New Device Could Solve Mars Methane Mystery

With the detection a few years ago

Methane was the first organic

[Today, scientists announced a fresh analysis of the data, again speculating that the methane could indicate biological activity on Mars.]

"On Earth most of the methane

Although it is possible that similar

Onstott and his colleagues are

Out-sourcing methane

Methane was discovered on Mars in

Although the amount of Martian

"In order for methane to be

Onstott estimates that this

What could be generating methane at

Abiogenic methane is made under the

The methane may come out directly

The other main alternative is that

"Enzymes are capable of

Biogenic methane-production could be

Light eaters

There is a way to determine the

The building blocks of methane

"Enzymatic processes work

In the case of methanogens, they

The result is that biogenic methane

One confounding factor is that

However, Onstott thinks that

Give it a ring

There are in general two ways to

The alternative is to use an optical

The Mars Science

For this reason, he and his

The cavity's walls are partially

The time it takes for ring down is a

Although the CRDS is a mature technology,

The goal now is to make the instrument

"We plan to make modifications