We have seen almost these exact formations on earth, where they are created by microbiological lifeforms which could survive in the condition of how we expect ancient Mars was like when this sediment was formed.
We have been able to reproduce similar patterns in the lab, but only in conditions with much higher temperatures or with much higher acidity than what we’d expect Mars to have been like back then.
So the possible options are:
Ancient Mars was how we expect it to have been, and these patterns were formed by ancient microbiological, Martian lifeforms.
These patterns were formed by a known chemical process, and ancient Mars was much hotter or more acidic (or both) than we expected based on all other research.
These patterns were formed by a currently unknown chemical process that does not require the high temperature of acidity that the known processes require.
So in this case it’s not just wishful thinking. The hypothesis of this being formed by microbiological life is the hypothesis that best fits with what we currently know about the conditions in which the sediment was formed (which doesn’t fully prove that it’s true, but does give it credibility). And even if options 2 or 3 will end up being the right explanation, then we’ll still at least learn something interesting from this.
In this case it’s somewhat different.
We have seen almost these exact formations on earth, where they are created by microbiological lifeforms which could survive in the condition of how we expect ancient Mars was like when this sediment was formed.
We have been able to reproduce similar patterns in the lab, but only in conditions with much higher temperatures or with much higher acidity than what we’d expect Mars to have been like back then.
So the possible options are:
Ancient Mars was how we expect it to have been, and these patterns were formed by ancient microbiological, Martian lifeforms.
These patterns were formed by a known chemical process, and ancient Mars was much hotter or more acidic (or both) than we expected based on all other research.
These patterns were formed by a currently unknown chemical process that does not require the high temperature of acidity that the known processes require.
So in this case it’s not just wishful thinking. The hypothesis of this being formed by microbiological life is the hypothesis that best fits with what we currently know about the conditions in which the sediment was formed (which doesn’t fully prove that it’s true, but does give it credibility). And even if options 2 or 3 will end up being the right explanation, then we’ll still at least learn something interesting from this.