In case you missed it - the Coldworm species launched their own probe and it crashed on the surface back in April. This is clearly debris from that crash, so no conspiracy here. Having said that, I do think those guys on Europa are really getting their sh*t together these days. If it wasn't for a spurious emission from some random Starlink earthsat, they probably would have made it.

..well that and their silly 137-base maths,

>> ..well that and their silly 137-base maths,

Easy for you to diss another species when you have conveniently 10-fingered prehensile limb appendages.

Let me guess - you're a Coldy, right? Yes it is easier for us, but some of the stuff you do is insane despite your 'disadvantages' IMHO. Who thought it was a good idea to have a character set that changes every orbit? Yes it is nice to know when a document was created, but "Hey, we could use a timestamp" really should have entered the neuromesh at some point.

We need to get the VXers on this ASAP.

Looks like a glob of solder to me.

Seems like it would have been possible to use an unusual alloy for any pieces of the craft likely to be mixed in with the samples - some strange alloy variation, or an unusual degree of radiation - just to 'tag' the materials and prevent this kind of mixup from happening.

Coke can,,,

Better stock up on your tinfoil, peeps.

I think that was the aim, given how it was outlined and question marked in the last image without any grounded commentary. Drama = Views

They said in the last image description that it was likely from the spacecraft itself though. Saying “it’s under investigation “ just means they wanted to get the images out ASAP before they had the team investigate the origin.

The last image clearly states: "The origin is under investigation, but a probable source is aluminium scraped off the spacecraft sampler horn as the projectile was fired to stir up material during touchdown."

I was thinking the same thing "probably scraped it off of itself" xD

Mostly, because this is 2020, and finding any indication of extraterrestrial life is out of the question in this burning trash-heap of a year :)

You (and seemingly everyone else compiling news-from-2020 lists) forget about the discovery of signs of life in the atmosphere of Venus. Not to be grandiose, but, if true, in 500 years this will likely be the only thing generally remembered about 2020.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02785-5

"Potential signs of life on Venus are fading fast

...But those results have since come under scrutiny, including from the original discovery team, which, citing a calibration error in one telescope it used, has downgraded the strength of its claim. Although the proponents remain confident of a phosphine detection, other astronomers have suggested that sulfur dioxide, which makes up most clouds on Venus, could have caused a similar absorption, among other critiques. ..."

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6520/1021

Seems unlikely at this point. From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Venus):

"By late October 2020, the review of data processing of the data collected by both ALMA used in original publication of September 2020, and later JCMT data, has revealed background interpolation errors resulting in multiple spurious lines, including the spectral feature of phosphine. Re-analysis of data with a proper subtraction of background either does not result in the detection of the phosphine or detects it with concentration of 1ppb, 20 times below original estimate."

>> signs of life in the atmosphere of Venus.

Haha! What's more likely, that a compound is produced in a way we dont understand or that some new life form exists in a way we don't understand?

If there were ever a time to apply occams razor that's it.

Is there any update to this?

Forget I said this. Clearly it’s impossible and the cranks at mit and nature should not have announced their findings.

It’s most likely from the probe itself. Some part that got smooshed in the extraction process.