
‘A Great Moment’: Rover Finds Clue That Mars May Harbor Life - dnetesn
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/17/science/a-new-clue-in-the-search-for-life-on-mars.html?ref=science
======
themartorana
Correct me if I'm wrong, but NASA was pretty clear that they did NOT find
signs of life - that the methane _could_ be from decomposed organisms, but
just as easily from other sources.

It was exciting to find the methane, no doubt, but this title is maybe a bit
misleading?

Edit: Source:
[http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4413](http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4413)

Edit 2: previous discussion, still on the HN home page:
[http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4413](http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4413)

Edit 3: I really do hope they _do_ find signs of life on Mars - it would be so
insanely course-altering for humanity. Maybe this _is_ the first step in that
direction. But it's not life yet, NY Times...

~~~
michaelfeathers
Indications of life on Mars have been found nearly as many times as Voyager
has left the solar system.

------
onion2k
The term 'organic chemistry' confuses people. We commonly use 'organic' to
mean 'living', which is correct in the field of biology, but quite different
in chemistry (where it essentially means 'includes the element carbon').
Science journalists usually know the difference, but when stories get in to
the mainstream media you often see writers get it wrong.

~~~
kingkawn
A common abuse of this is dry cleaners who advertise that they use all Organic
cleaning methods, usually meaning compounds like tetrachloroethylene, an
organic that is far from organic.

------
Sir_Cmpwn
Better article posted 20 hours ago:

[http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4413](http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4413)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8758571](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8758571)

------
kbart
Why not link to less catchy, but more accurate report?

[http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26709-curiosity-
rover-...](http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26709-curiosity-rover-
detects-martian-methane-burps.html?full=true)

