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2014-12-17 Science & Technology

Curiosity Rover Detects Spikes Of Methane At Mars

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Posted by trailing wife 2014-12-17 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11132 views ] Top

#1 Yeah... Even Marvin the Martian has to pass gas once in awhile.

Posted by CrazyFool 2014-12-17 00:13|| 2014-12-17 00:13|| Front Page Top

#2 If the Rover would look over it's errr...uhh...shoulder(?), it would notice the three eyed Blaztikqercsrt passing gas behind a rock.

Posted by Mystic 2014-12-17 00:34|| 2014-12-17 00:34|| Front Page Top

#3 Methane gas - proof positive of global warming!

Posted by Raj 2014-12-17 00:38|| 2014-12-17 00:38|| Front Page Top

#4 Methane being a potent greenhouse gas, will the US EPA now claim jurisdiction over Mars?

Posted by Elmerert Hupens2660 2014-12-17 03:29|| 2014-12-17 03:29|| Front Page Top

#5 I had understood that methane was a naturally occurring precursor atmosphere, due to lack of free oxygen, which is a product of photosynthetic life.
Did someone change the rules of chemistry?

Posted by ed in texas 2014-12-17 07:42|| 2014-12-17 07:42|| Front Page Top

#6 Seems to be evidence that plant life is NOT required for the production of carbon compounds.

Are we really sure that petroleum production is a biological process and not a geologic process?

Human arrogance always thinks it knows everyting.

Posted by AlanC 2014-12-17 08:20|| 2014-12-17 08:20|| Front Page Top

#7 Qustion is: "Who farted?"

Posted by JFM 2014-12-17 08:53|| 2014-12-17 08:53|| Front Page Top

#8 Chemical composition of a human flatus. Nitrogen: 20-90%
Hydrogen: 0-50% (flammable)
Carbon dioxide: 10-30%
Oxygen: 0-10%
Methane: 0-10% (flammable)

Posted by Deacon Blues 2014-12-17 09:20|| 2014-12-17 09:20|| Front Page Top

#9 Uncle Cecil reveals all ye need to know

30 years of answers to just about anything...you can spend hours here...

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/index.html

What exactly is a fart?

18-Jun-1982

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Cecil:

With all your scatological insight, what exactly is a fart? Is it, as some surmise, a burp gone wrong? Is it a relative of the hiccup? The sneeze? And is it not healthier to vent oneself than to squelch? --Phillip S., Chicago

Dear Phillip:

Your question comes at an opportune moment--I've just been reading up on the subject in the Harvard Medical School Health Letter. Harvard is a veritable gold mine when it comes to flatulence.

Intestinal gas, we learn, is made up mostly of five gases: nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and methane. The first two you get from swallowing air during eating, while the last three are generated in the large intestine. From this we may deduce that burps and belches, which emanate from the stomach, consist mostly of air. Hiccups and sneezes, of course, are wholly unrelated.

Hydrogen and carbon dioxide are produced by bacteria nibbling on undigested food in the colon. The noble bean, for instance, contains complex sugars that cannot be broken down by the body's digestive juices. Upon arriving in the colon, these sugars are set upon vigorously by the resident microbes, and the resultant fermentation produces the cheerful calliope effect celebrated in such cinematic masterworks as Blazing Saddles.

Methane, another digestive byproduct, is responsible for the unique blue flame that has absorbed the attentions of college freshmen for generations. It is recommended, incidentally, that persons contemplating experiments in this line wear fireproof undies when doing so. Unca Cecil speaks from experience.

I might further mention that a friend of mine, who has reason to worry, has inquired whether there are any cases on record of persons who have exploded as a result of smoking in bed after a hearty bean barbecue. To date I have not been able to find any. However, internal detonations supposedly have resulted from the incautious use of an electrocautery device inside the bowel. The eating of beans before surgery, therefore, is definitely contraindicated.

Interestingly, the characteristic fragrance of the fart is produced not by any of the aforementioned gases but by "minute amounts of volatile chemicals formed by bacterial metabolism of residual protein and fat," we read here. Persons whose flatulence is especially memorable in this regard may be suffering from dietary maladjustment. For example, people with lactase deficiency who drink a lot of milk are said to be able to produce a gas of near-lethal impact.

Other foods that may produce farts of unusual pungency include broccoli, onions, cauliflower, cabbage, radishes, and raw apples. Don't those seem like the ideal salad ingredients for an eventful sorority lunch?

--CECIL ADAMS

Posted by Shipman 2014-12-17 10:13|| 2014-12-17 10:13|| Front Page Top

#10 Are we really sure that petroleum production is a biological process and not a geologic process?

Human arrogance always thinks it knows everyting.

Absolutely correct. And why we will probably never run out of hydrocarbons.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2014-12-17 12:03|| 2014-12-17 12:03|| Front Page Top

#11 Qustion is: "Who farted?"

Fun fact - the first thing I learned to do in college was to light these puppies. Yes, I'm easily entertained...

Posted by Raj 2014-12-17 15:05|| 2014-12-17 15:05|| Front Page Top

#12 I hope you did it through your underwear, Raj . . . .

Posted by Barbara 2014-12-17 18:32|| 2014-12-17 18:32|| Front Page Top

#13 Well, it is a 'rover'. Go fetch.

Posted by P2Kontheroad 2014-12-17 19:19|| 2014-12-17 19:19|| Front Page Top

#14 Do not try to contain your flatulence when suddenly ascending to high altitude. High fartitude results.

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2014-12-17 20:06|| 2014-12-17 20:06|| Front Page Top

#15 The gassiest Martian locale
Is the backside of Bugs' martial pal
When his Flatus of Doom,
A Mars-shaking kaboom,
Leaves his angry red rectal canal.

Posted by Zenobia Floger6220 2014-12-17 21:45|| 2014-12-17 21:45|| Front Page Top

#16 In the Archives: Fart Proudly by Benjamin Franklin (1781)

Farthing..get it?

Posted by Crairt Uneck6986 2014-12-17 22:25|| 2014-12-17 22:25|| Front Page Top

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