A team of NASA and university scientists has discovered 'substantial plumes' of methane floating through the atmosphere of Mars. The discovery indicates Mars is either biologically or geologically active.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/15jan_marsmethane.htm?list102569

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What does this mean? Well, for one, if this is from a biological source (most of the sources on Earth are biological), it means Earth isn't the only planet with life on it. The Martians might be a pink bacteria!

It is possible that there are "deposits" of the gas being created by some chemical processes (see article above). Given the amount of methane and that methane decomposes much more rapidly on Mars than on the Earth, the methane was most likely produced recently.


It's probably going to take missions like MSL, or perhaps something with a core-drilling rig of some sort to confirm the source, but this is potentially the biggest news of the decade. MSL will launch in 2011, testing won't be completed before the launch window later this year has closed, and launch windows for Mars only come every other year.

More oft-parroted nonsense that will be proven false at the judgment!

:rofl:

if true yzf will have to renounce everything he has said about the bible....literal genesis, etc.

LOL, Mars will humble him.

lol....nonsense

Yeah, until they bring some back, culture it, and show that nothing like it exists on Earth so you guys can't claim contamination.

You know what that's called, Marky? It's called proof. It's called fact. Not faith, fact.

This is just how diseased Mark's mind is:

let's say you bring back proof of life from Mars that is unique to Mars ( in other words non exitent on Earth).

He will still to the the internet bible and dig up some sorta "proof" that Martian life is bogus (even though there is nothing in either "original" testament that makes any reference to Martian ETs...........

and the fact is, life exists here...on earth....and nowhere else in the universe

in fact, the more we learn about other planets, the more we know are hostile to life they really are, and how special this planet is

but, alas, it's a world of many fools

lol. There is calculated to be a billion galaxies each contain roughly a billion planets. That’s quite a bold "fact" to throw out there Mr. vast imaginary epochs. Next we are going to hear how we are the center of the universe and the sun revolves around us. There have been quite a few planets that have shown to be suitable for life. Get your facts straight.

The sheer human arrogance of people like Mark is only further proof that Man made god in his own image and not vice versa.

based on WHAT exactly?

Not the bible. So what do you care? Go out and learn something if you really want to know. Im not going to hold your hand. I would start researching "HebCat" if you really want to answer your question.

"The Catalog of Nearby Habitable Systems (HabCat) is a catalogue of star systems which conceivably have habitable planets. The list was developed by scientists Jill Tarter and Margaret Turnbull under the auspices of Project Phoenix, a part of SETI.

The list was based upon the Hipparcos Catalogue (which has 118,218 stars) by filtering on a wide range of star system features. The current list contains 17,129 "HabStars".

http://origins.jpl.nasa.gov/habitable-planets/ra6.html

"Extrapolating from our own solar system, the most reasonable home for life elsewhere in the universe is a terrestrial planet (or rocky satellite of a giant planet) that lies within its star's "habitable zone" (HZ), so that liquid water can flow on its surface. Such planets will of course be much harder to detect than the Jupiter-like planets, because of their small size and relative closeness to their parent star.

For terrestrial planets, just as has been the case for giant planets, observations of transits will give us important early information. As noted in Chapter 2, the Kepler mission later in this decade will use transit measurements to answer the question of whether rocky planets in stellar planetary systems are common or rare in the extended solar neighborhood (within 200-600 parsecs of the Sun). But Kepler will detect Earth-like planets through their very uncommon transits, which means it must monitor hundreds of thousands of relatively distant stars to reap a significant number of detections. While the individual Earth-like planets Kepler will discover will be too distant for detailed follow-up study, the frequency of their occurrence will be crucial for planning later missions that can directly detect and characterize terrestrial planets orbiting closer stars.

Another very important precursor mission will be the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM). By measuring the astrometric (that is, positional) wobble of nearby stars, SIM will be able to detect planets as small as a few Earth masses, in the habitable zone surrounding a number of nearby stars. The data will also yield the mass of the planet directly. This will be an important prelude to actual imaging of terrestrial planets, which will be carried out by the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) mission. TPF will use coronagraphic or interferometric techniques to actually image terrestrial planets orbiting nearby stars (although each planet will appear only as a single point of light). This will yield important information on the physical properties of extrasolar terrestrial planets, including their size, temperature, and location within the habitable zone. From our knowledge of the solar system we can then make a fair estimate of their mass, which determines how well the planet can retain an atmosphere, and also whether it is likely to have a history of active volcanism and plate tectonics. All of these considerations enter into the question whether the planet is able to support life.

Another important role for the TPF mission will be to create a census of those terrestrial planets orbiting nearby stars that appear to meet the basic requirements for habitability, as determined by their mass, location with respect to the habitable zone, properties of the parent star, etc. Such a census will provide the observing list for the much more intensive studies, carried out first by TPF and perhaps later by a Life Finder (LF) mission, to actually detect evidence for past or present life on such planets.

