QUESTION: “Is there life on Mars?”
NEXT QUESTION: “Was there ever life on Mars?”
The following text is from a scientific list serve that notifies recipients of current science news. The post below is for December 4, 2012. Read the post here with the two questions above in mind:
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Nothing definitive found in Curiosity’s first Mars soil test
NASA confirmed that the Curiosity rover found a mix of chemicals and water in a sample of sandy Martian soil, but no complex carbon molecules that are considered to be essential for life. The results of a soil analysis by the rover’s chemistry laboratory show that the sample is typical Martian soil, said Ralf Gellert, mission scientist and associate professor at the University of Guelph’s department of physics. Scientists believe that the best chance of discovering complex carbon is on the Red Planet’s Mount Sharp, which the rover will not visit until next year. ABC News/The Associated Press (12/3)
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One thing to keep in mind is that carbon molecules of various kinds are present throughout the universe. These are not likely indicators of life forms. But finding carbon on Mars is more likely going to lead to the second question and not the first.
Today there are hundreds of factors that provide the conditions making our planet suitable for life. Mars, even in past history, likely meets a mere handful of these same conditions. If NASA finds any evidence suggesting life was or is present on Mars, we are faced by a reality that will be lost as soon as the findings are declared. And that reality is initially twofold.
First, any such evidence will need highly sophisticated follow up work for life identification certainty. But the media will spin and play the story for all it’s worth. This will dominate the more critical need for conclusive evidence.
Furthermore, if life is or was on Mars, it’s origin may be from Earth itself. That fact alone would confine the discussion and bring us back to the notion that we live on the only or one of a very few planets with life.
Second, from a WindowView perspective, the science news will push the agendas of skeptics and the anti-religious. This will confuse people who do not look closely at scientific and scriptural information in an objective context. This may fool many into losing faith without discernment of what is a truthful assessment for where the evidence really leads us.
Are the NASA explorations tied to hopes and expectations … Well yes, of course, scientific exploration is marvelous and sometimes awesome. The human nature is invested in exploration. But truth is not limited to the material scooped up from a planet’s surface.
In total, the numerous factors for Earth supporting life all lead to a calculation and logical conclusion that the environment and position of our planet reflect design. If you explore the evidence this point grows by leaps and bounds!
No matter the material viewpoint, there is sufficient evidence in the harmony of science and Scripture to take us back to the window, to think further, and to see life in a much more special context than what news of molecules from Mars may first lead us to think.
Let’s not let hype be a back door to escape truth!
So … Are you the product of mere chance or is there purpose to being, purpose to life? Throw back the shutters, open the window, and see where the evidence leads … and don’t be fooled by the spin of the news media.
Director,
WindowView.org
