The Associated Press reports that two NASA Viking space probes visiting Mars in 1976-77 may have come across alien microbes and killed them by drowning and overheating them, according to a paper released at an American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle. It was accidental, since the probes were looking for Earth-like life, not the hydrogen peroxide-based life that could have evolved on Mars in the Red Planet’s cold, dry conditions. A NASA official told AP the agency is revising its definition of “life.”
Concerned about how artificial intelligence might be used to generate target lists or operational plans, lawmakers want to expand limits on autonomous weapons to address mission planning and target selection. The House Armed Services Committee's version of the 2027 National Defense Authorization bill would direct the Pentagon to revise Defense…