"It is a view that astronomers would die for: a shimmering, blue, alien world with oceans and continents and vegetation changing colour with seasons. A vision like this, across the galactic void, would be unambiguous proof of the existence of extraterrestrial life."
Or so it seems. Something tells me we can count on NASA/JPL to conjure all sorts of bogus scenarios that don't require organic processes, if its decades-long dealings with probable life on Mars are any indication. So I'm glad the Europeans are leading this effort, which I predict will meet with spectacular success.
Viewed in a brighter light, JPL's refusal to acknowledge evidence of life on Mars very likely reflects a political necessity to retain control of the Mars research budget. Since it's doubtful we'll be sending probes to other star systems in the near future, JPL has little or nothing to lose by conceding the existence of extrasolar life (as opposed to life in our own solar system).
As always, mainstream science is perfectly comfortable with the idea of extraterrestrial life -- but it demands that ET life behave according to a set of carefully predetermined rules. For example, radio-SETI presumes intelligent aliens exist, but its elite takes conspicuous pains to distance them from us; contact, if it occurs, will presumably come in the form of electromagnetic transmissions -- not something as potentially disturbing as actual visitation or the discovery of tangible artifacts.
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