Life on Mars, any news?

[Ann]

In Sweden, several newspapers went bananas yesterday, announcing that NASA has found signs of life on Mars. NASA has found organic substances where there should be none! Everybody's favorite Martian was there!

Seriously, what have the rest of you heard? Any news?

Ann

[neufer]

In Sweden, several newspapers went bananas yesterday, announcing that NASA has found signs of life on Mars. NASA has found organic substances where there should be none! Everybody's favorite Martian was there!

Seriously, what have the rest of you heard? Any news?

It has been big news here as well. Maybe it will make the Saturday APOD.

[bystander]

NASA Finds Ancient Organic Material, Mysterious Methane on Mars
NASA | JPL-Caltech | MSL Curiosity | 2018 Jun 07

NASA's Curiosity rover has discovered ancient organic molecules on Mars, embedded within sedimentary rocks that are billions of years old.Credit: NASA/GSFC

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NASA's Curiosity rover has found new evidence preserved in rocks on Mars that suggests the planet could have supported ancient life, as well as new evidence in the Martian atmosphere that relates to the search for current life on the Red Planet. While not necessarily evidence of life itself, these findings are a good sign for future missions exploring the planet's surface and subsurface.

The new findings -- "tough" organic molecules in 3-billion-year-old sedimentary rocks near the surface, as well as seasonal variations in the levels of methane in the atmosphere -- appear in the June 8 edition of the journal Science.

Organic molecules contain carbon and hydrogen, and also may include oxygen, nitrogen and other elements. While commonly associated with life, organic molecules also can be created by non-biological processes and are not necessarily indicators of life. ...

New Mars Science Results on YouTube

[geckzilla]

I did hear the slightest of distant clapping noises, as if numerous planetary scientists, astronomers, and exobiologists simultaneously slapped their foreheads upon reading the headlines that "life" had been found.

[neufer]

I did hear the slightest of distant clapping noises, as if numerous planetary scientists, astronomers, and
exobiologists simultaneously slapped their foreheads upon reading the headlines that "life" had been found.

<<A facepalm (sometimes also face-palm or face palm) is the physical gesture of placing one's hand across one's face or lowering one's face into one's hand or hands, covering or closing one's eyes. The gesture is often exaggerated by giving the motion more force and making a slapping noise when the hand comes in contact with the face. The gesture is found in many cultures as a display of frustration, disappointment, exasperation, embarrassment, horror, shock, surprise, exhaustion, sarcasm, or incredulous disbelief. This gesture is not unique to humans. For example, a group of mandrills at Colchester Zoo adopted a similar gesture to signal their desire to avoid social interaction or be left alone.
..............................................
Similar gestures

• Double-Facepalm: Similar to the facepalm but performed with two hands.
  
  Headslapper: A mistake of obvious or shocking stupidity, prompting an expression of astonishment and exasperation performed by striking the forehead with a palm, often producing a loud slapping sound.
  
  SMH is another Internet slang term commonly interpreted as "shaking my head", with an associated emoji.
  
  Headdesk: Expressing great frustration by striking the forehead against something, usually a desk or a wall. Whereas the "headdesk" gesture is typically done successive times to emphasize the motion, the facepalm gesture is usually a singular act. On some media sites, the headdesk is combined with "facepalm" as the term "facedesk", with relatively the same meaning save for the repetition, which is singular and exaggerated.

[BDanielMayfield]

I did hear the slightest of distant clapping noises, as if numerous planetary scientists, astronomers, and exobiologists simultaneously slapped their foreheads upon reading the headlines that "life" had been found.

Excellent geck.

[Charlotte Bridgestone]

Judging from the latest missions - all we can discover on Mars in sense of "life" - the smallest microorganisms but there is one problem: how to distinguish bacteries from Earth that came with equipment and ones from Mars? Nasa and its engineers in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have precise and thorough protocols to minimise the number of organisms that might inadvertently hitchhike on a space mission. Internationally agreed standards guide how rigorous these protocols should be and Nasa meets, and in some cases, exceeds them. Yet, two recent studies highlight how some organisms might survive the cleaning process and also the trip to Mars, and also how fast microbial species can evolve while in space. But, it is almost impossible to get to zero biomass on a spacecraft. Microbes have been on Earth for billions of years, and they are everywhere. They are inside us, on our bodies, and all around us. Some can sneak through even the cleanest of clean rooms. So it will be hard mission

[Daniel DeSclafani]

It will be interesting as the mission continues on. I think eventually we will find something. I am also curious about Venus ever since that research paper came out.