Space: Alien Speculation : Video : Discovery News
http://news.discovery.com/videos/space-alien-speculation.html
Actually, if we discovered microscopic life off Earth -- or on Earth under conditions that almost mandated that it was from some other world -- there are a number of things we could do to test it to see what it was like. Among others, we could find out the chirality of the molecules composing it, especially those involved in its reproduction, and see whether it was compatible with Earthly life, or even related to it.
At which point, if we discovered that, say, life on Mars could have been among the ancestors of Earthly life, about half a nanosecond after the news was released, a good chunk of the Web would go ballistic over it, site after site screaming that that was contrary to Genesis, blasphemous, etc. etc. etc. Within a few minutes, the reaction of most of the rest of the Web to that would also achieve orbit, though in a different direction. WW 3 would ensue, after which only microscopic life would inhabit our world. These screaming optimists of SETI . . .
And see Unidentified Sunken Object: Probably Not Alien : Discovery News
Actually, if we discovered microscopic life off Earth -- or on Earth under conditions that almost mandated that it was from some other world -- there are a number of things we could do to test it to see what it was like. Among others, we could find out the chirality of the molecules composing it, especially those involved in its reproduction, and see whether it was compatible with Earthly life, or even related to it.
At which point, if we discovered that, say, life on Mars could have been among the ancestors of Earthly life, about half a nanosecond after the news was released, a good chunk of the Web would go ballistic over it, site after site screaming that that was contrary to Genesis, blasphemous, etc. etc. etc. Within a few minutes, the reaction of most of the rest of the Web to that would also achieve orbit, though in a different direction. WW 3 would ensue, after which only microscopic life would inhabit our world. These screaming optimists of SETI . . .
And see Unidentified Sunken Object: Probably Not Alien : Discovery News