Nasa finds evidence of 'life on Mars': Curiosity rover picks up methane 'burps'

[Donger]

Pretty hopeful, IMO, but interesting nonetheless...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/sc...s-9929510.html

Evidence of life on Mars could have been found by Nasa's Curiosity Rover.

Mysterious spikes of methane that cannot easily be explained by geology or other theories have been found by one of the instruments on the robot, which landed on the planet in 2012. Scientists can’t be sure what is causing the spikes, but it is possible that it could be very small, bacteria-like living organisms.

If the gas is coming from living, breathing microbes then it would mark one of the biggest discoveries in history. On Earth, 95% of methane comes from microbial organisms.

Scientists have said that the rover now has to test and re-test the possibility of life, ahead of a manned mission in 2020 that would look for the source of the methane.

Previous satellite observations have detected unusual plumes of methane on the planet, but none as extraordinary as the sudden "venting" measured at Gale Crater, where evidence suggests water once flowed billions of years ago.

The laboratory onboard the rover has been sniffing methane in the atmosphere a dozen times in the last 12 months. In late 2013 and early 2014, the amount of methane flared up, and then receded.

Other possible explanations include the Sun's rays degrading organic material that was left behind by meteors, Nasa scientists said at the press conference announcing the news. But that explanation still relies on the original material being deposited, they said.

Curiosity, one of Nasa's two Mars Exploration Rovers, landed in the 96 mile-wide crater in August 2012 and has been exploring the region since.

Last year Nasa reported that Gale contained the remains of an ancient freshwater lake where there may have been a hospitable environment for life in the distant past.

The new discovery, reported in the journal Science, followed studies of gas samples by Curiosity's Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TAS), an instrument that uses intense light to carry out chemical analysis.

It revealed a low background level of methane which spiked 10-fold over a period of just 60 Martian days.

In four sequential measurements, Curiosity showed the methane level soaring from about 0.69 parts per billion by volume (ppbv) to 7.2 ppbv.

The spikes occurred within 200 to 300 metres of each other and less than a kilometre from where the lower readings were detected.

By the time Curiosity had travelled a further kilometre, the higher methane levels had disappeared.

In their paper, the US scientists led by Dr Chris Webster, from Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, wrote: "The persistence of the high methane values over 60 sols (Martian days) and their sudden drop 47 sols later is not consistent with a well-mixed event, but rather with a local production or venting that, once terminated, disperses quickly."

The wind direction indicated a source to the north of the rover.

Life is the chief producer of methane on Earth, but there are many non-biological processes that can also generate the gas.

The low background level of methane detected by Curiosity can be explained by the Sun's rays degrading organic material possibly deposited by meteors, said the Nasa scientists.

But the spikes of methane required an additional source, which was unlikely to be a recent impact by comet or asteroid. Such an object would have had to measure several metres across and would have left a large crater, no sign of which was visible.

The short time-scale of the methane spikes did not suggest that the gas was released from volcanic deposits trapped in ice, called clathrates. Nor did it appear to come from the release of gaseous methane that had become bound to the soil.

An image taken by Curiosity Mars as seen by the Curiosity rover (NASA)
The Nasa authors are cautious about jumping to conclusions, but conclude that "methanogenesis" - the formation of methane by microbial bugs known as methanogens - may be one answer to the riddle.

They wrote: "Our measurements spanning a full Mars year indicate that trace quantities of methane are being generated on Mars by more than one mechanism or a combination of proposed mechanisms - including methanogenesis either today or released from past reservoirs, or both."

Gale Crater, on the Martian equator, was created when a large meteor struck the planet 3.5 billion to 3.8 billion years ago.

At its centre is a high mountain, named Mount Sharp, that rises 18,000ft above the crater floor. Flowing water appears to have carved channels in the sides of the mountain and the crater walls.

Another major discovery by Curiosity was that of water bound in the fine-grained soil within the crater. Each cubic foot of Martian soil was found to contain around two pints of water, not freely accessible but attached to minerals.

The rover has reached the base of Mount Sharp and over the coming months will begin a slow climb. Scientists are especially keen to explore the mountain because its sedimentary layers provide tantalising snapshots of Martian history.

The question of whether there is, or was, life on Mars may finally be answered by the European Space Agency's ExoMars mission, which will land a 300kg rover on the Red Planet in 2019.

