"NASA’s Curiosity Rover detects Methane, Organics on Mars" Universe Today

"On Tuesday, December 16, 2014, NASA scientists attending the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco announced the detection of organic compounds on Mars. The announcement represents the discovery of the missing “ingredient” that is necessary for the existence – past or present – of life on Mars.

Indeed, the extraordinary claim required extraordinary evidence – the famous assertion of Dr. Carl Sagan. The scientists, members of the Mars Science Lab – Curiosity Rover – mission, worked over a period of 20 months to sample and analyze Martian atmospheric and surface samples to arrive at their conclusions. The announcement stems from two separate detections of organics: 1) ten-fold spikes in atmospheric Methane levels, and 2) drill samples from a rock called Cumberland which included complex organic compounds."  Universe Today

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I would bet my own money that there is a lot of water on Mars. Terraforming is probably a real possibility.  pl

http://www.universetoday.com/117384/nasas-curiosity-rover-detects-methane-organics-on-mars/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy

Comments

[Babak Makkinejad]

All:

I hope you will recall my earlier statement that Vikings had discovered life; just like the death of the two-state solution which I had stated on this forum years ago.

Yes, its tough to be right all the time, but someone has to do it...

[Babak Makkinejad]

Col. Lang:

Terra-forming Mars was always possible, the only thing is that it will take hundreds of thousands of years with current know-how.

[Charles I]

This comes just after this announcement, which I think we will find may obtain on other apparently barren planets as well.

Scientists say rock layer hundreds of miles down holds vast amount of water, opening up new theories on how planet formed

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jun/13/earth-may-have-underground-ocean-three-times-that-on-surface

[turcopolier]

Typepad HTML Email

Babak

Thanks for your gracious acknowledgement of my track record. Pl

[different clue]

Yes, Mars is not actively hostile to life, just passively inhospitable. If life as we would wish to live it can be lived on a small planet without a moon and without as strong a magnetic field as Earth has, then we will eventually advance to the point of terraforming Mars . . if we don't go extinct through terra-deforming Earth first. We will learn here the lessons which will apply on Mars, if we can learn them.

[The Twisted Genius]

All I could think about when I heard that Curiosity got a whiff of methane was the campfire scene in "Blazing Saddles." That's why I don't get invited to any fancy soirees.

"How about some more beans, Mr. Taggart?"
"I'd say you had enough."

[BabelFish]

The single biggest difficulty will be getting our collective thinking, the entire planet, to be more long term. The usual science fiction scenario is that it takes some major shock (asteroid hit, for example) to make that happen.

[turcopolier]

Babak

I thought you were a technologist! You can see the rate of change in technology. What are you really/ A faqih? pl

[turcopolier]

babak

I am sure that you can assure us that Iran is not waiting with bated breath to see if the DPRK gets away with this. We thank you for your wisdom. pl

[Anonymous]

It's not only the formidable record of Col. Lang that is being closely tracked by Mr. Makkinejad.

It was but three days ago that I saw Babak surreptitiously add Tyler to his seven hundred thousands strong list of americans who, according to him, claim to have been abducted by aliens, after Tyler casually said:

"And here I was hoping for blowback in the form of the Polite Green Men helping the freedom loving people of Arizona..."

And after this post, one should be careful not to mention any "whiff of methane" around himself, lest one wants to find his name mercilessly included in Babak's abductee list of infamy.

We are being watched!

[optimax]

Colbert says the methane comes from Uranus. Hope the Late Show doesn't try to rein in his humor.

[turcopolier]

Anonymous

If the greys abducted Tyler they have more balls than most people. pl

[Fred]

i am hoping they Tars Tarkus.

[Fred]

TTG,

Nice photo. I may have to get a typepad account just to keep up.

[Babak Makkinejad]

Sorry, this was meant as a joke...

[Babak Makkinejad]

Funny; it reminds me of the observations of G. E. Brown about Persians: "they like deep theological arguments...",

[Babak Makkinejad]

Think about using hydrogen bombs to melt the ice caps and raise the average temperature of the planet.

[Babak Makkinejad]

I rely on reliable sources - such as the Internet:

The Roper Poll

In 1991, Hopkins, Jacobs and sociologist Dr. Ron Westrum commissioned a Roper Poll in order to determine how many Americans might have experienced the abduction phenomenon. Of nearly 6,000 Americans, 119 answered in a way that Hopkins et al. interpreted as supporting their ET interpretation of the abduction phenomenon. Based on this figure, Hopkins estimated that nearly four million Americans might have been abducted by extraterrestrials. The poll results are available at this external link: Abduction by Aliens or Sleep Paralysis

http://www.csicop.org/si/show/abduction_by_aliens_or_sleep_paralysis

[BabelFish]

Babak, I think an asteroid or two would be a better kinetic choice, if we are speaking of Mars. The Sci Fi writers usually have a terrestrial disaster happen, to allow the nations of earth to get there act together, the we march on to victory uber alles.

[LJ]

In the search for intelligent life in our nation's capitol, I wonder how that search would turn out. I suggest the methane detectors would be off the charts.

[Babak Makkinejad]

It is cheaper and easier to explode hydrogen bombs on Mars that crash asteroids unto her surface.

The technology for building and sending hydrogen bombs to Mars and to detonate them is widely available; US, Russia, France, China, Japan, India, and Brazil could all accomplish that single-handedly.

The technology for moving asteroid around at will does not exist.

Furthermore, the perturbations caused by removing asteroids from the asteroid belt could cause other asteroids be ejected into the inner Solar System - one or many could potentially collide with Earth.

Anyway, it is not as though we are suffering from a dearth of hydrogen bombs on this planet.

[Jose]

Babak, I reminded you that it had never been confirmed by second source in the last post. When this report broke, I reposed confirmation on the previous post. To all, no terra-forming, if there is life there regardless of what it is, we do not have the right to destroy it.

[Anonymous]

Col. Lang, that's why they chose to be polite. Towards everybody else they seem to act very much like Cheney's torture squad does: like a pack of savage drag queens.

[wisedupearly]

of more interest closer to home.
Care to predict how the fundamentalists will react if life is actually discovered on Mars?

[different clue]

If Mars has no atmosphere to speak of, how would it retain any of the heat released by atom bombs? Once the heat re-radiated back into space, what would keep the Martian water-caps from refreezing back into icecaps?

Anyway, if we survive for another 200,000 years making the steady techno-scientific progress we are making, we should know how to gather asteroids and move them to Mars. By that point, we should also know how to extract them from current position without perturbing other asteroids into Earth collision track. And if we don't, we can harvest every last asteroid and drop them all on Mars. And presto! a Bigger Mars to hold all the atmosphere and water we care to bring to it, and no asteroids left to worry about in the No Asteroid belt.