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Report: Life on Mars; Microbes living just below soil

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AndersTheSwede said:
We've been through this shit before. I'm holding out for direct evidence straight from NASA.

Trace methane means shit. Titan has fucking lakes of it.

We'll see tomorrow at the press conference I guess...

Also, methane on Mars means a lot more than methane on Titan, as Titan is thought to be geologically active, while Mars is not. Because volcanism cannot be the cause of Mars' methane, life becomes the most likely explanation.
 
Blackace said:
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.

Not if Cohagen has anything to say about it!
 
Nice damn title, not misleading at all.

And to whoever talked about contamination from earth via a rover/lander - well, tehy're talking about methane in the atmosphere which obviously wont all arise from a bunch of bactria on some rover.
That said, if some by some miracle did survive then that's even bigger news than alien life on mars, it means some earthly form can actually survive, what? 7 months of space and then around a fucking year on mars. Damn impossible.
 
Rindain said:
We'll see tomorrow at the press conference I guess...

Also, methane on Mars means a lot more than methane on Titan, as Titan is thought to be geologically active, while Mars is not. Because volcanism cannot be the cause of Mars' methane, life becomes the most likely explanation.

It's tough to discuss without any information on the amount of methane present. But if it is trace levels (the most likely as large levels would have stood out like a sore fucking thumb before) then life is not the most likely explanation. Deposits from comet strikes would probably be more likely.

If there are living biological organisms on Mars then they would have had billions of years to reproduce into huge colonies of bacteria, the byproduct of however their metabolism works would be readily apparent in the atmosphere and should exceed trace amounts.

Then again, I'm armchairing here, so what the fuck do I really know. :D
 
adamsappel said:
2uizuz6.jpg

is that the dude from the new season of 24 on the left? The Joker scars look familiar.
 
AndersTheSwede said:
It's tough to discuss without any information on the amount of methane present. But if it is trace levels (the most likely as large levels would have stood out like a sore fucking thumb before) then life is not the most likely explanation. Deposits from comet strikes would probably be more likely.

If there are living biological organisms on Mars then they would have had billions of years to reproduce into huge colonies of bacteria, the byproduct of however their metabolism works would be readily apparent in the atmosphere and should exceed trace amounts.

Then again, I'm armchairing here, so what the fuck do I really know. :D


According to wiki:

The presence of methane on Mars is very intriguing, since as an unstable gas it indicates that there must be a source of the gas on the planet. It is estimated that Mars must produce 270 ton/year of methane,[13][14] but asteroid impacts account for only 0.8% of the total methane production. Although geologic sources of methane are possible, the lack of current volcanism, hydrothermal activity or hotspots are not favorable for geologic methane. The existence of life in the form of microorganisms such as methanogens are among possible, but as yet unproven sources.
 
White Man said:
According to wiki:
The presence of methane on Mars is very intriguing, since as an unstable gas it indicates that there must be a source of the gas on the planet. It is estimated that Mars must produce 270 ton/year of methane,[13][14] but asteroid impacts account for only 0.8% of the total methane production. Although geologic sources of methane are possible, the lack of current volcanism, hydrothermal activity or hotspots are not favorable for geologic methane. The existence of life in the form of microorganisms such as methanogens are among possible, but as yet unproven sources.

Very interesting. Though I wonder how bolded is calculated.

All the more reason to send humans to find out what the hell is going on.
 
Karakand said:
ALL THESE WORLDS
ARE YOURS EXCEPT
MARS
ATTEMPT NO
LANDING THERE
USE THEM TOGETHER
USE THEM IN PEACE


Wait, we got two pages, and still no one picked up on this 2001/2010 Reference?

For shame, GAF, for Shame.

also: what's the over/under on the first martian sex party?
 
DrEvil said:
Wait, we got two pages, and still no one picked up on this 2001/2010 Reference?

For shame, GAF, for Shame.

also: what's the over/under on the first martian sex party?

It's my birthday today, so I want to be the first to fuck one. And if this ends up a wash or for whatever reason I can't be the first to mate with one, I will settle for this dude as a concession:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-l-jshNYkA
 
DrEvil said:
Wait, we got two pages, and still no one picked up on this 2001/2010 Reference?

