[meteorite-list] Is there smelly life out there?

From: Rob McCafferty <rob_mccafferty_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:05:52 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <189008.93341.qm_at_web55208.mail.re4.yahoo.com>

I share your skeptism, Mark.

I thought it had already been established that X-ray and UV dissociation of CO2 and H2O could be the source of the carbon and hydrogen in the martian atmosphere that could also produce methane in the minute quantities. Oh, sorry...that won't sell newspapers, will it? I used a big word that morons won't understand.

Rob

P.S. I acknowledge the source of this thread is merely forwarding information and in no way mean to suggest that they are moronic. If you thought I was then that's proof that we are not nice enough to each other on this list.


--- On Thu, 1/15/09, Mark Ford <mark.ford at ssl.gb.com> wrote:

> From: Mark Ford <mark.ford at ssl.gb.com>
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Is there smelly life out there?
> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Date: Thursday, January 15, 2009, 4:12 PM
> >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.
>
>
> So by that somewhat 'skewed logic' (imho)
> there's also life on Jupiter,
> the moon, Titan, at least one exoplanet and Venus, oh or
> could it
> perchance be that it is volcanic/geologic in origin, and we
> just haven't
> located the source yet - but that doesn't grab the head
> lines I guess!!
>
> Best,
>
> Mark
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
> [mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] On
> Behalf Of Darren
> Garrison
> Sent: 15 January 2009 15:36
> To: meteorite list
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Is there smelly life out there?
>
> http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24917099-401,00.html
>
> Methane discovery suggests presence of life on Mars, say
> Nasa scientists
>
> 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.
>
> On Earth, methane is produced in massive quantities by
> animals such as
> cows,
> sheep and goats.
>
> Giant telescopes from Earth and NASA's Mars
> Reconnaissance Orbiter have
> spotted
> a haze of the gas surrounding Mars, and according to some
> scientists
> this can
> only point to the presence of life on Mars.
>
> "Methane is a product of biology," UK Mars expert
> Professor Colin
> Pillinger told
> UK tabloid The Sun last night.
>
> "For methane to be in Mars' atmosphere, there has
> to be a replenishable
> source.
>
> "The most obvious source of methane is organisms, so
> if you find methane
> in an
> atmosphere, you can suspect there is life.
>
> "It's not proof, but it makes it worth a much
> closer look."
>
> "What could be more profound than to know it's not
> just us out there?
>
> "We've really only scratched the surface -
> it's an absolute certainty
> that there
> is life out there and we are not alone.
>
> "If there is life on Mars then the logical conclusion
> is that there must
> be life
> elsewhere too."
>
> 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.
>
> The fascination with the idea that Mars harbours life has
> pervaded
> popular
> culture for over a century.
>
> The public obsession with Martians began way back in 1877
> when
> astronomer
> Giovanni Sciaparelli reported observations of large canali
> - meaning
> "channels"
> - on Mars, which he speculated must have been dug by an
> intelligent
> race,
> although this proved mistaken.
>
> H.G. Wells classic 1898 novel of a Martian invasion of
> Earth War of the
> Worlds
> has been turned into two big budget Hollywood films and
> when staged as
> 1938
> radio play by Orson Wells caused reportedly caused panic
> when some of
> the
> audience mistook it for a real newscast.
>
> Director Tim Burton reimagined the scenario with playfully
> malignant
> extraterrestrials in his blackly comic 1996 film Mars
> Attacks.
>
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Received on Thu 15 Jan 2009 07:05:52 PM PST