ExoMars will be equipped with a two-metre drill and the ability to detect biomarkers of life. It will not be heading for Gale Crater, however. Because it will land with less precision than Curiosity, the crater and its mountain are considered too potentially hazardous.

[ThaVirus]

This thread is getting deep..

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

This thread is getting deep..

Snakes can "smell" heat.

Bats have sonar.

Two senses we don't have.

We look at life with the 5 we do and have no exposure or experience with anything else...

[BigCatDaddy]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

This thread is getting deep..

So deep put my ass to sleep.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

(yes, this is one of my favorite things to think/talk about....)

I think it's a "Childhood's End" type of scenario.

Get the public familiar with UFO's, orbit, moon landing, deep space travel, the idea of extraterrestrial life, and a blurb about Mars.

When it's later revealed that there's extraterrestrial life on Mars and possibly intelligent life on Europa, the 1st world will have had nearly 80 years to become comfortable with the information that life exists, maybe abundantly, elsewhere in the galaxy.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

So deep put my ass to sleep.

A lot of old school hip hop on the board tonight.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by BigMeatballDave

Way too hot.

Not on the cloud tops. Its actually the closest atmospheric environment to earth in the solar system and its not even close. Look up Venus cloud city colonization. Could be possible..maybe.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

I was talking more about established cultural/religious belief structures that preclude other forms of life (and it's not just fundamental christianity). I think people that understand math and science, or even that have the imagination to envision the earth isn't the be all/end all of the universe already believe that live exists elsewhere. But there's still a lot of people who haven't made that leap in logic. You'll even find some that characterize this whole discussion (or any life we may find) as inherently evil, or demonic.

As far as the Fermi paradox goes, it's possible that the universe is violent and dangerous, not everything is friendly and making contact is ultimately a really bad thing. Meaning it's possible we haven't heard from anybody because reality is closer to mass effect than to star trek, and when cultures reach the point that they can reach out, so to speak, they get culled.

I'm not saying it is that way, just that the whole idea that cultures become more peaceful as they advance (which has been a fundamental structure in science fiction for many decades) may be a utopian ideal that isn't grounded in reality.

As far as solar systems being too far apart, I would tend to think that's maybe only a limitation to relative primitives like us. Although I suspect that we ourselves may only be generations away from working out feasible interstellar travel.

Basically I think there's an inherent arrogance to the idea that just because we can't do something nobody else can, either.

It's also possible that we're being contacted in ways we can't detect or understand. Personally, I've always thought the way SETI is searching for radio signals is a bit silly.

Although I guess we have found some signals. We just have yet to find a strange signal that repeats.

I think time is a big issue. Given the amount of time the universe has been expanding, life forms have likely come and gone. The ones that exist at the same time are likely too different and far apart to communicate.

[stumppy]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I think it's a "Childhood's End" type of scenario.

Get the public familiar with UFO's, orbit, moon landing, deep space travel, the idea of extraterrestrial life, and a blurb about Mars.

When it's later revealed that there's extraterrestrial life on Mars and possibly intelligent life on Europa, the 1st world will have had nearly 80 years to become comfortable with the information that life exists, maybe abundantly, elsewhere in the galaxy.

Thats pretty much what I think. We're going to have to grow into that.

[InChiefsHeaven]

Heh. Martian farts. Heh.

[Window Licking Whiner]

Originally Posted by eDave

What's wrong with awesome advances in science?

because now, with the new expansion teams that will be on mars, the Chiefs will never win a superbowl...duh!

[ottawa_chiefs_fan]

/religion

[Sorce]

So how long till we play a home game on mars?

[Mugalug]

Originally Posted by Rausch

Snakes can "smell" heat.

Bats have sonar.

Two senses we don't have.

We look at life with the 5 we do and have no exposure or experience with anything else...

Humans have way more than 5 senses, just sayin.

[BigCatDaddy]

In for little green men.

[morphius]

Originally Posted by Rausch

Snakes can "smell" heat.

Bats have sonar.

Two senses we don't have.

We look at life with the 5 we do and have no exposure or experience with anything else...

Actually we can use echo location. I'm having trouble finding the article, but it doesn't seem to take that long to learn to do it. I know it started off with a blind guy riding a bicycle.