14 DAY TRIAL // Word on the Internet has it that the press meeting called for by the American space agency for tomorrow, December 2, will see the first announcement on the discovery of alien life being made. Experts say this couldn't be farther from the truth.
NASA officials say that indeed the announcements they have to make are related to the field of astrobiology, which is the science dealing with studying life in places other than Earth.
But, while that may indeed be the case, there are no reasons to believe that the agency will announce the existence of little green men or space bacteria. But this did not prevent the blogosphere from getting all worked up about the possibility.
Serious websites have picked up on the news as well, saying that the new announcement might be the “big one” we've been waiting for – that alien life has been discovered.
The title of the press release is “NASA Sets News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery: Science Journal Has Embargoed Details Until 2 pm EST On Dec. 2.”
The practice of setting embargo on released content is common among journals of all types, around the world. Until the information is published in the journal Science, no other news outlets are allowed to publish it. This is what the name of the release implies.
Embargoed press releases are being released by NASA, universities, research centers and other organizations every single day, and they are usually sent to journalists a few days before the content appears in various publications.
This is done to give reporters time to interview study authors or relevant authorities, and then present to users the full story. The embargo system works rather well in this regard.
When looking over the original NASA announcement, it's easy to see why bloggers and conspiracy theorists got the wrong idea. The agency listed heavy names as participants in the press conference.
They include the director of the astrobiology program, Mary Voytek, USGS astrobiology research fellow Felisa Wolfe-Simon, Goddard astrobiologist Pamela Conrad, ASU professor James Elser, and Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution distinguished fellow Steven Benner.
But the simple fact that these experts in the field of astrobiology have been invited to attend should not be construed as an indicator of the fact that they were called there to explain to people that alien life has been discovered.
Optimism is something very positive, but it needs to be applied wittingly to announcements such as this one. Plus, there are numerous other findings related to astrobiology and astronomy that could take your breath away.