Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by janrinok on Wednesday November 20 2019, @06:47PM   Printer-friendly
from the no-green-men-found-(yet) dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story (archive 1) (archive 2):

As scientists scramble to determine whether there is life on Mars, Ohio University Professor Emeritus William Romoser's research shows that we already have the evidence, courtesy of photographs from various Mars rovers.

[...] Romoser said that while the Martian rovers, particularly the Curiosity Rover, have been looking for indicators of organic activity, there are a number of photos which clearly depict the insect- and reptile-like forms. Numerous photos show images where arthropod body segments, along with legs, antennae and wings, can be picked out from the surrounding area, and one even appears to show one of the insects in a steep dive before pulling up just before hitting the ground.

Individual images were carefully studied while varying photographic parameters such as brightness, contrast, saturation, inversion, and so on. No content was added, or removed. Criteria used in Romoser's research included: Dramatic departure from the surroundings, clarity of form, body symmetry, segmentation of body parts, repeating form, skeletal remains, and observation of forms in close proximity to one another. Particular postures, evidence of motion, flight, apparent interaction as suggested by relative positions, and shiny eyes were taken to be consistent with the presence of living forms.

"Once a clear image of a given form was identified and described, it was useful in facilitating recognition of other less clear, but none-the-less valid, images of the same basic form," Romoser said. "An exoskeleton and jointed appendages are sufficient to establish identification as an arthropod. Three body regions, a single pair of antennae, and six legs are traditionally sufficient to establish identification as 'insect' on Earth. These characteristics should likewise be valid to identify an organism on Mars as insect-like. On these bases, arthropodan, insect-like forms can be seen in the Mars rover photos."

Distinct flight behavior was evident in many images, Romoser said. These creatures loosely resemble bumble bees or carpenter bees on Earth. Other images show these "bees" appearing to shelter or nest in caves. And others show a fossilized creature that resembles a snake.

takyon: The article has been eliminated with extreme prejudice:

It's Still Not Aliens: 'Mars Bug' Claim Could Damage the Search for Life

University Deletes Press Release Claiming Evidence of Bugs on Mars


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 21 2019, @04:12AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 21 2019, @04:12AM (#922845)

    And titan? What is your ad hoc explanation for that one?

    It seems there is a unique explanation for every object. That is called overfitting, there is no predictive skill behind this model.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 21 2019, @05:17AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 21 2019, @05:17AM (#922869)

    I predict that an Earth sized world, in an orbit of less than 90 million km, around a Sol-type star, will develop a very thick predominately CO2 atmosphere.

    Wow. I'm batting 100%.

  • (Score: 2) by Muad'Dave on Thursday November 21 2019, @12:24PM

    by Muad'Dave (1413) on Thursday November 21 2019, @12:24PM (#922958)

    Only a guess, but the solar wind is much less intense at 9.54 AU (Saturn) than at 1.52 AU (Mars) due to the 1/r^2 rule. That's about 1/40th the flux at Saturn than at Mars.