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- Dumbledorito, on 08/04/2008, -1/+22"In fact, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory science team for the MECA wet-chemistry instrument that made the findings was kept out of a July 31 news conference at the University of Arizona Phoenix control center."
I'm sorry, but "wet-chemistry instrument" has GOT to be an engineering double-entendre of the highest order. - zadadka, on 08/04/2008, -0/+20Rumours of intelligent life on Earth have long been exaggerated too.
- ordig, on 08/03/2008, -3/+16goddam martins better stay away from my woodshed.
- brbeaird, on 08/04/2008, -0/+11Fail for "After the jump".
- Azerael, on 08/04/2008, -0/+10Exciting for some of us; everyone else will forget about it the moment more news about Angelina Jolie's twins or some ***** appears.
- fr3ddie, on 08/04/2008, -0/+10Thats exactly what they would tell us if they didnt want us to know!
- Pusod, on 08/04/2008, -1/+11my source from JPL told me that they did not discover life, BUT they were able to detect "breathable air" after a chemical reaction while testing the "water ice". this is going to be the most exciting news the world has ever known. just wait and see.
- telsayMagrue, on 08/04/2008, -1/+10Ack ack...ACK ACK ACK ACK ACK ACK!
- crowbarred, on 08/04/2008, -1/+9for the love of god! can we get rid of the saying "after the jump" ..... it drives me ^%$&$%@#@%#&I%#^*#
- HouseCentipede, on 08/04/2008, -1/+9That's disappointing.
- Assad, on 08/04/2008, -0/+7Now we just gotta find this
http://www.chemistryland.com/ElementarySchool/Buil ... - Bowie, on 08/04/2008, -0/+7
The MECA instrument probably detected Methane during the 2nd (wet) soil test, where water from Earth was added to the Martian soil sample. (They released the results of the first test, but stopped short of releasing the results from the second.) They're probably trying to pin down or rule out different possibilities of how methane could be produced by adding water, given what they know about Martian soil composition.
The big thing about detecting methane is that points toward the presence of active microbial life in the soil. As I understand it, any naturally-occuring methane on Mars would likely be broken down pretty quickly by the sun's UV rays, or oxidized in the soil. Mars is a volcanically dead planet, so you can rule out geological processes as the root cause. Mixing water with Mars soil may have "woken up" some dormant extremophile microbial life long enough for the microbes to resume biological processes (and have detectable levels of methane produced) before freezing over again.
Methane was already been detected in Mars' atmosphere back in 2004 and 2005.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3577551. ...
So, it begs the question, whats generating the methane?
My guess is, they just found their culprit. They found their culprit, and they're gathering their ducks up in a row before bringing it to the public. You can take what they did with the ALH84001 meteorite as a good example. They did as much science as they could on their own before going public with their findings, and opening the door toward further collaboration and analysis with other agencies.
Knowing the level of science appreciation we have in the chimp currently running the show in the Washington, I don't suspect we'll know anytime soon, unfortunately. They have a long history of ordering agencies to edit or even fully redact portions of legitimate scientific findings to better fit their political views. Five bucks says any press conference w/ regard to this will happen post-election.
Far be it from this administration to lie and withhold information from the people....yeesh. - MonsterChaOS, on 08/04/2008, -1/+8"And the Mars Phoenix wouldn’t lie to us, would she?"
..Well, it IS a female! - NJank, on 08/04/2008, -0/+7oh, you meant her children... got it.
- Pixelante, on 08/04/2008, -2/+8I read Mars, then Veronica, and thought Kristen Bell. I must rewire my brain.
- JQP123, on 08/04/2008, -0/+5"Breathable" probably means non-toxic ... which is not to say that it can support human life. All available data suggests that the atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide with only a trace amount of oxygen.
- jaymzz, on 08/04/2008, -1/+6I'm guessing they finally found Saddam's WMDs.
- lopla, on 08/04/2008, -0/+4The WH silenced global warming research from NASA, you can bet your god damned ass they'll silence LIFE outside the holy bible.
- cryonix, on 08/04/2008, -0/+4I got tired of seeing that headline appearing on every major news outlet. when only minutes after that news "broke" I'm sitting here watching MarsPhoenix twitter about how its untrue, and watch other outlets pickup the article despite no sources.
- Azerael, on 08/04/2008, -0/+3But not surprising.
