NASA discovers methane on Mars, could be evidence of (current) life

[Fig]

The other potentially huge science news for today

NOW, note the "Could be". There are other explanations, but it's hardly obvious that any of the other explanations are better than this one.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/science/space/16mars.html?_r=1

 

[evkl]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3qu-sCei3U

It's only a matter of time.

 

[GrnMarvl14]

Now if we could only FIND the life.

 

[TTEchidna]

Then we'd likely end up killing it.

 

[GrnMarvl14]

Why do you think I want to find it? I've already bought my spacesuit and had a special gun made.

 

[Mitch]

Interesting. Who knows? Anything is possible.

 

[Metagross72]

Life needs water to live, and there's no water on Mars, just methane. Life also needs oxygen. But still, maybe there's a species of something that can live without it.

 

[Valdez]

Life needs water to live, and there's no water on Mars, just methane.

Actually, there's evidence to suggest that liquid water has flowed on Mars within the last decade.

Life also needs oxygen.

Not all forms; some species of bacteria attached themselves to spacecraft and survived in space until the craft returned to Earth.

 

[bell02+]

Oxygen isn't necessarily that important to life

Still this is all exciting. Wither life is on Mars or not, we've brought up a lot of evidence so far that life may have existed, which is just as exciting to me.

 

[Zeta]

Life needs water to live, and there's no water on Mars, just methane.

Only to our knowledge (that life needs water to live, that is).

 

[Sparkblast]

Only to our knowledge (that life needs water to live, that is).

True, Anything or quite alot of things could happen..Maybe species can survive on mud or something like the methane

 

[GrnMarvl14]

Life needs water to live, and there's no water on Mars, just methane. Life also needs oxygen. But still, maybe there's a species of something that can live without it.

There's ice. Where there's ice and above freezing temperatures, you get water. We just haven't FOUND any water...yet. Could easily exist below the surface.

 

[DerMißingno]

Actually, there's evidence to suggest that liquid water has flowed on Mars within the last decade.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/news/mgs-20061206.html

Here's your source. Very interesting stuff.