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Published online 21 September 2004 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news040920-5

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Martian methane hints at oases of life

Microbe population estimated, but space community is unconvinced.

In the first published study to track methane on Mars, researchers have concluded that life is the only plausible source of the gas. The putative martians are hiding in a few isolated spots and the rest of the planet is totally sterile, they say.

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