Astronomy / Space Lifeforms found on Mars!

[Morbad]

To be nitpicky about it (as per usual, sorry), we already knew there's (was) life on Mars since 80s when scientists found bacteria fossils in an asteroid with confirmed martian origin.

The meteorite discovered in 1996 that was originally announced to have fossil martian microbes on it was very likely a false positive resulting from overeager researchers misidentifying shapes in rocks. Biomorphology is notoriously unreliable in the absence of other corroborating evidence, as both of these stories attest to.

As it stands, we have no conclusive evidence of life having ever existed on Mars, but the closest bit of circumstantial evidence came from the Viking landers in the mid-70s, when one experiment tested positive for metabolism, but also negative for organic material...a contradiction that hasn't been fully resolved.

Why would critters on Mars have Earth-critter-like wings? Earth-wings are useless in Mars' thin atmosphere for actual flying.

Mars did have a much thicker atmosphere in the past, but there are far more problems with the supposed existence of insects and lizards on modern Mars than an inability to fly.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

I mean yeah.

Anyone who thinks life is unique to Earth is a bit dumb TBH.

One step closer to my unicorn beliefs not being dismissed as the rantings of a madman.

Let me fix this for you.

Life is unlikely to be unique to Earth in context of the universe, expecting to find (unrelated) life within the Solar System is nuts. The scientific community have their fair share of 'flat earthers' who expect to find life on Mars, Europa, Enceladus...

 

[Morbad]

Life is unlikely to be unique to Earth in context of the universe, expecting to find (unrelated) life within the Solar System is nuts.

Given that we clearly have a very incomplete understanding of abiogenesis, we can only speculate at the odds of finding life that evolved on other worlds within our solar system. Dismissal of such possibility is just as unfounded as the presumption of it being true. Absence of evidence, especially when we've explored so little, is not evidence of absence.

Personally, I would not be especially surprised either way. There are at least half a dozen worlds in this solar system that could, or at one point could have, sustained at least some forms of life that we are familiar with...that's a lot of territory and a lot of time for something to have happened. Should we eventually discover life in one or more of these places and then prove it arose independently of what's on Earth, I'll not be shocked. If, after exhaustively exploring all of these areas for centuries, we come up with nothing, that would be disappointing, but not particularly surprising either.

 

[Para Handy]

.........., expecting to find (unrelated) life within the Solar System is nuts. The scientific community have their fair share of 'flat earthers' who expect to find life on Mars, Europa, Enceladus...

I think that comparing scientific postulates of possibilities as yet unconfirmed or disproven with the deluded morons who believe the Earth is flat is not very sensible.

 

[Manticore]

I think that comparing scientific postulates of possibilities as yet unconfirmed or disproven with the deluded morons who believe the Earth is flat is not very sensible.

Amen to that.

 

[Arry]

There is a story, about a NASA desert experiment, doing an equipment test; that was designed to find 'Alien life'.

Well, as you can imagine, literally millions of dollars, spent on a massive, all singing, all dancing, space rover. Fitted with sniffers and detectors of all kinds, special cameras of all kinds. So this thing can detect any form of life, right down to a microscopic level.

So after a few weeks, they had found lots of differet things, as you would expect, to find in a desert on Earth, Micro-plants, seeds, insect eggs, etc. etc. Well there was an number of observers, one was an Alien-Archaeologist. Genuinely, she had masters degrees, on how to find Alien life. So after a lot of hot air and excitement, at was basically the conclusion stage, of the project, she got the rooms attention and asked. 'What about the dinosaurs?' She then showed a number of clips, where the cameras, had slowly filmed across, a number of dinosaur foot prints.

 

[Vasco Sapien]

Obviously Ohio University Emeritus Professor William Romoser needs to make bank and is tired of working in an office earning a steady wage and going unnoticed.

Publish a book or two.... do interviews for History Channel Documentaries. $$$