Research toward characterizing terrestrial planets and identifying those that might be habitable is divided into two investigations:
Investigation 13: Which nearby stars host terrestrial planets that might be suitable for life?
Investigation 14: What are the compositions of the atmospheres of terrestrial planets orbiting nearby stars? Which of these planets are suitable abodes for life?"


get your delusionary fantasies straight....if you can keep them straight

I'm not the one throwing around baseless facts.

"Extrapolating from our own solar system, the most reasonable home for life elsewhere in the universe is a terrestrial planet (or rocky satellite of a giant planet) that lies within its star's "habitable zone" (HZ), so that liquid water can flow on its surface. Such planets will of course be much harder to detect than the Jupiter-like planets, because of their small size and relative closeness to their parent star.

Reverse extrapolation I tells ya!! :shocked:

I dont see why its soooo unbelievable that life could exist on other planets or in other solar systems. I do like to think for myself and not follow blindly.

:rolleyes:

let me know when they actually find something substantive...I won't hold my breath

You mean like Gliese 581?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-450467/Found-20-light-years-away-New-Earth.html

....The sheer human arrogance of people like Mark is only further proof that Man made god in his own image and not vice versa.

:bowdown::bowdown::bowdown:

I don't think that God was so dumb to invest life in just one planet in the entire universe.

It's Mark's ego that believes that we are the ONLY ones that God made in his infinite wisdom and powers...........

It's Mark's ego that believes that we are the ONLY ones that God made in his infinite wisdom and powers...........

I don't think it's merely a problem with one's ego as it is more of an issue of undermining the entire biblical account of creation.

lol. There is calculated to be a billion galaxies each contain roughly a billion planets. That’s quite a bold "fact" to throw out there Mr. vast imaginary epochs. Next we are going to hear how we are the center of the universe and the sun revolves around us. There have been quite a few planets that have shown to be suitable for life. Get your facts straight.

The sheer human arrogance of people like Mark is only further proof that Man made god in his own image and not vice versa.

actually, there are hundreds of billions of galaxies. Each galaxy contains a ~million million stars. This is just an average. For reference, a billion is a thousand million. Say that each star has 2 planets, as an conservative estimate, as some will have none, and other will have many. That's 1 billion x 1 million x 1million x 2. That works out to be an average of 2x10^21 planets. Think none of those has life? And that's only if there are 1 billion galaxies. And even if not a single one of those possible planets matched earth's conditions(likely,..right?),who's to say that life on another planet has to have DNA, or that it requires oxygen, or that it thrives best between 0 and 30 degrees? Really, the ods are in favour of life existing.

It's probably going to take missions like MSL, or perhaps something with a core-drilling rig of some sort to confirm the source, but this is potentially the biggest news of the decade. MSL will launch in 2011, testing won't be completed before the launch window later this year has closed, and launch windows for Mars only come every other year.

lol i can see them drilling to get samples and by doing so, kill off the remaining life forms by exposing it to the surface elements.

actually, there are hundreds of billions of galaxies. Each galaxy contains a ~million million stars. This is just an average. For reference, a billion is a thousand million. Say that each star has 2 planets, as an conservative estimate, as some will have none, and other will have many. That's 1 billion x 1 million x 1million x 2. That works out to be an average of 2x10^21 planets. Think none of those has life? And that's only if there are 1 billion galaxies. And even if not a single one of those possible planets matched earth's conditions(likely,..right?),who's to say that life on another planet has to have DNA, or that it requires oxygen, or that it thrives best between 0 and 30 degrees? Really, the ods are in favour of life existing.

Thanks for the more accurate numbers. I should have stated "at least" a billion x billion. I was being moderate to pretty much demonstrate the same thing you are. The massive number of planets makes for quite a bit of possibility for the existance of life elsewhere. You sure the numbers are as high as being in the hundreds of billions? Last I heard numbers based on hubble data was calculated to be around 130 billion.

that's right, THINK FOR YOURSELF.....don't be a puppet of the system

That is soooooo INSANELY funny coming from you........

I do think for myself, far more than most people

I was indoctrinated with darwinism for four years in school, and I get more of it every day in the media, while the true account of creation is mocked and scorned by a world of many fools

No....You let a fictional book written by man thousands of years ago think for you.......

tired (and false) claptrap from ignorant minds

Stop talking about yourself.....it makes you look crazy.

watch this vid clip http://www.illustramedia.com/tppinfo.htm

better yet, just order the DVD, it is excellent...helps you understand what a razor's edge life on this planet truly is...it has NOTHING to do with an accident in a "warm little pond", despite all the evolutiuonary propaganda swimming through the media in 2009

that's right, THINK FOR YOURSELF.....don't be a puppet of the system

GTFO with that pile of garbage. Do you get a cut of the money for number of times you post up that creationist tomfoolery?

this is the stupid argument of statistics....life has nothing to do with odds, or chance

nobody x nothing = nothing!

the odds of life happening by chance are ZERO

Sure thing buddy. Just keep making yourself look more and more like a fool. Nice equation by the way......lol.

http://www.illustramedia.com/tppinfo.htm

care to point out exactly what is "garbage" about that link, son? you're a leg humping little kid who followed me here from rx-7club

The fine tuning argument from your creationist cult the discovery institute is complete nonsense. There is no evidence to suggest that the world was build around our needs rather than life conformed to what it was offered from the planet. If you really think our planet is perfect think again. Not to mention the quack Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez claiming that the earth is positioned to facilitate scientific discoveries for people such as himself. The video is a joke produced by people with a theolgical agenda to spread propagandist lies. What isn't garbage about it?

yeah because spamming the thread with cult vids was on topic. Don't ask for an answer if you can't handle it, son.

