Methane discovery suggests presence of life on Mars, say Nasa scientists

[Ichingcarpenter]

Source: news Australia

NASA scientists are expected to announce they may have proof there is life on Mars.

The scientists suspect alien microbes are alive and kicking just below the soil of the big planet, after large quantities of what is believed to be the organisms’ waste products were detected.

The organisms – called methanogens – are suspected to have been living in water beneath underground ice, where they are disgorging tonnes and tonnes of methane.
Although there is a consensus among some scientists that methane is also produced by volcanic processes, the lack of any active volcanoes on Mars rules this possibility out.

Methane plumes are very short-lived, it is chemically broken down by sunlight within a year. Something is replacing the methane, and quickly.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24917099-401,00.html

---

Nasa will announce the full results of the study at a briefing in Washington today.


WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a science update at 2 p.m. EST, Thursday, Jan. 15, to discuss analysis of the Martian atmosphere that raises the possibility of life or geologic activity. The briefing will take place in the James E. Webb Memorial Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St., S.W., Washington, and carried live on NASA Television.

The briefing participants are:

- Michael Meyer, Mars program lead scientist, NASA Headquarters in Washington

- Michael Mumma, senior planetary scientist and director, Goddard Center for Astrobiology, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

- Geronimo Villanueva, planetary scientist and astrobiologist, Goddard Space Flight Center

- Sushil Atreya, professor of atmospheric and space science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

- Lisa Pratt, professor of geological sciences, Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana



http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

[SpiralHawk]

1. "Smirk." - Republicon Reptilians

Decloacking

[derby378]

2. Any life left in either Spirit or Opportunity?

I know, I know, probably not. But I don't think the debate will be settled until we actually behold photos of Martian critters. Suspected methane waste products, that's interesting. Suspected microbe fossils in a Martian meteorite, that's also great. But we want to see wiggly things under the microscope.

And if I hear anyone even whisper any thoughts about "patenting" these lifeforms in the name of some university of Big Pharma concern... :mad:

[PearliePoo2]

11. I don't know if Spirit or Opportunity are still viable or not....

I DO know that they were wildly successful, since their projected life-span was only a few months, yet they kept on "ticking". (time for a Google search on 'em)
Wiggly things under the microscope?...yeah baby!

[RaleighNCDUer]

16. Both are STILL active.

Which really surprises me because i was just certain that the martians were responsible for the quick demise of of the previous probes. "mix up between metric and standard measurements" my ass. the martians shot the polar lander down.

[PearliePoo2]

17. Spirit and Opportunity have problems but are not DONE. Unbelievable!

A huge Mars dust storm darkened the skies, coated their solar panels with dust and consequently slowed them down.
Spirit is in serious but stable condition. she is resting and re-charging.
Opportunity is re-charged, kicking ass and she's under way. She is presently heading South to the large crater Endeavor (14 mile diameter):applause:
Gives me chills!

[Posteritatis]

37. Both 90-day rovers recently turned five years old (nt)

[anigbrowl]

41. Yeah, but they won't be able to help

they don't have the necessary chemical analysis facilities to measure the isotopes in the methane to find out if it has an organic signature or now. There's another and much larger rover in the works though, which would be able to test this (and it's pretty much a given that they'll want to, now).

"And if I hear anyone even whisper any thoughts about "patenting" these lifeforms in the name of some university of Big Pharma concern... "

Don't cross bridges before you come to them.

[Ian David]

3. NASA has been politicized. They're timing the announcement to take away from Bush's farewell speech.

They've used NASA to help Bush "take out the trash" before.

[aquart]

14. Didn't Bush want to scuttle Mars research and go back to the moon?

[Ian David]

19. No, he scuttled everything except Moon and Mars to deliberately bankrupt Earth Science research.

Spend all the money on unfunded mandates to go to The Moon and Mars, and then there's supposed to be no money left to study Global Climate Change.

[Posteritatis]

36. Much like Reagan and Bush Sr., I doubt he planned to follow through on the Moon/Mars either (nt)

[Ghost Dog]

4. Beautiful. There will be life everywhere life is possible

in this galaxy and others in the universe. That's my prediction.

