Meteorite mystery vexes NASA scientists (AP/CNN){Mars 'fossil' reexamined}

[eppur_se_muova]

Few experts believe Martian rock contains traces of life
Monday, August 7, 2006; Posted: 12:14 p.m. EDT (16:14 GMT)
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At a Washington, D.C., news conference, scientists showed magnified pictures of a four-pound Martian meteorite riddled with wormy blobs that looked like bacterial colonies. The researchers explained how they had pried numerous clues from the rock, all strongly supporting their contention that microscopic creatures once occupied its nooks and crannies.

It was arguably the space agency's most imagination-gripping moment since Apollo. Space buffs and NASA officials said that it just might be the scientific discovery of the century.

"If the results are verified," the late Carl Sagan pronounced, "it is a turning point in human history."

Ten years later, the results have not been verified. Skeptics have found non-biological explanations for every piece of evidence that was presented on August 6, 1996. And though they still vigorously defend their claim, the NASA scientists who advanced it now stand alone in their belief.

"We certainly have not convinced the community, and that's been a little bit disappointing," said David McKay, a NASA biochemist and leader of the team that started the scientific episode.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/08/07/life.on.mars.ap/index.html

An interesting story of reality-based science, working the way it's supposed to work. Neither side in this debate has a monopoly on the evidence or the presentation, and any claim by either side is open to challenge from any quarter. A shame that when science moves into the realm of public policy, these rules are so quickly cast aside.

[sam sarrha]

1. they waited this long debating if it would destroy religion.. if it

would cause a backlash in the Christian community or a fatwa from the other

i think there are only 3 religions that give a damn, the big 3 cults of Abraham.

[Lerkfish]

2. the scientists waited, so as not to embarrass religion?

I don't think that makes any sense, actually.
I don't think that would hinder scientific progress.

[sam sarrha]

4. there is a very big debate about the bible only mentioning the earth being

created by god.. and all life in the garden of eden..remember what happened to Copernicus and Galileo, i was a Free Holiness Pentecostal until the minute i turned 18 and split... this is serious stuff to them, and they are the voting base for the Reich, and a lot of the grant funding comes from the Reich Wing. the days of real science are practically gone.. unless you are doing something pollitically safe

if there are ET's... who made them, and if they show up and explain how thing really work, religion is screwed..

[skids]

3. Similar story with "the hobbit."

That archeological discovery has been through the skeptical wringer and it's still an ongoing endeavor to prove it an actual genetic offshoot. Very interesting stuff there, actually, including the temporary theft of the "body". There was a good docu on it on one of the docu channels.

[htuttle]

5. I think that one's gotten a lot more accepted recently

IIRC, they've found a couple of other skeletons there with the same characteristics within the last year or so. (don't remember where I saw/read this -- either here or on one of the 'science' channels).

'

[skids]

6. Yeah, that's where the one I saw left off...

...among the stolen bones was a second jawbone. So the skeptics seem to have built a powerful case against it, which unravels pretty quickly in the face of additional individuals.

I guess there's still an extremely miniscule chance that there are still some of these things living and running around the backwoods of Indonesia, or that more modern skeletons might be found, if the folklore of the local cultures about the nasty little man-creatures is given any credence. Wouldn't that totally blow people's minds. :evilgrin: