Life on Mars

NASA s Curiosity rover has discovered startlingly high amounts of methane in the Martian air. This is significant for the fact that methane gas is usually produced by living things on the Earth. Now the NASA sent new instructions to the rover to follow up on the readings.

Methane and Presence of Life

The discovery of Methane if confirmed in the thin Martian air is significant because sunlight and chemical reactions would break up the molecules within a few centuries. Hence any methane detected now must have been released recently.

Usually, on Earth, microbes which are known as methanogens which thrive in places lacking oxygen, such as rocks deep underground and the digestive tracts of animals release methane as a waste product. But another fact which has to be kept in mind is that geothermal reactions devoid of biology can also generate methane.

Also, there is a possibility that methane is ancient and trapped inside Mars for millions of years is escaping intermittently through cracks.