Life on Mars Theory Boosted by New Methane Study

Methane has a short lifetime of just a few hundred years on Mars because it is constantly being depleted by a chemical reaction in the planet's atmosphere, caused by sunlight. Scientists analysing data from telescopic observations and unmanned space missions have discovered that methane on Mars is being constantly replenished by an unknown source and they are keen to uncover how the levels of methane are being topped up.

The new study, by researchers from Imperial College London, shows that the volumes of methane that could be released by the meteorites entering Mars's atmosphere are too low to maintain the current atmospheric levels of methane. Previous studies have also ruled out the possibility that the methane is delivered through volcanic activity.

This leaves only two plausible theories to explain the gas's presence, according to the researchers behind the latest findings. Either there are microorganisms living in the Martian soil that are producing methane gas as a by-product of their metabolic processes, or methane is being produced as a by-product of reactions between volcanic rock and water.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091208132349.htm

How exactly does that prove life? I don't consider a bacteria life because it isint sentient.

it would be pretty awsome if mars had creatures in mar's mantle...
but that's just hoping it would happen...

Well, almost everybody else considers bacteria life.

The scientific definition of life is something made up of a cell, meaning that viruses aren't considered life, but there is the argument to expand that definition to something along the lines of molecules that are capable of self-replication.  If there is life on Mars (and thats a big IF), then it probably wouldn't resemble Earth Life (unless it was transported from one planet to another).

And bacteria are sentient in the simplest defintion of the word, they react to stimulus (which is another requirement for the scientific defintion of life).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life#Biology

That would too much sci-fi.

There's another explanation for shure, meanwhile this leaks into the media so NASA can have some atention and people think that "they are doing something with our taxes"

The other explanation is the reaction between volcanic rock and water, which would be good because that means there's water on Mars. So either way, it's a win win situation. Go Mars!

wow, I love hearing news like this!

Yes, there is water on Mars, but how is that a win? Water is a very simple chemical substance made out of very abundant elements.

According to Ockham's Razor when we have two choices that are equally likely we should choose the one that makes the least amount of assumptions. Considering that would be the latter answer in the story, that's probably what I'd go with.

However water on mars is itself an indicator of possible life on mars.

Which is fun.