Discovery!

[bloodyrosemccoy]

Hey, this is pretty cool: Curiosity found a big burst of methane on Mars!

Because my brain is wired for sci-fi, my natural first response is "COULD THAT BE LITTLE FARTING MICROBES," which is only one possibility out of a lot of "probably not life" possibilities, so this isnt conclusive. But it sure is interesting, isn't it?

Comments

[beccastareyes]

Yep. Especially since I know the first methane sighting on Mars was from Earth, so there was a lot of concern that it was poor removal of the effects of Earth's atmosphere. Seeing it on a robot on Mars is good; seeing it well into the mission when it's unlikely to be 'crap brought from Earth' is better.

[stormteller.livejournal.com]

I've become sufficiently cynical to the idea of Martian life that it wasn't my first thought. After all, methane can be found in large quantities on numerous Jovian moons.