In a recent interview with the Telegraph, NASAย chief scientistย Jim Green said itโs possible weโll soon find evidence of life on Mars but that โweโre not prepared for the results.โ Green said the discovery would be as world-shaking as the revelation that the solar system doesnโt revolve around Earth.
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But some experts we spoke to disagreed that finding alien life would truly change much on Earth.
โWell yes, maybe [weโre unprepared],โ said Wieger Wamelink, a senior ecologist at Wageningen University & Research and an advisor to theย MarsOne project, in an email to Gizmodo. But this โis mostly a philosophical issue that will have an impact, but not on day-to-day life,โ he said. โThe stock exchange will not react and countries will not go to war because of this.โ
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Importantly, Green is correct to assert a level of unpreparedness in the scientific community. Itโs not immediately clear, for example, how weโd responsibly handle alien microbes.
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On that note, hereโs hoping for great success for NASAโs 2020 rover and the ESAโs Rosalind Franklin. May the quest for life on Mars continue, with tempered expectations.
Read full, original post: Would Finding Life on Mars Really Change Anything?
