[FUBAR-BDHR]

It eveporated which means it's most like ice.  It still doesn't mean it's water ice but anyway if it is where there is water there usually is life.  If there are signs of life past or present Will the government cover it up?  Will they try to explain it away to satisfy religious factions? 

And now for the major question if it's producing hydrocarbons how long before the oil companies land there?   

[Stormkeeper]

Link to the news ?

And I thought they always knew about the ice on mars.

[BloodEagle]

Call me when they find a sentient lifeform, especially if its found on Earth.

[FUBAR-BDHR]

http://scitech.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/20/phoenix-straight-up-on-the-rocks/

Not sure if that is the right link.  Earlier today they had an article with a picture of where the lander dug with white crystals that later evaporated.

[FUBAR-BDHR]

Call me when they find a sentient lifeform, especially if its found on Earth.

Sentient is one thing.  Intelligent is another. 

[Stormkeeper]

If an intelligent being is found on Earth, I would be able to divide by 0.

[NGTM-1R]

If an intelligent being is found on Earth, I would be able to divide by 0.

That explains the hole in reality engulfing the planet. Damn you.

[Stormkeeper]

Wait ... does that mean ... There's an intelligent being on EARTH ??? NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

[FreeSpaceFreak]

Some say that the Viking test results were misinterpreted on purpose, and that Viking did actually find traces of life...

[IceFire]

I can assure you that I've never been to Mars and that they never found me there

[Mars]

I didn't know about any ice 

I guess I'm just that cool 

oh...

[colecampbell666]

I just saw that, and to me it looks like the first substantial clue they have to go on. The only thing is, I doubt it will amount to much.

And if it evaporated, couldn't it be another liquid?

[Mars]

I was under the impression that we already knew Mars had ice, we just didn't know if it had water.

[Stormkeeper]

Ice is water, technically speaking. It means at some time in the past, there was life on mars, possibly. Which means at this point there is the possibilty of life on Mars still, albeit it'll probably be single celled.

Or underground.

[Mars]

Microbs do not live in solid ice. We already knew Mars had ice, so why do we care that we found ice?

Now if they found even a trace of liquid water, then I'd be impressed.

[Unknown Target]

That's not true. They found some microbes on Earth in Antarctica that were living in a block of ice or something.

[colecampbell666]

And they've also found microbes on comets.

[Snail]

And they've also found microbes on comets.

Then why doesn't that count as extraterrestrial life?

[colecampbell666]

Dunno. Maybe because they're not planetoids?

[jdjtcagle]

And they've also found microbes on comets.

No they didn't, http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/planetearth/alien_bacteria_001127.html