Howdy Keep me off that list, even if the NASA Astrobiology Institute is paying my bills nowadays. Methane can be produced by geology, formaldehyde is a natural by-product of methane in Mars' viciously oxidizing environment, and hexaoctahedral magnetite can be produced abiotically. I also disagree that the "yes, buts" are more strained. Quite the contrary - the "yes, buts" are reasoned and impassionate as science is supposed to be, and the life claims have been coming faster in the New York Times than in Science or Nature lately. There will be proof of life on Mars when we prove that there is life on Mars, not just that it looks like there could be life on Mars. This is a serious question with a thousand important implications, and We can't accept a partial answer or rushed judgement to it either way. Keep in mind that we still have not sent a dedicated life-detection instrument to Mars excepting Viking, which was later shown to be painfully insensitive to "life signs".
Cheers, MDF > > --- Ron Baalke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> Quarter of Mars Scientists at European Meeting >> Believe Life Possible on >> Red Planet > > Add me, though I am a moon guy, not a Mars guy. We > have methane, truncated hexaoctahedral magnetite in > ALH 84001, formaldehyde...what do the critics want, > to be hauled away by Martians kicking and screaming? > The scientific criterion for the identification of > new life was established by Linnaeus at the very start > of modern biology: a type specimen, a fossil, or a > reliable biomarker (a new kind of bird, for example, > can be inferred from a new kind of bird's nest). This > standard has now been met in the case of Mars, though > barely. > I guess we want more than barely because it is ON > MARS, although it would have been sufficient for > Earth. > OK, OK. As time goes on, more evidence will come > in...the "yes, but"s will seem more and more strained, > as they are becoming...and the no-lifers will seem > increasingly intractably dogmatic. > I see their point of view. Like Lowell's canals, we > have been fooled before. But this time, I think it's > real. Seems so. > > Francis Graham > > > > > > > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail - 250MB free storage. Do more. Manage less. > http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 > ______________________________________________ > Meteorite-list mailing list > Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > -- Marc Fries Postdoctoral Research Associate Carnegie Institution of Washington Geophysical Laboratory 5251 Broad Branch Rd. NW Washington, DC 20015 PH: 202 478 7970 FAX: 202 478 8901 ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
