Six years ago, many researchers thought methane detected on Mars might just be a mirage of mistaken data. Now new discoveries show it’s real, it seems to spike with seasons, & it’s a likely sign of life. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/22/science/nasa-mars-rover-life.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share … via @kchangnyt
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Replying to @NinaBernstein1 @kchangnyt
This result is exciting, and I would retweet...except that I feel about claims of life on Mars or anywhere but Earth the same as I do about news of a "cure" for cancer: I'm waiting for overwhelming, not suggestive evidence. (Doesn't stop my pulse from speeding, just a bit.)
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Replying to @TomLevenson @NinaBernstein1
At this point, it's fascinatingly intriguing, not overwhelming. But still a really perplexing mystery even if the methane turns out not to be result of life.
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Replying to @kchangnyt @NinaBernstein1
Absolutely. No criticism of your story at all, which caught the moment in the research elegantly. Just -- I so want to live to see confirmation of exobiology (and cures for cancer) that I require of myself much skepticism.
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I'm with Tom ... Great scoop, and that big of a belch definitely deserves intense follow-up. But based on the 2013 belch, it seems as if tectonic release of trapped subsurface geo methane is at least as likely as bio activity.https://www.geekwire.com/2019/methane-mars-express/ …
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But the way I read the story, if old gas is being released through cracks, it’s at least a sign of life that once existed on Mars. Plus, the seasonal variation....
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Could be. Or it could be old gas from geothermal reactions.
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