Did Viking find life on Mars?

[martin-w 3,234]

Wow... Angry Astronaut certainly makes a good case for it. And yes, if so, NASA certainly need to be more careful than they are being with the sample return mission.

 

 

[overspeed3 410]

The'rrrre HERRRRE!!!

[charliearon 3,022]

They're bringing back "The Monster that devoured Cleveland"!👾

[martin-w 3,234]

Well, he did put forward a good case for the Viking results to be valid. The test Viking used has never before thrown up a false positive, and it was positive multiple times in the Viking mission.

Take care with those bugs NASA, we don't want that horrid mutating being from "The Thing" hanging around. 

[dmwalker 603]

Don't forget "The Quatermass Experiment" (1953 BBC TV Series).

[martin-w 3,234]

Actually, meteorites do strike the Earth from Mars, so Martian bugs may have already arrived, many time in fact over geological time frames. Maybe WE have a bit of Martian in us???

 

 

 

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

10 hours ago, martin-w said:

Maybe WE have a bit of Martian in us???

Most likely since carbon is found in all life forms and is the sun, stars, comets, meteorites, the atmosphere, etc.

[martin-w 3,234]

8 hours ago, cmpbellsjc said:

Most likely since carbon is found in all life forms and is the sun, stars, comets, meteorites, the atmosphere, etc.

 

Well yes, life on Mars is likely to be carbon based, there's a very good chance it is elsewhere in the universe too.

I was, of course, referring to the genome, in that it's feasible that our genome contains Martian genes. And it's also possible that any life we find on Mars may have remnants of our biology too.

Mars and Earth have been sharing material from meteorite impacts for a very long time. Cross contamination is possible.

[dmwalker 603]

23 hours ago, martin-w said:

Actually, meteorites do strike the Earth from Mars

Was it all one way, i.e. from the outer solar system to the inner?

[martin-w 3,234]

5 hours ago, dmwalker said:

Was it all one way, i.e. from the outer solar system to the inner?

 

Both ways, from Earth to Mars and Mars to Earth. Both worlds have shared material.

If we find life on Mars then it will be necessary to sequence its genome to determine if its related to life on Earth. Ideally we would want to find life that isn't related to life on Earth at all, then if two planets in our solar system have both independently evolved life, then  that would suggest that the possibility of the galaxy being replete with life is likely.

[stans 702]

This could be the beginning of The Blob.