Astronomer: Does a recent meteorite from Mars contain fossilized bacteria  Professor Tagar, a biologist, argues that the bacteria-like structures found in the meteorite cannot be fossilized bacteria, on the grounds that they are one-tenth of 1 percent the volume of the smallest earthly bacteria  However, Tagar' s view cannot be right
Tagar does not accept the views of biologists Swiderski and Terrada, who maintain that Martian bacteria would shrink to one-tenth of 1 percent of their normal volume when water or other nutrients were in short supply
The argument presumes, without providing justification, that the authorities cited have always held the views attributed to them.