Re: ESA Principal Investigator Suggests Bacteria Likely Source of Mars Methane

From: Jonathan Silverlight (jsilverlight_at_spam.merseia.fsnet.co.uk.invalid)
Date: 11/28/04 

Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2004 10:30:02 +0000

In message <coc879$5ec$1@news.freedom2surf.net>, George Dishman
<george@briar.demon.co.uk> writes
>
>"jonathan" <Write@Instead.com> wrote in message
>news:41a96691$1_1@127.0.0.1...
>...
>> Interview:
>>
>Vittorio Formisano, Ph.D., Principal Investigator of
>Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS), Institute of
>Physics and Interplanetary Science, Rome, Italy:
>
> DOES FORMALDEHYDE IN THE MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE STRENGTHEN
> THE POSSIBILITY OF ORGANIC LIFE PROCESSES AT WORK?
>
> Not necessarily. The ice table (30-40 centimeters beneath
> the Martian surface) has been there for thousands and
> thousands of years. Therefore, it is bombarded by cosmic
> rays and in this case would resemble very much what happens
> in a comet. Now, in a comet, formaldehyde is observed to be
> very abundant. The comet is simply a mixture of water ice,
> CO2 ice, methane ice ­ all mixed together and bombarded by
> cosmic rays and produces formaldehyde, methanol and many
> other organic molecules.
>
>However, that won't stop the kooks claiming this as
>"proof of life on Mars".
>
Sorry George, but the kooks are claiming there is intelligent life on
Mars. It's not just kooks who are hoping to find bacteria (or some alien
equivalent). Given that we've been swapping rocks for 4 billion years
I'd be surprised if there isn't life there. 

-- 
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