life on Mars?

[Jim S]

I was at a Motel this weekend and there was a TV playing in the lobby. I couldn't hear the sound, but there was a picture of some worm-like looking thing and it said something about "scientists 99% sure there is life on Mars". Did anyone else see this - what was that all about?
Jim S.

[Dinosaur]

Perhaps a SciFi program.

[Boris2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Hills_84001

maybe. but this is old news.

[Jim S]

I found what they were talking about - some research was done at University of Cal. School of Medicine re-analizing data from the the Viking missions. They think the data shows living bacteria.

[Robittybob1]

I found what they were talking about - some research was done at University of Cal. School of Medicine re-analizing data from the the Viking missions. They think the data shows living bacteria.

No the degree of organisation showed previous life, not so much as current life.

[Jim S]

No, they are talking about analyzing gas that was being given off - they seemed to be talking about the present tense (at least present during the Viking landing time).

[Boris2]

No, they are talking about analyzing gas that was being given off - they seemed to be talking about the present tense (at least present during the Viking landing time).

i think there is still quite a lot of disagreement between the two camps. we need another sample and a better testing regime to be more sure.

[Jim S]

The newest rover, Curiosity, will be arriving in August. Maybe it'll shed some more light on this. I suppose you can prove there is life, but you can't prove there isn't (or wasn't).

[markl323]

there is a very good chance that life is all over the solar system. just a matter of time before we obtain some concrete proof.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2157407032

[Dinosaur]

MarkL323: On what do you base the following?

there is a very good chance that life is all over the solar system. just a matter of time before we obtain some concrete proof.

The video at the link you posted has a lot of nice graphics & speculation, but no evidence.

Life on Mars some time in the distant past seems possible, but I think the probability is very low. Life elsewhere in the Solar System seems even more unlikely.