- 1ncu3us, on 08/04/2008, -0/+3There is intelligent life on other planets, a lot of it.. But the reason that we haven't been contacted is because they have a rule.. a rule not to get in the way of a race's evolution. Coming to earth to "save" us from our problems wouldn't teach us anything. We can't even exist sustainably on our home planet. We need to wake up, take responsibility for ourselves, each other, the planet and evolve. It's happening, but it needs to happen faster. There isn't a lot of time left.
- MacEnvy, on 08/04/2008, -2/+4I'd have a lot more faith in the Disclosure Project if it's supporters didn't have usernames like "OverthrowTheNWO".
- GoatMonkey2112, on 08/04/2008, -0/+2I would take this as a possibility for long term human life on Mars with less trouble than they though before. Mars base could become a reality.
- BelatedHero, on 08/04/2008, -0/+2Why can't we all just... get along?
- protogenxl, on 08/04/2008, -0/+2That's what they want you to think
- r3m1x, on 08/04/2008, -0/+2funny. I read "Twittering" and "Veronica" and thought Belmont.
- McShr3dd3r, on 08/04/2008, -0/+2 Bacteria in the soil.
Nuff said! - snotrokit, on 08/04/2008, -0/+2especially when the jump is about an inch and a half.
- LlamaKing, on 08/04/2008, -0/+2Well its not like they would tell us if they DID find life, would they?
- oxymonkey, on 08/04/2008, -1/+3even so .. the thing that landed on mars is just not equipped to detect any signs of life.
- PabloIV, on 08/04/2008, -0/+2Why? Why wouldn't they want us to know?
What sort of possible benefit could withholding this information provide them? - Chupathingy, on 08/04/2008, -0/+1Sam Tyler is going to be very disappointed.
- liuite, on 08/04/2008, -0/+1I propose a toast for the discovery of life-sustaining possibility with a new green drink call Martiani
- Merendino, on 08/04/2008, -0/+1OMG what does that saying mean?! I've never been able to understand it.
- Nick519, on 08/04/2008, -0/+1DO NOT RUN -- WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS!
- lintmonkey, on 08/04/2008, -0/+1"A source close to the planet"? As in, a martian?
- the6thReplicant, on 08/04/2008, -0/+1It's always the same group of people who take something like "The water on Mars is interesting" to mean that we've found spaceships on Mars and the manual's included.
I wish people would appreciate how science is incremental (no matter what Tesla has said otherwise) and it's small steps all the way. - MarsSentinel, on 08/04/2008, -1/+2Actually nothing was ever "taken", as you well know. But the control/monitoring systems were disabled for a period associated with a UFO visit. Disclosure is important. See vids by Mitchell and other astronauts. Oh, and a former president of the US and a state governor.
- ParaSwarm, on 08/04/2008, -0/+1Yet definitely regrettable.
- fyngyrz, on 08/04/2008, -1/+2Get off my lawn!
...little green bastids.... - inactive, on 08/04/2008, -0/+1So its a bigger discovery than water, the president is briefed, and now we are told its not good news. I see a problem here
- snotrokit, on 08/04/2008, -0/+1NASA - We have found positive proof of the existence at some time on the planet Mars. This is undoubtedly the most important discovery and achievement in the history of space travel.
NASA - As edited by the Bush Administration - Nothing to see here but rocks. - zephalim, on 08/05/2008, -0/+1That is much better.
- ParaSwarm, on 08/04/2008, -0/+1Were you going to add any sort of details to that?
- zephalim, on 08/05/2008, -0/+1"Tell you one thing.. They ain't gettin' the TV."
Mars Attacks! - theOster, on 08/05/2008, -0/+1POSTED:
No Mulls, No Scorsese's and Absolutely No Van Burens. - linagee, on 08/04/2008, -0/+1There ARE martians on mars, they're just all frozen beneath the surface. BEWARE! BEWARE!
- yuutokun, on 08/04/2008, -1/+2And certainly not kosher.
- ParaSwarm, on 08/04/2008, -0/+1I mostly agree with you there. Highly doubt it will happen in our lifetime. Humans are a wasteland of stupid.
- atonalpanic, on 08/04/2008, -0/+1Its for when they put advertisements between two paragraphs. It took me a while to realize I don't see those because of ABP.
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