For shame, GAF, for Shame.

also: what's the over/under on the first martian sex party?

Oh I get it now. I know I heard/saw that somewhere before, but couldnt place where.

Also if actual living Martian microbes are confirmed, that means there could be Martian viruses?
 
Teknoman said:
Oh I get it now. I know I heard/saw that somewhere before, but couldnt place where.

Also if actual living Martian microbes are confirmed, that means there could be Martian viruses?
We can get some statisticians to make us feel better with odds and hope that they don't effect us.
 
Pyrokai said:
Wait, is this fake or not??? Why doesn't the NASA link work anymore?
Works fine for me. Its just a link to NASA's streaming video section for breaking news. Nothing will be on it until the conference starts.

lowrider007 said:


I dunno about all that...but whats funny is that back in elementary school I told my teacher (2nd grade early nineties) that there had to have been water on mars because of the lines (since we were just learning about erosion and other geologic activities) that could be seen in pictures. Was from one of those Eyewitness books about planets. She told me that water couldn't have and never existed on Mars. She could've at least told me that it was a possibility instead of just shutting me down like that :lol
 
Microbes that produce methane instead of Oxygen?

That one movie was close...


What if we contaminated earth, and methane killed our atmosphere? That'd suck.
 
I'm not quite sure why I still browse the Rapture Ready forums for their entertaining views on news stories. At first I'm like "lol" but then I'm like ":(" at the stupidity.

Their take on the news:

http://www.rr-bb.com said:
they are so desperate, please oh please....life anywhere, Jupitar, Mars, the black hole of galactica, anything to prove that evolution is true, there is no God and I won't die and be doomed to hell forever......

sorry, I'm a bit sarcastic today...

lowrider007 said:

gtfo
 
Pyrokai said:
Yeah it's working for me now, too. But is it fake? Because that first website seems like a tabloid.....
The Sun is a tabloid, but they dont always post fake news. Hoping this one isnt one of the fakes that has to be retracted later.

As far as contaminating our own planet...that would suck. Could that even be possible though? If so, maybe that's what happened to Mars in the first place so long ago?

EDIT: Really sucks how other "religious" people make it seem you cant believe in a higher power yet also believe that life is elsewhere in the universe. Dont want to try and steer the topic off track with this, but if someone believes in an almighty power, why cant that power create life wherever they damn well please?
 
Teknoman said:
The Sun is a tabloid, but they dont always post fake news. Hoping this one isnt one of the fakes that has to be retracted later.

As far as contaminating our own planet...that would suck. Could that even be possible though? If so, maybe that's what happened to Mars in the first place so long ago?
If there are microbes on Mars, I'm sure sending back equipment or men could. That's how viruses and incests spread over seas.
 
Blackace said:
What? I thought the lack of any real magnetic field on Mars was a common theory to explain the atmosphere? Am I misremembering something? I could've sworn I saw that on a documentary somewhere...
 
DeathNote said:
If there are microbes on Mars, I'm sure sending back equipment or men could. That's how viruses and incests spread over seas.

I'd hope they would die between trips or at least on reentry. Then again, microbes exist in all kinds of crazy environments...
 
Teknoman said:
EDIT: Really sucks how other "religious" people make it seem you cant believe in a higher power yet also believe that life is elsewhere in the universe. Dont want to try and steer the topic off track with this, but if someone believes in an almighty power, why cant that power create life wherever they damn well please?
Mars isn't in the Bible. Therefore it can't be true.
 
What people fail to acknowledge is that finding actual life on Mars in any shape or form, would quite literally, be the biggest event in science ever.
It would be 'clear all headlines, constant reporting on all newstations' big.

Please wake me when they found actual life. Not something among another 100 other possible indicators that life has been/is on Mars.
 
Wii said:
Mars was the first Earth


THere is a reasonable opportunity for Mars to have been an Earth-like planet in the past. When the core of the earth stops a-churning, Earth and Mars will be similar in climate.
 
Phoenix said:
THere is a reasonable opportunity for Mars to have been an Earth-like planet in the past. When the core of the earth stops a-churning, Earth and Mars will be similar in climate.
Yeah, that could be a possibility. Though, even after watching those two conspiracy youtube links, it does seem clear that we know very little about Mars. I think NASA just cannot make definitive conclusions with so little information and I don't blame them.

