# Methane "burps" on Mars - sign of life?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methane-burps-on-mars-sign-of-life/707462>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 17, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methane-burps-on-mars-sign-of-life/707462 "2014-12-17T01:48:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methane-burps-on-mars-sign-of-life/707462/1 "2014-12-17T01:48:24Z")

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Here’s the [story](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/nasa-finds-evidence-of-life-on-mars-9929510.html).

Briefly: The Curiosity rover has detected spikes of methane not readily explained by geology or other theories. One possibile source is some sort of bacteria-like organism.

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methane-burps-on-mars-sign-of-life/707462/2 "2014-12-17T03:13:17Z")

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But can they be lit? 😉

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**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methane-burps-on-mars-sign-of-life/707462/3 "2014-12-17T03:48:47Z")

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Another thread [here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743720)

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**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methane-burps-on-mars-sign-of-life/707462/4 "2014-12-17T12:36:43Z")

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Since there’s already a thread, I’ll close this one.