Scrape the surface of the headlines, and you'll usually find evidence of nothing except the mass-media's prejudice, someone's attempt to draw attention to themselves or get funding, or a hundred "might / possibly / speculated" get-out clauses.
I'm happy to say that with NASA's latest "alien biology" press release, someone else has already done the donkey work of taking it apart for us...
Has NASA discovered ET Life?
NASA announced that they were going to reveal “an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life.”
But as usual, hype makes headlines. They just found a well-known variety of Earth bacteria on Earth—nothing extraterrestrial about it. But this one used arsenic, usually known as a toxin, that is chemically quite similar to the vital element phosphorus (a component of DNA, RNA, and ATP, among many other vital molecules of life). Yet even these germs grew better under phosphorus, and this arsenic use was sub-optimal. So far from being ET creatures, or even evolutionary advancements, they are more like the citrate-eating bacteria that have a disabled off-switch and the superbugs that are really superwimps that we have reported on previously.
So, this is more publicity seeking by an organization always seeking funding, and using the popular cultural belief in alien life is a sure fire winner for them. It’s just the “Mars Life” fiasco all over again.
As this is making spectacular headlines, claims of ‘different life’ will no doubt be used as a ‘proof’ of evolution. To be prepared with real science about this discovery, read NASA’s ET suffered arsenic poisoning! by Shaun Doyle.
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