What are the chances of a return-rover mission? Where samples could be collected and returned to Earth? I would figure this would come prior to any possible manned mission.
 
devilhawk said:
Yeah, that could be a possibility. Though, even after watching those two conspiracy youtube links, it does seem clear that we know very little about Mars. I think NASA just cannot make definitive conclusions with so little information and I don't blame them.

What are the chances of a return-rover mission? Where samples could be collected and returned to Earth? I would figure this would come prior to any possible manned mission.


If they've actually found something - its highly likely they'll fasttrack a mission there to confirm the findings because it will be of such significance. However, bringing alien microbes back to Earth has always represented an unknown hazard that people generally avoid realistically pushing for it. But now it may move from the theoretical to the practical - though it makes more sense to simply study the microbes or whatever it is in the relative containment of the ISS.
 
XiaNaphryz said:
What? I thought the lack of any real magnetic field on Mars was a common theory to explain the atmosphere? Am I misremembering something? I could've sworn I saw that on a documentary somewhere...
sorry. the quote isn't really mine but Dan the man's
 
Phoenix said:
If they've actually found something - its highly likely they'll fasttrack a mission there to confirm the findings because it will be of such significance. However, bringing alien microbes back to Earth has always represented an unknown hazard that people generally avoid realistically pushing for it. But now it may move from the theoretical to the practical - though it makes more sense to simply study the microbes or whatever it is in the relative containment of the ISS.
It would be interesting, especially with what propulsion system would be used for a return trip from the Mars' surface.
 
I didn't think this mars mission was set up to find life? ie doesn't have any tools to detect things like microbes.


Isn't that what the next lander is for?
 
DeathNote said:
Microbes that produce methane instead of Oxygen?

That one movie was close...


What if we contaminated earth, and methane killed our atmosphere? That'd suck.

What if we enslaved those tiny bitches and had natural gas forever?

devilhawk said:
It would be interesting, especially with what propulsion system would be used for a return trip from the Mars' surface.

Methane baby! There a whole planet of it right above our heads and we're the only civilization that can get at it.


PETA better not get in the way of harvesting microbes.
 
John Murray — a member of the Mars Express European space probe team — believes the mini-Martians may be in a form of suspended animation and could even be revived.
Am i the only one who thought of this:
41DCJC016WL._SL500_AA280_.jpg
 
Don't know why all of the lander missions wouldn't have tools to detect microbes in soil if they were there..?

I mean, wouldn't a microscope suffice to find microbes or bacteria of a certain size at least?

The sooner we get those tools to Mars the better. I don't know why they've been beating around the bush with all these indirect measurements.

Still, very curious to see this briefing.
 
jiji said:
Ah, so, they haven't actually found the microbes, just the methane.

I learned long ago to take GAF thread titles with a grain of salt.


thats the thing I don't get. Its like saying 'ooh, the planet is made of rock just like the earth - maybe there is life on it'
 
Amir0x said:
I will just wait for a legitimate source before commenting much. I hope it is true, because that'd pretty much put to rest any doubt about there being life out there in this universe. If there is life right next door, there is other life in the distant reaches of the galaxy.

And it'll just make me more jealous that I don't live forever to travel to other planets.

You made me sad deep down =(
 
I hope martias are like :
David-Bowie-Life-On-Mars---Or-80172.jpg


Bowie owns
 
mrklaw said:
thats the thing I don't get. Its like saying 'ooh, the planet is made of rock just like the earth - maybe there is life on it'

I presume methane is a bit more distinguishing than 'rock'. Particularly on a planet with apparently no current volcanic activity.

Various reports also seem to be saying that the patches of methane coincide with patches of water vapour..that the two in tandem may be more suggestive of biological origin?

Anyway..NASA isn't stupid..I'm sure there is something new to share here that's of interest. I guess they've found something new about the methane or other factors. That said, they're a lot more conservative in their press teaser than, say, The Sun article, pointing to the possibility of 'life or geological activity' as the source for whatever atmospheric findings they've made. I presume they'll elaborate, and elaborate on the probabilities of it being one or the other, at the press conference.
 
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