Why do you guys even bother posting threads that have any scientific value? They turn into shit within 3 posts.

BTW here's a cool website for those of you who like astronomy. It gives you a good scale as to the absolute stupifying emptiness of space. Remember those solar system pictures in the books as a kid? Pah.

What boggles my mind, STILL, is that if you were to make our sun 1mm in diameter (making the rest of the planets microcopic dust motes) the closest star to us, Alpha Centuri is still eighteen MILES away. The galactic center would be halfway to the moon, 117,000 miles away. Mind bending distances, really.

http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/solar_system/index.html

Basically, if one wanted to see the rest of the universe, one would need to be able to travel millions of billions of times faster than the speed of light. Or figure out a way to just transport yer ass to where you wanted. And since that won't happen... well we're stuck here. It's kind of sad, really.

its interesting to wonder on the speed our galaxy revolve. its like you have to go light speed to stand still.:hippie:

What boggles my mind, STILL, is that if you were to make our sun 1mm in diameter (making the rest of the planets microcopic dust motes) the closest star to us, Alpha Centuri is still eighteen MILES away. The galactic center would be halfway to the moon, 117,000 miles away. Mind bending distances, really.

I remember doing a similar model in middle school (twice actually). My group modeled the orbits in the solar system at a 1mm = 1 million kilometer scale and we wound up having to use a sheet of paper about 35 feet long. What really put things into perspective was the orbits up to Mars were no bigger than the width of a credit card, then we starting making orbits for Jupiter, Saturn, etc and the distance started to really show. Strange that it was in a math class, but it really opened ones eyes.

Go away, mark. This isn't the religion forum.

http://is1.okcupid.com/users/156/664/1566642811609810544/mt1114812009.jpg

YZF just got Bitch slapped!

but this is a world of many clueless weeds....including 95whitedickhead


LOL at YZF's butthurt....guess steel should use lube next time.

Again, are you tempting a ban by calling people names?!?!?...sometimes when you dont have anything better to say, or anything credible to defend you point you resort to name calling. Thats a stance only losers of a point take......

watch this vid clip http://www.illustramedia.com/tppinfo.htm

better yet, just order the DVD, it is excellent...helps you understand what a razor's edge life on this planet truly is...it has NOTHING to do with an accident in a "warm little pond", despite all the evolutiuonary propaganda swimming through the media in 2009

that's right, THINK FOR YOURSELF.....don't be a puppet of the system

Dude, do you not see the irony of what you post?

http://www.illustramedia.com/productions.htm

Yeah, you're not a puppet. :rolleyes:

you can't talk about the universe without invoking God, even Einstein recognized that

Yes, yes you can.

Back to the topic at hand. What intrigues me is the the fact of the universe being boundless, yet finite. If you were to try to travel to the 'edge' of space, you'd just end up where you started again. Cool little 4 dimensional quirk there.

Anyone else hoping that within our lifetime, they have regular trips to the moon? I should would like to walk on it before I die. Or even better, be the first person to die on the moon!! That would be sick.

Anyone else hoping that within our lifetime, they have regular trips to the moon? I should would like to walk on it before I die. Or even better, be the first person to die on the moon!! That would be sick.

I am with you, but I would be more than happy to just be in orbit around the Earth.

No, its generally agreed upon that the universe is boundless.

Sure it does. If the universe has a positive curvature in the fourth dimension, then you would indeed end up where you started if you were to try to to find the edge. It's like a creature of two dimensions trying to find the edge of the earth.

Thanks for the more accurate numbers. I should have stated "at least" a billion x billion. I was being moderate to pretty much demonstrate the same thing you are. The massive number of planets makes for quite a bit of possibility for the existance of life elsewhere. You sure the numbers are as high as being in the hundreds of billions? Last I heard numbers based on hubble data was calculated to be around 130 billion.

ya, it varies a bit. I think the hubble numbers are based on visible galaxies, but I could be wrong. The estimates vary depending on the theory of the universal expantion you subscribe to, though. As for the cyclical universe, that's only one idea. There are tons of ideas, though. If you like general relativity, then we'll end up in a black hole/collapsed singularity, but if you like quantum mechanics, then it's all being recycled, we're all spin 0, and we exist within a variation that isn't really expanding , anymore.