The author and the lecturer both discuss the possibility of basic living beings’ existence on Mars. While the author believes that it’s very probable that some kind of life forms can exist on Mars, the lecturer casts doubt on the author’s opinion.
According to the author, the existence of methane suggests that some basic life form might live there since methane gas is only emitted by living organisms. On the contrary, the lecturer refutes this saying this is wrong. Methane gas also comes from volcanic activity and there are still a lot of active volcanoes emitting methane gas.
Another evidence the author points out is that there are meteorites from Mars that had some signs of bacteria. On the other hand, the lecturer counters this idea by suggesting the testing method is in its infant stages so the information given about the meteorites is very unclear. Also, he goes on to saying it is not even certain that those meteorites are from Mars.
In response to reading’s assertion that that the existence of frozen on each side of Mar’s poles and the signs of flee-flowing water suggests that a living form exists on Mars, the lecturer argues that frozen water is not conducive to survival of a living being. Moreover, flee-flowing water underneath Mar’s surface is not verified and it could take years for scientists to find about what’s beneath Mar’s surface.
To sum up, the lecturer counters the author’s belief about the existence of life by proving the uncertainty of the evidence given in the reading passage. |