Exclusive: NASA Researchers Claim Evidence of Present Life on Mars

[Goldmund]

WASHINGTON -- A pair of NASA scientists told a group of space officials at a private meeting here Sunday that they have found strong evidence that life may exist today on Mars, hidden away in caves and sustained by pockets of water.

The scientists, Carol Stoker and Larry Lemke of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, told the group that they have submitted their findings to the journal Nature for publication in May, and their paper currently is being peer reviewed.

What Stoker and Lemke have found, according to several attendees of the private meeting, is not direct proof of life on Mars, but methane signatures and other signs of possible biological activity remarkably similar to those recently discovered in caves here on Earth.

Stoker and other researchers have long theorized that the Martian subsurface could harbor biological organisms that have developed unusual strategies for existing in extreme environments. That suspicion led Stoker and a team of U.S. and Spanish researchers in 2003 to southwestern Spain to search for subsurface life near the Rio Tinto river—so-called because of its reddish tint—the product of iron being dissolved in its highly acidic water.

More:

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mars_life_050216.html

[LostInAnomie]

1. Can't be, doesn't say anything about it in the Bible.

And I'll be damned if my tax money is going to go to anything that undermines God's word.

[SnowGoose]

5. literalists have an escape clause...

And it goes just like this:

"the bible doesn't *specifically say* that god didn't create life on mars."

Speaking as someone who grew up in that kind of system, let me just assure you that reality doesn't matter. Even if you did find something that specifically said "god didn't create life on mars" in the bible, it would suddenly be "metaphorical" language if you were then to find life on mars.

[Ezlivin]

11. You've got that right

If life is found on Mars, they'll quickly find some obscure Bible verse and claim that it was prophesied all along.

And then there's the ultimate fall back position: It's God's will. No matter what, that answer is applicable to any question.

I'm an ex-fundy/literalist myself. Isn't it great to be a member of the Open Mind Club?

[theHandpuppet]

15. Of course, we would have to suppose...

... that any life on Mars couldn't be any older than 4,000 years old.

[egoprofit]

34. wasn't the bible written by human beings? because if so...

they probably left the part about aliens out of it.

[HereSince1628]

2. The agony of indirect evidence...

I am not a nay-sayer to extra-terrestrial life but I'd like a direct link...

The bottom line this study? "We need more funding."

[Goldmund]

3. And they do.

and they should get it.

[jswordy]

4. I KNOW! Tack the funds onto the next Iraq war supplemental!

NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW!
:headbang:

[Goldmund]

6. LOL that's what I was thinking...

[flyingfysh]

7. isn't there evidence of terrorist activity on Mars?

Of course there is! (at least as much as WMD in Iraq) So we need to send more probes there to find out what is going on! It can be funded out of the Iraq budget.

Wouldn't we look foolish if we found out Bin Laden was hiding on Mars?
:-)

[asjr]

8. Oh, hooray! I think the first astronaut to go should

be G.W. Bush!

[RobertSeattle]

12. Just like in the early 60's - CHIMPS first!

:evilgrin:

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Cool... my my, the fundies will just deny it

I know that, but still

[Dr Fate]

10. So can we go back to teaching science in schools again? n/t

n/t

[One_Life_To_Give]

13. War of the Worlds, Earth Attacks

So instead of the Martians coming to conquer us. We have our microbes we carlessly sent to Mars competing against the native Martian life. Great.

[drummer55]

14. Only if theres oil there will el presidente for life bush invade. n/t

[annabanana]

24. I think life just goes back and forth

between Earth and Mars. We've just sent up enough microbes to start the evolutionary cycle up there. By the time we've destroyed ourselves here on Earth, their little 'life engine" will be chugging away.

[Goldmund]

28. Most of our microbes can't even survive in the fridge,

let alone a several-year trip to Mars, and Mars itself.

[flyingfysh]

30. not true; we have very hardy microbes

Some piece of equipment was recovered from the moon after a couple of years on the surface. The microbes on it were still alive.

[Goldmund]

42. I know that we DO have microbes that, for example, live in ...

...Antarctica, but I didn't think that they would just randomly get on a capsule.

But the thing you say about the Moon thing I definitely didn't know. I'll look into it, thanks.

[TankLV]

25. How do we know we didn't contaminate it with our own probes?

After all, nothing is foolproof.

