[gfodor]

These analogies aren't useful. Much of this process so far has relied upon a single point of failure not failing: that the paper contains the necessary information to replicate and describe the material. If that assumption is wrong, while some science will still remain valid, much of it would turn out to have been unindicative of the actual state of reality.

[sweezyjeezy]

But what about the alternative explanation for what the Korean team saw? Occam's razor is coming firmly down on one side here.

[gfodor]

Yeah the odds are extremely low but the case isn’t closed yet. There is ongoing analysis of the actual samples.