(Edit)

From, nasa.gov:

"It's of interest to astrobiologists 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 don’t have enough information to tell if biology or geology -- or both -- is producing the methane on Mars," said Mumma. "But it does tell us that the planet is still alive, at least in a geologic sense. It's as if Mars is challenging us, saying, hey, find out what this means." (Full article posted below by stingray)

NASA did NOT announce today that "the methane that surrounds the planet is a result of microbial organisms, which are still alive and kickin' today." They announced that they found more plumes of methane.

I am so pissed at you right now volumptuous. I had to go back offline for four hours to work and I come back to this?


(edit) MY GOD!!! They found methane on Titan as well!!!

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1693680

Years ago...

This link is useless!!!

>> ^K0MMIE:
This link is useless!!!


Agreed. Man, you better not be fuckin' with us. I hastily sent the link to a coworker and now my reputation is on the line. There BETTER be fucking life on Mars, man.

And just as I type that last comment, the powers that control information pass this on:

http://www.mcculloughsite.net/stingray/2009/01/15/life-on-mars-farting-microbes-and-a-commentar.php

FAO BUTTHOLES:

If you read the stuff in the parenthesis above the link, you'll see the link is described as "link to NASA live stream page". Not "here's all the info you need".

SO I WIN ONCE AGAIN!

Watch the live video here:

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

So, this leads one to the only important question; on which day did God create life on other planets?

Sunday.

^he must have woken up with a terrible headache after 6 days on Earth. that's why he did such a botch job with the rest of the solar system

We're past 2pm EST now, right? So what was announced, life on Mars or just volcanic activity?

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/news/marsmethane.html

Arthur C C just missed this. shame.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7829315.stm

Large quantities of methane gas have been detected on Mars, Nasa scientists have announced in Science journal.

The gas could be produced either by geological activity or by life.

Methane was detected in the Martian atmosphere five years ago; scientists have found it is more abundant over particular parts of the planet.

It should last for only a short time in the atmosphere until it is destroyed by sunlight, and so its continued presence means it is being replenished.

This suggests the methane is made by an ongoing process.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

They needed to have some David Bowie playing in the background.

Thank you so very much, volumptuous.

For Mars to have actual microorganisms is the best birthday present I could EVER have hoped for, let alone it actually turning out to be the truth, which it seems it will. Yup, today's my birthday.

I was SURE extraterrestrial life would be found in my lifetime, just not this soon. I am overjoyed. So much so, in fact, that I sifted it:
http://www.videosift.com/video/Breaking-LIFE-ON-MARS-biologically-produced-methane

ryjkyjkuyrkjkyk said:
"NASA did NOT announce today that "the methane that surrounds the planet is a result of microbial organisms, which are still alive and kickin' today."


I didn't say they did. I said the "word is", which is a term for "rumor has it" etc.

I thought that's where we came from in the first place.

>> ^dag:
They needed to have some David Bowie playing in the background.


actually I was thinking Elton John's Rocket Man...

"Mars ain't the kind of place to raise a kid, In fact it's cold as hell."

and I prefer the Shatner rendition for the above line reading.

Given our observations of the rest of the solar system, it would be an anomaly if Mars' atmosphere didn't contain traces of methane. Nearly every sufficiently massive cold body has methane on it.