Methane on Mars?

mbone writes "Two independent groups are claiming the detection of methane in the Martian atmosphere, one using the Mars Express orbiter, and the other using ground based telescopes. This detection, if confirmed, would be of great significance for the search of life on Mars, as Methane will not last long in the Martian atmosphere and thus must be renewed, presumably either by biological processes or by volcanic vents, which would be a good place for life to develop. The leader of the ground based astronomy team, Michael Mumma of the Goddard Space Flight Center, when asked if the methane was biological in origin, said 'I think it is, myself personally.'"

Comments

Re:Doesn't have to be life

[Wyatt Earp]

This article states that Methane on Earth would have a life of 300 years and that on Mars it'd be shorter.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_medi ca l/story.jsp?story=505454

"Methane is destroyed by the intense ultraviolet radiation on Mars because the gas has a relatively short photochemical lifetime of about 300 years, so if it is present there must be something producing it continually, Professor Formisano said. "[Its presence] is significant and very important. If it is present you need a source," he added."

Re:Myself, personally..

[kps]

Methane is actually odorless. What you smell are mercaptans, which are either biologically generated along with methane, or, in the case of commercial gas, deliberately added to make leaks noticable.

Re:Two Words

[Derek Pomery]

Exponential growth is a best-case situation. In a harsh environment, bacteria replicate very slowly.
It isn't the same, but studies of bacteria living far underground offer a good example. They are starved, tiny. Often less than a thousandth the size of a normal bacteria. Their metabolism is so slow that according to Sci Am they may have an average frequency of cell division of once a *century* or even less.
Mars is even less hospitable. Far colder, far less water, and hardly more nutrients.

It seems to me that if you're going to believe we managed that with the probes it also seems just as likely one could argue for earth bacteria having made it there long ago on meteors.