NASA’s Curiosity Rover finds increased levels of methane on Mars, indicating the possibility of life

NASA’s Curiosity Rover has just detected increased levels of methane on Mars. The discovery has ignited newfound interest among the community of astrophysicists since certain microbial organisms are known to give out methane. Due to its nature and atomic structure, methane breaks down because of sunlight and chemical reactions. The gas usually takes a few centuries to get broken down, which is why the sudden discovery of a pocket of Methane has caught the attention of experts. 

Such high levels of methane are generated by a number of living organisms, in this case, by a type of microbes called methanogens. These microscopic beings thrive without oxygen and give out methane as a byproduct of their metabolic processes. The team of scientists involved in the Curiosity Rover mission announced that they would be conducting additional experiments and observations to gain a better insight into the cause of so much methane.

However, the gas could also have originated from another source, i.e. ancient reservoirs deep beneath the surface. Geological reactions happening deep inside a planet are known to produce large amounts of methane and the new find on Mars could very well be the result of such reactions.   

Finding life on another planet is a possibility that has excited numerous astrophysicists as well as philosophers. The idea that a world other than ours could harbor life is in itself a subject that has attracted some of the brightest minds to the subject. Finding alien life would no doubt be the biggest discovery of all time.