We don't know all the answers, and some bacteria or other microscopic contaminant could be on all those probes and get a foothold we wouldn't otherwise suppose. Look at all the life they found in "inhospitable" spots near volcanic vents of sulfuric acid, etc.

[One_Life_To_Give]

29. I thought thats what I was referring to

That we had inadvertently sent microbes to Mars.

[chrisbur]

16. Uh-oh. That means...

there could be oil up there. And where there is oil there is probably WMDs. Looks like we're going after all.

[VegasWolf]

17. LBN: Mars named part of the Axis of EVIL. n/t

[LiberallyInclined]

27. better dead, than RED!

nt

[Borgnine]

18. I asked a Ouiji Board once...

...if there was life on Mars, and it told me "underground".

Take that for what you will.

[Gregorian]

19. Quick, KILL IT!

You know, if I were starving, I'd be pissed that those with the money to help me eat don't give a rat's ass.

Personally I could give a shit where there's life, as long as we don't care about those who really are alive.

There's more life to be discovered right here on earth. There are people who could be given life. People who will die in wars that didn't need fighting. People who will starve or be tortured to death. People who ARE something. People who have something that is unique. But let's just keep the space employment agency cranking. Build that robot. Shoot that rocket off. But, to sleep at night they must be ignorant. Ignorant of the pain their little rockets leave behind, as they go on their thrill ride.

[Goldmund]

20. I think that's totally wrong

You know how much we spend on science, compared to a million other things we spend money on (well, weaponry comes to mind)?? A ridiculously small amount.

Science is one of the things that FEEDS us. Literally, but more importanly, figuratively. It is a noble cause.

Equivalently, I could sit here and bitch at you for bying a book instead of donating to your local soup kitchen.

[mainer]

21. People, this could be the BIGGEST STORY of the millenium!

If it bears out, it proves we are not alone. It makes us rethink who we are as a species. It turns religious teachings upside down. In short, it will have a major impact on our culture, our science, and our perspective on the universe.

[Old Mouse]

39. Biggest story in history

[bluedog]

22. DON"T tell bushy boy...n/t

[DistressedAmerican]

23. I Love NASA! Those Folks That Say We Should Cut Funding Suck!

If anyone is going to save the human race, it is them. Keep the money rolling I say!

[Ediacara]

26. Space.com just ruined any chance of publication

Nature has embargoes and aparently Space.com doesn't give a flying fuck about them. The one and only time AFAIK that the breaking of an embargo was allowed was when Vice President Gore insisted that the NASA team studying the Martian meteorite hold a press conference 3 days prior to publication.

If they're hoping for May, they may as well resubmit.....

[despairing optimist]

31. Keep Diebold off the Red Planet!

There are enough red amoebas voting on Earth already.

[pmbryant]

32. Headline is overblown

The headline should be "NASA researchers claim possibility of evidence for present life on Mars. Or Not."

Since the editors at Space.com no doubt know how the public would react to the headline they chose, I have to call this irresponsible journalism, based on what I see and read in the article.

This is a scientific paper that hasn't even been accepted for publication yet.

Whatever evidence there is appears very indirect. Lots more evidence would be needed to make any conclusions about this.

--Peter

[Blue to the bone]

37. Way overblown!!!

I was disappointed when I got into the meat of the article. Nothing new there.

[pmbryant]

38. Indeed. No new results that I could see.

The methane stuff has been known for months, at least. It is curious, but a mystery that remains to be solved.

--Peter

[DU GrovelBot]

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[RedCloud]

35. NASA needs funding, watch out for BS!

I used to teach a few rocket scientists out near Orlando and they told me that in years to come they have to say just about anything to get the public to want to fork over the dough for a Mars mission which is costly. Hence the "face" pictures. Hollywood sure is doing its part as well!

[pmbryant]

36. Face picture is nearly 30 years old (from the Viking probes)

And more recent, more detailed pictures of that formation (from NASA probes, by the way) indicate that it doesn't look anything like a face after all. The original was just a trick of shadows and low resolution imaging (as most suspected). Anyone still hyping the face picture is just a crackpot.

While NASA is guilty is plenty of overhyping over the years (most of it harmless), we can't blame them for this one. Space.com is the culprit.

--Peter

[LinuxInsurgent]

40. cool...

we're not alone...it's definitive...

[pmbryant]

41. not yet

Read the article. Nothing definitive yet. Far from it.

--Peter

[democrat in Tallahassee]

43. will jesus have to die on mars, too? Or will the first death work

from here?