21 votes

Did NASA just find alien life on Mars? Here's what we know.

5 comments

  1. [5]
    preposterous
    Link
    Interesting, but as usual with question mark headlines the answer is always “no”. It talks about a study and paper that was attempting to prove the null hypothesis (ie the clues that could point...

    Interesting, but as usual with question mark headlines the answer is always “no”.

    It talks about a study and paper that was attempting to prove the null hypothesis (ie the clues that could point to past life on mars aren’t due to past life on mars). It failed to prove that hypothesis. It’s a subtle but important difference: it doesn’t prove past life on mars; it failed to prove there wasn’t past life on mars.

    38 votes
    1. [2]
      Eric_the_Cerise
      Link Parent
      Is this relating to the recent report about the Arrow rock? Mineral deposits that suggest a biologic origin (w/o conclusively ruling out possible abiotic processes)? Or is this a completely...

      Is this relating to the recent report about the Arrow rock? Mineral deposits that suggest a biologic origin (w/o conclusively ruling out possible abiotic processes)? Or is this a completely separate thing?

      5 votes
      1. preposterous
        Link Parent
        I’m not a specialist but it does sound like the same thing yes.

        I’m not a specialist but it does sound like the same thing yes.

        3 votes
    2. PuddleOfKittens
      Link Parent
      It is the necessary first step on answering whether there's life on Mars though.

      It failed to prove that hypothesis. It’s a subtle but important difference: it doesn’t prove past life on mars; it failed to prove there wasn’t past life on mars.

      It is the necessary first step on answering whether there's life on Mars though.

      3 votes