QUESTION ASKED AND ANSWERED:

Shot:

Chaser: Scientists Claim to Spot Fungus Growing on Mars in NASA Rover Photos. “Fungi thrive in radiation intense environments.”

The researchers did caveat their findings, pointing out that “similarities in morphology are not proof of life,” and that “we cannot completely rule out minerals, weathering, and unknown geological forces that are unique to Mars and unknown and alien to Earth.”

But it’s a wild conclusion nonetheless. The researchers’ peers will likely go over the paper with a fine-toothed comb, and likely shred the results — it’s not every day that researchers are willing to stick out their necks and claim to have found evidence of life on Mars.

Well, stay tuned.