A scientist has sensationally claimed that NASA may have found – and accidentally killed – life on Mars nearly 50 years ago.
Dr Dirk Schulze-Makuch, an astrobiologist at the University of Berlin, latest research suggests that our upcoming Martian missions may be exercises in futility.
In 1976, NASA sent two Viking spaceships to the surface of Mars, and they landed within a few months of each other. The spaceships originally suggested there was proof of life, but then began gathering inconsistent results. And it's these inconsistent results that Dr. Schulze-Makuch says may be proof that humans committed their first alien murder nearly half a century ago.
According to SYFY, Schulze-Makuch claimed that the experimental setup of the two Viking missions may have accidentally killed the "alien life" it found on Mars all those years ago.
He also said that the reason humans can't determine whether life on Mars exists has less to do with the lack of life and more to do with our own assumptions of it.
Schulze-Makuch says that, in the human mind, we need water and oxygen to survive, so it's natural to assume that all living beings require those same things.
But, he said, that's not the case on Mars. What's more, Schulze-Makuch said, there are plenty of anaerobic - that is, non-oxygen requiring - life foms on Earth, which should make it easier for us to accept the prospect of anaerobic life on Mars.
The German scientist suggests that we expand our definition of 'life,' and what's alive so we can find what we're looking for in outer space. What's more, he said, we have to stop thinking we'll be findiing humanoid life forms on Mars or anywhere else if we're to get anywhere with deep space exploration.
"If we enter into the cosmos carrying Earth-centric biases, we really might trip right over life, and maybe even harm it, without even realizing as much. And despite what the aliens might think about us, that’s the last thing we want," reports the outlet. The German scientist suggests that we expand our definition of 'life,' and what's alive so we can find what we're looking for in outer space.