[Jamastiene]

8. I'll second that prediction.

:thumbsup:

[al bupp]

20. I agree

Time will tell that microbes are essentially ubiquitous throughout the galaxy, probably even beyond, though the latter will be harder to infer.

The real question is how often do they get a chance to evolve into multi-cellular organisms?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

38. Whatever evolves...

I hope it can learn from our mistakes.

[Political Heretic]

5. I for one welcome our new insect overlords

[Jamastiene]

6. I knew it.

Martians love chili. :P

[PearliePoo2]

7. fascinating!

Now...I wonder..can a NASA Mars lander scoop up some of these microbes, put them under an on-board microscope and try to identify them?

[Kweli4Real]

12. Color me Chicken ...

But Identify it up there ... Don't bring it back here to Earth. We have no idea what effect it will have on our environment and our health. Or maybe I've just watched too much Sci Fi TV.

[PearliePoo2]

15. oh yeah...definetly..

that's why I suggested an on-board Lander microscope.

[Solon]

50. Frankly the danger would be miniscule to nonexistent...

Most of those said microbes would be extremophiles of one sort or another, extremophiles are bacteria that live in places like volcanic vents or in arctic ice, environments most organisms simply can't survive in. Earth has plenty of species that act like this, so its nothing new. However, another trait of said organisms is that removing them from these environments usually isn't conductive to their survival. When you have an organism that thrives in water that's approaching boiling point, and try to grow it at room temperature, it usually dies.

The disease factor is also small, all infectious diseases on Earth are infectious for a reason, they evolved to infect us, over millions of years, many species of bacteria, viruses, etc. all found our bodies to be excellent locations to get the resources needed to reproduce. A martian bacterium or virus frankly wouldn't know what to do with our bodies, for they did not involve to survive within our bodies at all, indeed, considering the Martian environment, our bodies would be far too hostile for them.

There is a risk, just like there's a risk in everything, but the risk is so small as to be negligible.

[Ichingcarpenter]

9. What is the Phoenix Mars lander's big discovery?

The blogosphere is abuzz about a supposedly big discovery - relating to the 'potential for life' on Mars - by the Phoenix lander.

Craig Covault of Aviation Week, who broke the story on Friday, says members of the lander's wet chemistry lab were kept out of a news briefing last Thursday. "The goal was to prevent them from being asked any questions that could reveal information before NASA is ready to make an announcement," he reported. The story said NASA hoped to release the news as early as mid-August and that the White House had been briefed on the discovery.

What might the big news be? We won't know for sure until the team spills the beans, of course. But if it does in fact relate to the wet chemistry lab (WCL), which is part of the lander's MECA suite of instruments, it might be possible to narrow down the options based on what the WCL can do.

One thing it definitely cannot do is detect life itself - past or present. None of Phoenix's instruments are built to do that.

http://www.newscientist.com/blog/space/2008/08/what-is-phoenix-mars-landers-big.html

[LiberalEsto]

10. They found them by their farts!

That methane is the farts of all these tiny critters.
I bow my head in awe.

[harun]

18. LOL

[Endangered Specie]

42. I'll remember that next time the gf complains...

"Honey, Im just signalling the aliens to come look for us!"

[tekisui]

13. Interesting and exciting.

[lovuian]

21. They are beginning to acknowledge life on other planets

next step is accepting UFOS

they have been told to tell the populace

now religions are going to have to catch up

[anigbrowl]

43. That possibility has always been acknowledged. This is (potentially) evidence of it.

[Zhade]

44. First there has to BE evidence of extraterrestrial UFOs.

NT!

[jimlup]

22. Wow! If this bears out it is truly a significant discovery!

I'm actually surprised. I've been suspecting mars is now dead. Just my gut feeling but I'd be more than happy to have that proven wrong!

[OneBlueSky]

23. of course there's life on Mars! . . . how else do you account for Dennis Rodman? . . . n/t :)

[jpak]

24. The need to analyzed the stable isotope composition of this stuff

That would be the clincher.

[Javaman]

25. everything poops. nt

[daleo]

26. Mars has bacteria!

Just as predicted in Revelations (or so we will soon hear).

[jpak]

27. Technical point - methanogens are Archaea (not bacteria)

n/t

[daleo]

29. Well, a different verse of Revelations then. n/t

[PearliePoo2]

28. Mars has "cooties"?

Say it ain't so!

