MARTIAN LIFE LIKELY

Wow, well, wouldn't you know it--the grand realization/discover that there is life elsewhere in the universe just isn't going to happen the way Hollywood movies have predicted it would. As with most real-life discoveries, the admission that life exists extra-terrestrially is a gradual process where scientists have come to accept that logically, based on evidence, there is very likely to be life on Mars. Go figure.

Sure, they're not saying that there is definitely life on Mars, but scientists are acting like they kinda knew all along. They're falling just short of saying something like: "Well, DUH!"

But I'll let a clip from an article at Wired.com explain it better:

Evidence is building to suggest biological processes might be operating on the red planet, and life on Mars, many scientists believe, is now more a likelihood than merely a possibility.

Tantalizing evidence is accumulating that suggests the red planet is alive, but incontrovertible proof is still lacking. And while the European Space Agency is keen to send a lander to find it, a history of failed life-finding missions at NASA makes Americans more cautious.

There's more--turns out this Italian dude Vittorio Formisano found enough formaldehyde that there would have to be a LOT of methane and for as much methane as would have to exist to create all of that formaldehyde, one of three things have to happen. Here's a quote from Formisano:

"There are three possible scenarios to explain the quantities: chemistry at the surface, caused by solar radiation; chemistry deep in the planet, caused by geothermal or hydrothermal activity; or life," he added.

So, you've got a one-in-three chance of what's causing all of that methane and formaldehyde.

Maybe we should send somebody up there to find out?

Naaaaah! That would be too logical!