Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Might Mars Contain Life?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the at-least-as-much-as-that-tupperware-in-my-fridge dept.

stagmeister writes "According to the BBC, the Viking probes to Mars in the 1970s "detected strange signs of activity in the Martian soil - akin to microbes giving off gas," and that while those findings were not acknowledged as proof of life then, "in 1997, reached the conclusion ... that the so-called LR (labelled release) work had detected life." At the same time, the British are launching a probe to try to find life on Mars."

16 of 368 comments (clear)

  1. Why not do an easier search instead by Gorm+the+DBA · · Score: 4, Funny
    Why not search for intelligent life inside of Congress/the RIAA/The Supreme Court/The Republican Party?

    Oh, wait...they're hoping to Succeed...silly me.

  2. Different Impressions by KoopaTroopa · · Score: 5, Funny

    Folks sitting around giving off gas tend to give me less hope of finding intelligent life.

    Then again, I hail from Tennessee, so I see a lot of this sort of thing. Bring on the Martian trailerparks!

    --
    Sharpies don't just sniff themselves.
    1. Re:Different Impressions by TopShelf · · Score: 5, Funny

      So would these lifeforms be called Fartians???

      sorry, couldn't help myself...

      --
      Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
    2. Re:Different Impressions by ch-chuck · · Score: 4, Funny

      Actually, it's not the folks but the microbes that live in them.

      Funny quote from the above link:

      In human hospitals, there have been many explosions in the colon triggered by use of electrocautery performed through a proctosigmoidoscope.

      So be careful out there.

      --
      try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
    3. Re:Different Impressions by IdleTime · · Score: 3, Funny

      Well, I had to put HR on one of my coworkers sitting right across from me due to gas problems! So, I agree, gas is not a sign of intelligent life, he's a moron.

      --
      If you mod me down, I *will* introduce you to my sister!
  3. That's nice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    We send multi-billion dollar probes to Mars to discover microbes farting.

  4. sure it contains life! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    after lying around in the sun too long..

    oh you mean the planet.. never mind

  5. Its been known for a long time.... by curtisk · · Score: 4, Funny

    .......and its been known that they don't like us poking around their planet, damn, last time that Marvin guy was trying to get us with "an earth shattering KABOOM!"

    --

    Sehr geehrter Toilettenbenutzer!

  6. Re:Finding life on Mars - the cliche anthology by Schezar · · Score: 4, Funny

    On Soviet Mars...

    Ha! The -red- planet! Ha!

    --
    GeekNights!
    Late Night Radio for Geeks!
  7. Re:Comfort by uncoveror · · Score: 3, Funny
    The BBC now reports that life on Mars was discovered by the Viking probe in the '70s. The Uncoveror has been reporting this for years! It is about time this got more press coverage. Here are some links.

    Mars Climate Orbiter.
    Mars Polar Lander
    Colonization

    --
    The Uncoveror: It's the real news.
  8. Close encounters... by mtrupe · · Score: 4, Funny

    Boy, the way it happened in close encounters was so much more exciting: bright lights, music, Richard Dreyfus making mashed potato sculptures. Instead, we detect farts. Nice.

    --
    [FromTheMorning]
  9. Martian Cult by zapod4 · · Score: 5, Funny

    If one of these martians comes to earth, would he start a religion and make love to everybody? I am begining to grok the situation.

  10. Oligatory slam... by Embedded+Geek · · Score: 3, Funny
    Let's see, one of the characteristics of life is the capablity for self-replication. Also note that the U.S. Patent Office has granted protection for DNA sequences for bioengineered organisms as intellectual property.

    Hmmm. Replication... intellectual property... replication... intellectual property...

    Juristictional issues notwithstanding, how long do you think it'd be before the RIAA puts a stop to this?

    --

    "Prepare for the worst - hope for the best."

  11. Re:Sagan by Yunzil · · Score: 5, Funny

    There is no such thing as an 'extraordinary claim'.

    Yes, there is.

    Ordinary claim: I saw a light in the sky last night.

    Extraordinary claim: I saw an alien spacecraft over my house last night. It was piloted by aliens from a planet in the galaxy we know as M33. It was constructed of elements from the trans-uranic island of stability and had a faster-than-light stardrive. Oh, and it used marshmallow Easter peeps for power.

  12. Re:Comfort by meethookz · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
    and revolving at 900 miles an hour,
    It's orbiting at 19 miles a second, so it's reckoned,
    the sun that is the source of all our power.
    The Sun and you and me, and all the stars that we can see,
    are moving at a million miles a day,
    In the outer spiral arm, at 40,000 miles an hour,
    of the Galaxy we call the Milky Way

    I wonder if I could get frequent flyer miles for that

  13. WMD by exp(pi*sqrt(163)) · · Score: 3, Funny

    We should be looking for weapons of mass destruction. If there's any chance there are any on Mars we should invade it and liberate the Martians.

    --
    Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.