[lumberjack_jeff]

30. I'll be interested to see if this holds up.

After cold fusion and ALH84001 I'll take a wait and see attitude.

[Ichingcarpenter]

31. Press Conference Starting Now

Talking about the Methane measurements
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

[Ichingcarpenter]

32. Volcanic origin has been ruled out for the methane

The methane appearance tends to be seasonal

[jpak]

34. No other volcanic gases detected (no sulfur dioxide etc.)

no cometary sources either

n/t

[Ichingcarpenter]

39. Official Statement from NASA

Discovery of Methane Reveals Mars is Not a Dead Planet

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 -- A team of NASA and university scientists has achieved the first definitive detection of methane in the atmosphere of Mars. This discovery indicates the planet is either biologically or geologically active.

The team found methane in the Martian atmosphere by carefully observing the planet throughout several Mars years with NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility and the W.M. Keck telescope, both at Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The team used spectrometers on the telescopes to spread the light into its component colors, as a prism separates white light into a rainbow. The team detected three spectral features called absorption lines that together are a definitive signature of methane.

"Methane is quickly destroyed in the Martian atmosphere in a variety of ways, so our discovery of substantial plumes of methane in the northern hemisphere of Mars in 2003 indicates some ongoing process is releasing the gas," said Michael Mumma of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "At northern mid-summer, methane is released at a rate comparable to that of the massive hydrocarbon seep at Coal Oil Point in Santa Barbara, Calif." Mumma is lead author of a paper describing this research that will appear in Science Express on Thursday.

Methane, four atoms of hydrogen bound to a carbon atom, is the main component of natural gas on Earth. Astrobiologists are interested in these data because organisms release much of Earth's methane as they digest nutrients. However, other purely geological processes, like oxidation of iron, also release methane.
"Right now, we do not have enough information to tell whether biology or geology -- or both -- is producing the methane on Mars," Mumma said. "But it does tell us the planet is still alive, at least in a geologic sense. It is as if Mars is challenging us, saying, 'hey, find out what this means.'"

If microscopic Martian life is producing the methane, it likely resides far below the surface where it is warm enough for liquid water to exist. Liquid water is necessary for all known forms of life, as are energy sources and a supply of carbon.

"On Earth, microorganisms thrive about 1.2 to 1.9 miles beneath the Witwatersrand basin of South Africa, where natural radioactivity splits water molecules into molecular hydrogen and oxygen," Mumma said. "The organisms use the hydrogen for energy. It might be possible for similar organisms to survive for billions of years below the permafrost layer on Mars, where water is liquid, radiation supplies energy, and carbon dioxide provides carbon. Gases, like methane, accumulated in such underground zones might be released into the atmosphere if pores or fissures open during the warm seasons, connecting the deep zones to the atmosphere at crater walls or canyons."

It is possible a geologic process produced the Martian methane, either now or eons ago. On Earth, the conversion of iron oxide into the serpentine group of minerals creates methane, and on Mars this process could proceed using water, carbon dioxide and the planet's internal heat. Although there is no evidence of active volcanism on Mars today, ancient methane trapped in ice cages called clathrates might be released now.
"We observed and mapped multiple plumes of methane on Mars, one of which released about 19,000 metric tons of methane," said co-author Geronimo Villanueva of the Catholic University of America in Washington. "The plumes were emitted during the warmer seasons, spring and summer, perhaps because ice blocking cracks and fissures vaporized, allowing methane to seep into the Martian air."

According to the team, the plumes were seen over areas that show evidence of ancient ground ice or flowing water. Plumes appeared over the Martian northern hemisphere regions such as east of Arabia Terra, the Nili Fossae region, and the south-east quadrant of Syrtis Major, an ancient volcano about 745 miles across.
One method to test whether life produced this methane is by measuring isotope ratios. Isotopes of an element have slightly different chemical properties, and life prefers to use the lighter isotopes. A chemical called deuterium is a heavier version of hydrogen. Methane and water released on Mars should show distinctive ratios for isotopes of hydrogen and carbon if life was responsible for methane production. It will take future missions, like NASA's Mars Science Laboratory, to discover the origin of the Martian methane.


http://spacefellowship.com/News/?p=7963

[Zhade]

45. So it's not certain it's life. Damn.

I'm looking forward to religionists losing it when life is found.

