Are There Farts On Mars, And If So, What Do They Smell Like?

[norml]

Last Updated: Friday, 25 February, 2005, 09:23 GMT



Martian gases pose life question

Mars Express has been orbiting the Red Planet for a year now
An Italian scientist working on the Mars Express probe says gases detected in the planet's atmosphere may indicate life exists on the Red Planet today.
Vittorio Formisano told a Dutch space conference methane and formaldehyde could signify biological activity.

But the cautious professor, from the Institute of Interplanetary Space Physics in Rome, said only soil analysis on the planet could prove it.

Confirmation came through hard data, not "fantasy", he told BBC News.

" should not be taken as a statement that there is life on Mars today, because we need to go there, to drill the soil, take samples, and analyse them before possibly concluding that life is there," Professor Formisano said.


snip


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4295475.stm

[jeff30997]

1. It's another proof that...

Martians love beans.

[norml]

2. Methane on Mars: aliens - or farts in a jacuzzi?

Methane on Mars: aliens - or farts in a jacuzzi?
By Lucy Sherriff
Published Tuesday 21st September 2004 12:58 GMT
New analyses of the Martian atmosphere hints at the possibility of life, deep below the planet's surface, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).

Scientists looking at the distribution of both water vapour and methane in the atmosphere found that concentrations of the two gases overlap, implying a common underground source. The data come from the Italian Space Agency's Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS).

This shows that the two gases are well-mixed in the upper atmosphere. Closer to the ground there are pockets of more concentrated water vapour, in three broad equatorial regions: Arabia Terra, Elysium Planum and Arcadia-Memnonia. These coincide with higher concentrations of methane gas, and are also the regions where NASA's Odyssey space craft detected a layer of water ice less than a metre below the surface.

If even microbial life exists on Mars, it would produce methane, and would need water to survive. So finding the two gases concentrated in the same regions is especially interesting, the scientists explain. But they are equally quick to emphasise that the findings can be explained without invoking little green men.

snip http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/21/mars_methane/