I will say, though, that with three or
four separate measurements showing the same thing,
not just detections of methane, but sort of agreeing on the level and time scales
of variability It's starting to seem like maybe there's something really going on.
What's going on?
Well, whatever's going on,
it's something that has to be able to consume methane at a very fast rate.
The presence of methane, even growing methane, is not necessarily that hard.
The consumption methane so fast is not something that we currently understand.
I think what's going to happen,
my prediction here is that now that people are more likely to take this seriously.
Which I think they are.
I think I am too.
I think that somebody will come up with some clever explanation for
how you can have methane vary at these sorts of time scales.
And when an explanation works well.
When somebody comes up with an explanation that works, and is physically and
chemically possible.
I think you might start to see people beginning to believe that this is what's
going on in through here.
I sounded really hopeful right there, didn't I.
Well that was a couple of years ago.
This is a 2017 update and the update is there's no update.
Well, curiosity has made a few more measurements.
There's always that very low level where is a little bit of methane,
but not the big puffs that come and go.
Nobody else has seen big puffs that come and go.
Are they real?
Well, we still don't know.
Nobody has come up with a good idea for how they could possibly be real.
But that's also no reason not to believe the data earlier from curiosity.
So right now, we're left with a mystery.
And one that I'm sad to say, the only solution is to stay tuned.
See what happens next.