 |
| Guten morgen. |
Today is my first Saturday off since last Saturday, and my last Saturday off until I don't know when, so I reckon that I'd better make the most of it. I would prefer to spend it sitting mindlessly staring at a wall, or perhaps racing snails, however, more pressing matters must be attended to first.
First of all, what's this doing here?!?!?!?
"Venus springs ozone layer surprise
 |
| "Artist's impression of the detection of the ozone on Venus's night side" |
Scientists have discovered that Venus has an ozone layer.
The thin layer, which is hundred of times less dense than the Earth's, was discovered by the European Space Agency's Venus Express craft,researchers report in the journal Icarus.
Until now, ozone layers have only been detected in the atmospheres of Earth and Mars.
The find could help astronomers refine their hunt for life on other planets."
Later in the article it goes on to say: ...
"Some astrobiologists assume that the presence of oxygen, carbon, and ozone in an atmosphere indicates that life exists on a planet's surface.
The new results negate that assumption - the mere presence of oxygen in an atmosphere is now not enough evidence to start looking for life."
 |
| Bacteriaa |
Really? It took you how long that merely finding oxygen isn't necessarily a gauge for whether there's life on the planet? Really? That long? I am most dissatisfied with this piece of "news" if you'd call it, mainly because it's one of the most ridiculously common sense articles that are out there that is claiming to be the next big thing, but also because the author has hyped it up a stupid amount in her one-sentence-long paragraphs. Why all the spaces, is what I have to ask?!
But what I'm even more appalled about is the fact that the scientists were basing all of this on an assumption! Wouldn't it be quite obvious that in all of the planets that they study (which have oxygen, carbon and ozone in the atmosphere), not 100% of them will contain life? By the way it's made out to be, it sounds like they've plucked this idea out of thin air and without any proof, and then basing everything upon it! I mean, even a fool can see that that's not going to work.
Why are we even going out to find other life in the first place? Is this the human inquisitional nature daring us to find out more and more about the "stuff we don't know", or shouldn't we be scared? Actually, neither. It would (quite obviously) take them (the aliens) millions of light years to reach us from their tiny little planet to ours, probably by which point both parties would have expired/wiped off of the face of the universe by some cruel other twist of fate. The idea that there is intelligent life on Venus is ridiculous. Or any life for that matter, not unless someone's willing to dig to the core of it and bore the rock just to make sure nothing's down there. It's not anywhere near our planet's "Goldilocks zone" which helps all of its organisms thrive and survive, nor is it slightly skirting on it like Mars in the past. Nope. Venus is a lost cause. No life there.
Don't get me wrong, I do believe that there is life out there. In fact, maths practically proves that there is life out there, but it's just a bit too far away for us to get to it yet. The chances of us being the only living planet in the universe are stupendously slim, compared to the vast expanse of the cosmos... So why limit it to our own solar system?! Why even limit it to carbon based life-forms as well? Who the hell knows how a silicon-based life source works, so how would we know what to expect if we encountered one? All in all, I think that Jennifer Carpenter, the science reporter for BBC news, should be stripped of her title and sent back to writing school (or wherever it is they go), to stop making such rubbish reports of something that the media is deeming to be "groundbreaking today", when really, it is pretty much common knowledge. And an insult to scientists, because the first rule of being a scientist is never assume anything.
No comments:
Post a Comment