

The Philae Comet Could Be Home to Microbial Alien Life, Scientists Say - thrusong
http://time.com/3946292/comet-philae-life-microbial-67p-astronomers-alien/

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Thorondor
I don't think we should get too excited about this without further evidence,
as microbes aren't the only (or even the most likely) possible source of
complex hydrocarbons on a comet. For example, see:
[http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/07/magic-carbon-layer-
no...](http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/07/magic-carbon-layer-not-a-sign-
of-extraterrestrial-life/)

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eastbayjake
"... the criticism Wallis and Wickramasinghe’s claims have received in just
the past few hours ... can be condensed into two points: (1) Wickramasinghe
has a history of making wild and unfounded claims (2) This latest claim is
wild and unfounded. ... [S]cientists affiliated with the Rosetta mission have
dismissed the claims of alien life out of hand. Project scientist Matt Taylor
called them 'pure speculation.' Monica Grady, a co-investigator on Philae’s
chemical-analyzing instrument Ptolemy, echoed Taylor’s criticism, dismissing
the claims as 'highly unlikely.'"

[http://io9.com/what-other-scientists-are-saying-about-
todays...](http://io9.com/what-other-scientists-are-saying-about-todays-life-
on-1716022562?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_facebook&utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow)