[Ichingcarpenter]

46. It means the planet is alive

be it geological or biological. I think the data leans towards biological, but
as Segan said 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof' and scientist
must be careful.


The biggest plume of methane discovered during the three-year study released about a pound of methane per second, roughly the same rate as the Coal Oil Plant Natural Reserve near Santa Barbara, Calif.


Viking, I think did discovered life.


New Information Supports Claim Viking Discovered Life in 1976

San Diego - August 1, 2000 - Hot on the heels of NASA's decision to land new rovers on Mars, the debate over the existence of life on the red planet is heating up. Dr. Gilbert V. Levin, a chief proponent, today advanced his claim to finding living microorganisms on the elusive planet 25 years ago.

Dr. Levin, one of a trio of scientists, including himself and another who participated in NASA's Viking Mission, was presenting a paper at the Annual Meeting of the International Society for Optical Engineering refuting the mainstay arguments against life on Mars.



He contends that those arguments -- the presumed absence of organic matter and of liquid water -- are no longer tenable.

Commenting on this turn of events, Gilbert Levin said, “With the overcoming of this last barrier, I believe, it has become extremely difficult to deny, on scientific grounds, that the Viking LR experiment did, indeed, find microorganisms in the soil of Mars. From what we have learned since Viking, it is possible that they could be the same, or nearly the same, species that have recently been discovered thriving on Earth at places where liquid water is at least as scarce as it is on Mars. But, since they could be quite different, I think this will have a profound impact on NASA’s plan to bring a sample of Martian soil to Earth. It seems to me that even a slight risk to our health and environment exceeds any likely benefit.”


http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-life-00i.html

[sofa king]

55. Yep, my old man worked on that experiment.

Specifically, he was one of the engineers tasked with fitting a chemistry lab inside of a shoebox--instrument package #2, as he calls it, now better known as the Labeled Release experiment.

For decades now, whenever the subject comes up, he grumbles, "I didnt build that damned thing to fail."

Last summer, when the Phoenix team went mum about their lab experiments, I joked that if they found anything, we wouldn't know about it unless a Democrat was elected President.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the old man cast his first Democratic vote in his life this past November.

So even if it's a little early, I want to say hooray for science and hooray for my dad!

[Ichingcarpenter]

56. Fascinating... I've been following the controversy for years

You should be proud of your Dad and tell him it looks like his team was vindicated.

[graywarrior]

33. Mini us's!

[Buns_of_Fire]

35. We have found other life in the solar system! And it farts, too!

Something tells me we're all gonna get along just fine.

Unless the finding winds up pointing to a bunch of methane-emitting martian cows. In which case, the headline would read:

We have found other life in the solar system! And we can eat them, too! (Just like popplers, for you Futurama fans.)

[Endangered Specie]

40. Well shit, I want Jack Nicholson as president now...

[lumberjack_jeff]

53. Can't we all just.... get along?

AAck, ack Aaack!

[KakistocracyHater]

47. a 1986 newspaper article-San Francisco area probably

I can still recall reading it, I was to do a report on it in a school assignment; it was about the "canals" on Mars, & scientists at that time said, basically 'just because they look like canals made by water, like here on Earth, doesn't mean they are what they seem to be-because the canals are on Mars'. I stood at the head of the class & said I had to disagree with the best & brightest at Nasa because they obviously were denying reality. My point then seems to get better with each "new" discovery on Mars. 1 decade later the tiny bots on Mars shifted Nasa towards my point of view, I have to laugh at the oddness of scientists. They are strange, I thought it was perfectly normal for "extra-solar planets" to exist around those other *s & I was shocked when they first discovered 1 in the 90s-funny men.......I never know what they'll say next

[MellowDem]

48. Mars cows? nt

[cobalt1999]

49. Probably causing Martian warming.

Damn carnivorous bacteria.

[undeterred]

51. The next time you pass gas, remember it could linger for billions of years.

:hide:

[Iggo]

52. So all we had to do...

...was check for farts?

Mars smelt it and so it follows that Mars must have dealt it?

I like science.

[asdjrocky]

54. Haven't they also found methanogens in Wasila Ak?

Sorry to make the joke on something so amazing but I couldn't help myself.