Methane on Mars

[MadRat]

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-life-04a.html

On Earth there are four gases linked to the presence of life and habitable conditions: water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and molecular oxygen (O2, or its proxy, ozone O3). If Mars has all four, so what? Microbiological organisms are hardly a thrill to find after travelling two billion miles.

 

[Genesys]

Microbiological organisms are hardly a thrill to find after travelling two billion miles.

ill have to agree with you on that one

 

[LordMagnusKain]

Originally posted by: Genesys

Microbiological organisms are hardly a thrill to find after travelling two billion miles.

ill have to agree with you on that one

I disagree; biogenesis is one of our most basic unanswered scientific questions.

 

[Zephyr106]

Originally posted by: LordMagnusKain

Originally posted by: Genesys

Microbiological organisms are hardly a thrill to find after travelling two billion miles.

ill have to agree with you on that one

I disagree; biogenesis is one of our most basic unanswered scientific questions.

Exactly. Incontrovertable proof of life on Mars would be a scientific bombshell. The question then would be did it start in parallel or did life on one planet spread to the other, and if so, how.

Zephyr

 

[blahblah99]

Originally posted by: Zephyr106

Originally posted by: LordMagnusKain

Originally posted by: Genesys

Microbiological organisms are hardly a thrill to find after travelling two billion miles.

ill have to agree with you on that one

I disagree; biogenesis is one of our most basic unanswered scientific questions.

Exactly. Incontrovertable proof of life on Mars would be a scientific bombshell. The question then would be did it start in parallel or did life on one planet spread to the other, and if so, how.



Zephyr

And if it did start on Mars, is life on Earth the continuation of life on Mars?

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: blahblah99

Originally posted by: Zephyr106

Originally posted by: LordMagnusKain

Originally posted by: Genesys

Microbiological organisms are hardly a thrill to find after travelling two billion miles.

ill have to agree with you on that one

I disagree; biogenesis is one of our most basic unanswered scientific questions.

Exactly. Incontrovertable proof of life on Mars would be a scientific bombshell. The question then would be did it start in parallel or did life on one planet spread to the other, and if so, how.

Zephyr

And if it did start on Mars, is life on Earth the continuation of life on Mars?

I think the big question should be:

If there was life on Mars, would it have tasted like chicken?

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

People have been asking if there is life in the universe since we knew there was a universe.

Is this a big deal? Maybe not. Then neither is relativity, gravitation, physics, science in general.

Maybe the newest video game is what's really important.

 

[Wag]

I thought the question was;

If life could exist in such an inhosbitable place as Mars, then isn't it likely that life exists almost everywhere?

 

[Bitek]

Originally posted by: Zephyr106

Originally posted by: LordMagnusKain

Originally posted by: Genesys

Microbiological organisms are hardly a thrill to find after travelling two billion miles.

ill have to agree with you on that one

I disagree; biogenesis is one of our most basic unanswered scientific questions.

Exactly. Incontrovertable proof of life on Mars would be a scientific bombshell. The question then would be did it start in parallel or did life on one planet spread to the other, and if so, how.



Zephyr

I would go so far as to say discovery of life on another planet may the biggest scientific finding in human history. However, I don't think we're anywhere near cconclusively proving that yet.

 

[Zephyr106]

Originally posted by: Wag
I thought the question was;

If life could exist in such an inhosbitable place as Mars, then isn't it likely that life exists almost everywhere?

Just looking at our solor system, Earth and Mars are by far the best places for life. Mercury and Venus are very hot, and everything past Mars is too cold, except maybe Titan(?) if it is geothermally heated.

Zephyr

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

There could be huge implications from even finding microbiological organisms on another planet. Everything we know of life is limited to this one planet, this one environment, this one system. Expanding our perspective beyond that is a huge step towards a more complete understandng of life itself.

 

[Steeplerot]

If there is life everywhere then think of all the planets with blue skinned hotties mMMMMmMmMmm I'll sign up! I'm ready for my big ship to spread the good cheeer of Terra.
Too bad Kirk knocked em all up DOH!

 

[myusername]

While proof of life in and of itself would mostly be good for philosophers, actually acquiring a sample alien DNA would be significant enough to keep most of the world's biologists busy for the next several decades.

 

[Siddhartha]

Originally posted by: MadRat
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-life-04a.html

On Earth there are four gases linked to the presence of life and habitable conditions: water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and molecular oxygen (O2, or its proxy, ozone O3). If Mars has all four, so what? Microbiological organisms are hardly a thrill to find after travelling two billion miles.

Academically, it is interesting. They are trying to drum up support for humans going to Mars.

 

[conehead433]

Well if there's methane on Mars, then there may be cows. And if there are cows then there's steaks and burgers. And if there's steaks and burgers, then we can eat.

""Mars is essentially in the same orbit...Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe."
....Governor George W. Bush, Jr., 8/11/94"

 

[conehead433]

"Mars is essentially in the same orbit...Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe."
....Governor George W. Bush, Jr., 8/11/94"

G. W. Bush provided the proof that he was a total idiot with this statement.

 

[ryzmah]

Originally posted by: conehead433
"Mars is essentially in the same orbit...Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe."
....Governor George W. Bush, Jr., 8/11/94"

G. W. Bush provided the proof that he was a total idiot with this statement.

Do you have a source for this? I'm almost positive the "Mars is essentially in the same orbit ..." is from former V.P. Dan Quayle (and mocked in Fallout 2).

Edit: Snopes also has this attributed to Quayle.

 

[illustri]

Originally posted by: Zephyr106

Originally posted by: Wag

I thought the question was;



If life could exist in such an inhosbitable place as Mars, then isn't it likely that life exists almost everywhere?

Just looking at our solor system, Earth and Mars are by far the best places for life. Mercury and Venus are very hot, and everything past Mars is too cold, except maybe Titan(?) if it is geothermally heated.



Zephyr

actually the best place for life within the solar system (other than earth, which actually im not too sure of ) is EUROPA, one of the moons of jupiter which is believed to have LIQUID water as OCEANS underneath its frozen surface

 

[Wag]

I dunno. Mars doesn't seem all that hospitable. There's not much there.

Europa does seem more interesting. Isn't there plans for a Europa lander that will drill into the ice?