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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
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday November 21 2019, @12:13PM (5 children)
The first exploratory flying robot to be sent to Mars will be the JPL Mars Helicopter Scout [wikipedia.org] in 2020-2021. Any other flying robots on Mars are purely fictional.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Friday November 22 2019, @02:33PM (4 children)
Have you ever heard of the military doing things first and then later publicizing them through science?
I am also quite certain that if they were doing this sort of thing, they would not be talking about it, and there would be a huge 'mars robo-scout arms race gap' underway.
I sure have. I am not saying I am sure this is what he buzzing thing was, but this is 2019 and things are wierd.
Only 3 options, fake picture, bug, or robot. I don't really care all that much, all three of these possibilities exist in my world, but that insects are on mars, is of these three the one most difficult for me to believe at the present moment.
There is also the ender's game idea, but interplanetary, not interstellar-ly. What if the new playstation game was about flying a ship on a different planet and hunting down other ships on a huge world AND THEN it turned out later that you had been piloting robo-bugs on mars in a real robo-bug war?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday November 22 2019, @05:55PM (3 children)
There's almost zero value to the military to explore Mars right now. Even the concept of exploring Mars using a flying robot is very new. Mars atmospheric density is less than 1% of Earth's, making flight much more difficult and explaining why the MHS will only be able to fly for minutes at a time.
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(Score: 2) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Saturday November 23 2019, @04:36PM (2 children)
Hm, I did not know that.
Seems that also works against the insect theory, as it throws off the whole energy/thrust/mass equation into bonkers territory.
Of course, if there are not aliens, or something like replicators from SG1.
But I can agree at least that the chances of this not being a camera problem are slim.
That's what you think it is right?
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Saturday November 23 2019, @08:51PM
I think pareidolia [wikipedia.org] is the explanation. Bonus for using crappy, blurry images as the basis of his research.
As an entomologist speaking at the Entomological Society of America, Romoser can backtrack and just claim he was trying to educate/amuse about insect shapes.
Now, here's something interesting. The Phys.org TFA has been 404'd, as has the actual Ohio University post [ohio.edu]. These articles have been rolled out elsewhere:
It's Still Not Aliens: 'Mars Bug' Claim Could Damage the Search for Life [space.com]
University Deletes Press Release Claiming Evidence of Bugs on Mars [futurism.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 25 2019, @02:40AM
I guy used to looking at bugs all day sees bugs in blurry pictures. Just like the guy used to seeing government conspiracies everywhere sees government conspiracies in the same blurry pictures. People see what they want to see as they fill in the gaps of missing information with their own background. Sadly, or maybe thankfully, life is usually rather mundane, which means the answer is probably equally mundane. Now feel free to blow me off or accuse me of doing the same thing with my mundane life and background.