Life on Mars: One Step Closer

Holy shit, they've now discovered ammonia in the atmosphere of Mars. Some researchers in Europe recently found traces of methane in the atmosphere as well. The important thing about these two elements are that they are very short-lived, and don't stay in the atmosphere unless something regenerates them. Two things are known to regenerate these two elements: volcanism (i.e. a hot planet with geologic activity) or life. Mars isn't known to have either of these; is is currently considered to be a 'dead' planet with no active geologic volcanism. Even if the elements aren't from life, but from volcanism, then this means that the crust of the planet itself might be hot enough for life, and it is hypothesized that entire ecosystems might exist within the crust of planets.

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