Remember that time you heard that scientists discovered life on Mars?

It's been reported several different times, in fact.

The problem is that none of those were true, and yet it got reported anyway, resulting

in a science communication fail.

Today we're going to find out what happens when scientists speak too soon and out of place.

It's coming up next on Skeptoid.

You're listening to Skeptoid.

I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com.

About that life on Mars.

Since the early days of science fiction, Martians have been part of our folklore.

Sometimes they're benevolent, often evil, but always just taken for granted as being

existent.

And though we've been to Mars lots of times, we've had eyes on it from the surface and

from orbit.

We have not yet managed to find any giant tripod monsters lumbering about on its surface.

But what about the smaller life, microbial life, or at least evidence that it lives,

or has lived, somewhere on Mars?

Exobiologists at NASA are in unison that the answer is no.

And yet every few years, a news story pops up, trumpeting that some scientist claims

it has been found after all.

Who do we believe?

Today we're going to look at the evidence and at the claimants to see if we can determine

...