dysnomia.us

the news from mars

• Andrew Stanton Talks ‘John Carter of Mars’

Not like anyone reads those books anymore- they’re kind of dated. A good movie could be pretty awesome, though. But don’t hold your breath- IMDB says it’s not coming out til 2012.

In other news, The Sun screams for your attention with a bold headline:

• Life on Mars

ALIEN microbes living just below the Martian soil are responsible for a haze of methane around the Red Planet, Nasa scientists believe.

But it turns out that there’s a little less to the story than meets the eye:

• NASA Science Update to Discuss Mars Atmosphere Activity

NASA will hold a science update at 2 p.m. EST, Thursday, Jan. 15, to discuss analysis of the Martian atmosphere that raises the possibility of life or geologic activity.

That’s it. There’s methane, and it could come from living things. Or from geological activities. Or maybe something else. Just because methane is produced by living things or volcanoes on Earth doesn’t mean it can’t be produced by something else somewhere else. It’ll still be interesting to see what they have to say tomorrow, of course.

And finally, those wacky Mars rovers that were designed to last for ninety days are coming up on five years of operation:

• Public Events Mark Mars Rovers’ Five-Year Anniversary

Won’t it be a great day when NASA has all the money it needs to colonize the solar system, and the Air Force has to sell dime bags on the street corner to buy a bomber? Or maybe they’ll just quit bombing things. Whatever.