´óÏó´«Ã½

Could there be aliens living and burping on Mars?

Perhaps not as we think of them, but scientists studying the red planet think they've found a source of methane, a gas released by living things, on Mars' north-western crater floor.

Methane gas is produced by humans and animals when we burp and fart - but also by tiny microbes.

Nasa's Curiosity rover has been recording methane releases on Mars since 2012 but until now, scientists couldn't work out where the gas was coming from.

Scientists at the California Institute of Technology in the US studied data from the Mars Curiosity rover.

By using a specially-designed computer model, that predicted the wind speed and direction of the gas particles, the team managed to trace the methane to a location just 12 miles (19.3 km) from the rover.

The researchers said that this means that the landing site for Curiosity was coincidently located next to an active methane emission site.

Whilst this new research may suggest a source of methane gas on Mars, it doesn't necessarily mean there are aliens burping on the planet.

Scientists are excited at the idea of methane on Mars, as most methane gases have a 'biological origin' - this means that the gas comes from living things. For example, more than 90% of methane on Earth has a biological origin - from cows and goats burping and farting.

So whilst this new research could point to possible life on the planet more work needs to be done to find out just what kind of life this could be.