News

Life on Mars?

29 April 2018

By Lauren E. White

One of the age-old questions involving Mars is about to be answered by scientists: is there life on Mars?

An experiment aimed at discovering Martians has begun and within the next few months, scientists are hoping to discover whether the strange puffs of methane (or Martian) gas has anything to do with life on Mars.

If there is to be life behind the methane production on the Red Planet, it would be in the form of living organisms producing it, meaning us little humans with all our complex intricacies would no longer be the only ones inhabiting the Milky Way.

Image result for european space agency

While on Earth methane is produced by microbes, it can also be conjured up by underground geological functions. Mark McCaughrean of the European Space Agency said: “If we find traces of methane that are mixed with more complex organic molecules, it will be a strong sign that methane on Mars has a biological source and that it is being produced – or was once produced – by living organisms.”

If you hear reports of the methane mixed with sulphur dioxide, it’s most likely that the methane is being produced by a geological function, not a biological organism. So if you’re hoping for life on Mars, ‘sulphur’ and ‘dioxide’ are two words you don’t want to hear.

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