Mushrooms on Mars? Scientists claim to have found evidence of FUNGI on the Red Planet - or are they just rock formations?

Daily Mail UK ^ | Ryan Morrison

[BenLurkin]

Microbiologist Dr Xinli Wei from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, astrophysicist Dr Rudolph Schild from Harvard-Smithsonian and Dr. Rhawn Gabriel Joseph, aka Space Tiger King, made the claims after studying images snapped by NASA's Curiosity rover on the Red Planet and the orbiting HiRISE craft.

Their study, was has met been with skepticism from the scientific community, argues that what NASA called rocks are actually fungus-like specimens growing in the Martian landscape.

The trio claim that these 'mushrooms' seem to shrink, appear and disappear over a period of days, weeks and months. In one example, the team says there is evidence of fungi resembling Puffballs on Earth 're-sprouting' in tracks left behind by the NASA Curiosity rover.

Wei, Armstrong and Joseph have been sifting through NASA images of Mars for years and have shared their many 'discoveries' with the world on numerous occasions.

In April 2020, Armstrong and Joseph released a similar study on Research Gate that also claimed mushrooms were growing on Mars.

'Throughout its mission at Eagle Crater, Meridiani Planum, the rover Opportunity photographed thousands of mushroom-lichen-like formations with thin stalks and spherical caps, clustered together in colonies attached to and jutting outward from the tops and sides of rocks,' reads the 2020 paper that was not peer-reviewed.

[Getready]

Good point. In fact, xlnt point.

[Getready]

Soil temps can get very cold on mars at night. As in minus 100 degrees F.Can any biological system survive the crystallization of water or other fluids?

[Hootowl]

There are organisms on earth—a frog comes to mind—that freeze solid every winter and thaw in the spring. Don’t know why a fungus couldn’t adapt to the conditions on Mars.

[Silentgypsy]

El pingo.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Just Wuhan bat droppings. Nothing to see. Move on.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

“When Martian Fungi Attack”. Coming to a theater near you.

I guess Stacey Abrams was their head scout on earth.

[Daffynition]

Flora & I like truffles....so there's that.

[PIF]

If true, its too embarrassing for NASA to admit - so they will do everything possible to discredit it, like the fossil NASA found years ago and ground off to study the rock structure beneath.

[PIF]

Can any biological system survive the crystallization of water or other fluids?

—

Yes, nematodes.

[Tax-chick]

Wow, thanks!

[Ezekiel]

I just gained 10 lbs and killed my pancreas by looking at that pic.

Oh well, gotta live a little. :)

[cgbg]

While NASA presents itself as an open civilian agency, the actual language that created it tells a different story.

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/85/hr12575/text

provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dis- semination of information concerning its activities and the results thereof.

This begs the question of who decides what is "practicable and appropriate" and what criteria are they supposed to use?

Here we go:

If the Secretary of Defense concludes that any request, action, proposed action, or failure to act on the part of the Administrator is adverse to the responsibilities of the Department of Defense, or the Administrator concludes that any request, action, proposed action, or failure to act on the part of the Department of Defense is adverse to the responsibilities of the Administration, and the Administrator and the Secretary of Defense are unable to reach an agreement with re- spect thereto, either the Administrator or the Secretary of Defense may refer the matter to the President for his decision (which shall be final

[N. Theknow]

Mushrooms on Mars?

I Shiitake you not!

[PIF]

I could not find the actual bill in any readable form, but I do remember reading that NASA falls under the DoD.

Who decides what to do or not do, to show of not show seems to lie with the Principle Investigator of each project. Overall decision are made much higher up. However, one guiding principle seems to be in all matters of space exploration the ones laid down in the Brookings Report of ‘58 I think.

To show a sea anemone fossil or mushrooms on Mars is in the same category with the high red values in all the images - the first color images from the surface where displayed on finely calibrated monitors and showed the sky to be blue with white wispy clouds and meandering green patches on the ground; the monitor immediately had its red value cranked to the max and has remained that way until the present. Close examination of color shots of some of the landers has shown known color values to be skewed to the red - I don’t remember where I read that.

[Magnum44]

NASA is not under DoD.

NASA does have relations with DoD and has flown DoD payloads in the past.

[gitmo]

Marshrooms

[Daffynition]

So what is the Morel of your story?

[cgbg]

Read my post 32 very carefully.

Basically DOD has veto power over what information is released to the public.

[Magnum44]

It should not surprise anyone that where dual use technologies are involved, the government can prevent the release of information that might be harmful to national defense. That doesnt put any agency (i.e. Dept of Energy), or NASA, under DoD. They are separate, and have separate budget line items.

ITAR approval has gone back and forth between DoD and State (depending on administrations), which is what you are referring to in your 32.

[cgbg]

This is not complicated.

DOD has veto power over what information NASA releases to the public—for any reason they deem appropriate.

Any reason...