Right! On Thu, Jun 10, 2010 at 2:28 PM, Martin Baxter <martinbaxt...@gmail.com>wrote:
> > > Ain't science grand, Mr Worf? Let's just hope that the life already on Mars > doesn't protest at the visitation, once these bacteria are sent up. > > > On Thu, Jun 10, 2010 at 7:22 AM, Mr. Worf <hellomahog...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> >> >> Template for Life on Mars FoundA shallow spring in Canada holds a type of >> bacteria that could thrive on Mars. >> <http://omnikool.discovery.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/news.discovery.com/space/arctic-bacteria-mars-methane.html/1894751428/Top3/default/empty.gif/5252614b44557667572b514141356c39?x> >> [image: Irene Klotz]<http://news.discovery.com/contributors/irene-klotz/> >> By Irene Klotz <http://news.discovery.com/contributors/irene-klotz/> >> Wed Jun 9, 2010 01:00 PM ET >> 2 >> Comments<http://news.discovery.com/space/arctic-bacteria-mars-methane.html#view-comments>| >> Leave >> a >> Comment<http://news.discovery.com/space/arctic-bacteria-mars-methane.html#post-a-comment> >> Print<http://news.discovery.com/space/arctic-bacteria-mars-methane.html?print=true> >> Email >> >> - >> Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://news.discovery.com/space/arctic-bacteria-mars-methane.html> >> - >> Twitter<http://wd.sharethis.com/api/sharer.php?destination=twitter&url=http://news.discovery.com/space/arctic-bacteria-mars-methane.html&title=Template%20for%20Life%20on%20Mars%20Found%20:%20Discovery%20News> >> - >> Digg<http://digg.com/submit?url=http://news.discovery.com/space/arctic-bacteria-mars-methane.html&title=Template%20for%20Life%20on%20Mars%20Found%20:%20Discovery%20News&bodytext=A%20shallow%20spring%20in%20Canada%20holds%20a%20type%20of%20bacteria%20that%20could%20thrive%20on%20Mars.%20&topic=television> >> - Yahoo! >> Buzz<http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzz?publisherurn=discovery_cha79&targetUrl=http://news.discovery.com/space/arctic-bacteria-mars-methane.html&submitHeadline=Template%20for%20Life%20on%20Mars%20Found%20:%20Discovery%20News> >> >> THE GIST >> >> - Methane-eating bacteria have been found in an environment similar to >> conditions on Mars. >> - The discovery may also explain Mars' mysterious plumes of methane. >> - Life in extreme environments on Earth can serve as guideposts to >> determine where life may exist elsewhere. >> >> [image: Lost >> Hammer]<http://news.discovery.com/space/zooms/arctic-bacteria-mars-methane.html> >> enlarge<http://news.discovery.com/space/zooms/arctic-bacteria-mars-methane.html> >> >> The team found two types of bacteria living in Lost Hammer that feed off >> the methane and likely breathe sulfate. Click to enlarge this image. >> <http://news.discovery.com/space/zooms/arctic-bacteria-mars-methane.html> >> *Thomas Niederberger* >> RELATED CONTENT >> [image: $module.bottomSection.imageAltText] >> [image: play] >> <http://news.discovery.com/videos/space-alien-speculation.html> Will the >> real ET be little green men or little green >> bacteria?<http://news.discovery.com/videos/space-alien-speculation.html> >> >> - Are We Infecting Mars With Our >> Germs?<http://news.discovery.com/space/are-we-infecting-mars-with-our-germs.html> >> - Mars to NASA: Forget Water, Follow the >> Methane<http://news.discovery.com/space/mars-methane-water-nasa.html> >> >> RELATED TOPICS >> >> - Arctic Regions <http://news.discovery.com/arctic-regions/> >> - Bacteria <http://news.discovery.com/bacteria/> >> - Environment <http://news.discovery.com/environment/> >> - Geology <http://news.discovery.com/geology/> >> - Mars <http://news.discovery.com/mars/> >> >> A new species of bacteria that feeds off methane and breathes something >> other than oxygen has been found living in a salty Arctic spring. The >> discovery hints at an ecosystem that could have -- or may still -- exist on >> Mars. >> >> The bacteria were found in Lost Hammer, a shallow spring located on >> Canada's Axel Heiberg Island. The spring, which is about 25 percent salt, >> never freezes despite sub-zero temperatures most of the year. >> >> "The first time we went there we noticed there were bubbles coming off the >> spring," McGill University microbiologist Lyle Whyte told Discovery News. >> >> Analysis showed the gas was 50 percent methane -- an unusually high >> concentration -- and was not being produced by living organisms, such as >> methanogenic bacteria. Rather, the gas resulted from geology -- the >> interactions of water and rock. >> >> "That was a surprise," Whyte said. >> >> There was more to come: The team found two types of bacteria living in >> Lost Hammer that feed off the methane and likely breathe sulfate, since >> there is no usable oxygen in the water. >> >> The discovery adds a new twist to the debate about possible life on Mars, >> a cold, dry world that in many ways resembles the Canadian Arctic. Pockets >> of methane have been found on Mars, with no clear explanation to their >> origins. >> >> The new research shows that even if Mars' methane is determined to come >> from non-biologic sources, it could actually be food for a whole different >> type of bacteria. The methane-eating microbes are common on Earth, but the >> discovery in the Canadian Arctic is believed to be the first time they've >> been found in a non-marine environment. >> >> "We've added another group of bacteria that could exist on Mars," Whyte >> said. "If we were to find life of any kind on Mars, that would be a hell of >> a discovery. The consensus is that we evolved from microbes in the first >> place, so to find life is really a significant finding." >> >> "Right now, we're looking for the plumbing that allows life to exist," >> added Dale Anderson, a Mars scientist with the SETI Institute. "What we're >> trying to do here on Earth is learn how life goes about its business -- from >> the temperate regions to the more extreme environments that we find in polar >> springs or hot vents -- and understand how microorganisms use those >> environments and cope with the challenges." >> >> "We may not find the same thing on Mars. We may find that it has a >> completely independent genesis of life... or we could find out it's the same >> because Mars and Earth have been 'swapping spit' for the last 4 billion >> years or so," Anderson said. >> >> In addition to adding a new bacterial species to the list of possible Mars >> life forms, the Lost Hammer research also shows a geologic mechanism which >> could explain the mysterious methane plumes on Mars. >> >> The research is being published in the *International Society for >> Microbial Ecology Journal*. >> http://news.discovery.com/space/arctic-bacteria-mars-methane.html >> > > > > -- > "If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell > wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik > > > > -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/
