three times in one avrage solar system, then chances are inteligent life is out there some place |
| Parzival | 15 Jan 2009 12:33 p.m. PST |
Exactly, Gunfreak! If there, then elsewhere. Just got through watching the first part of the press conference. One significant remark in answer to a reporter's question was that the same spectral analysis that found the methane did NOT find other gases associated with volcanic activity (sulfur dioxide, for one). That doesn't rule anything out, but it's an important detail that favors life as a source. Big, big news. |
| mweaver | 15 Jan 2009 1:16 p.m. PST |
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| jizbrand | 15 Jan 2009 2:58 p.m. PST |
then chances are inteligent life is out there some place In the words of the Monty Python Galaxy Song, pray that there's intelligent life out there because there's  -all down here on Earth. |
| Gallowglass | 15 Jan 2009 5:13 p.m. PST |
It's zombies. Betcha. You know it is. |
| Ditto Tango 2 1 | 16 Jan 2009 6:28 a.m. PST |
This is just fantastic and exciting. Can you being excited over some amoebae, paramicium, and other bugs? 
--
Tim |
| Parzival | 16 Jan 2009 10:13 a.m. PST |
"Bugs, Sergeant Ricco! Millions of 'em!" Yeah, that could be exciting.  |
| mweaver | 16 Jan 2009 2:45 p.m. PST |
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| Andrew Walters | 16 Jan 2009 7:00 p.m. PST |
When you take everything into account, we're probably talking about subterranean cows. So its not so much Starship Troopers we're going to get as environmentalists shouting about how MacDonalds is destroying Mars with their cattle breeding operations. Andrew |
| Ghecko | 14 Feb 2009 2:35 p.m. PST |
I have a feeling this will go the way of other life on Mars stories – a lot of razamataz and fanfare; a little more research is done; oops; the whole thing gets buried away discretely. Eg, the Mars meteorite from a few years ago… |
| Ghecko | 15 Feb 2009 11:07 p.m. PST |
Lets see what the article says: "ALIEN bugs are responsible for strong plumes of methane gas detected on Mars, it was claimed tonight. Nasa scientists say the gas emissions could have either a geological or biological source – as The Sun exclusively revealed today… Life is responsible for more than 90 per cent of the Earth's atmospheric methane." Further on: "Methane produced by the action of water on hot carbon bearing rocks, as occurs in volcanic regions on Earth, is the alternative explanation. Whatever the source is, scientists agree that something is replenishing the methane." So, are bugs the ONLY way to produce atmospheric methane? Even the article says no. If methane could only be produced by bugs then they would have a story. Otherwise, its pure speculation … as usual. |
