MARTIAN MYSTERY: NASA's Phoenix lander has found something unexpected in the soil of Mars: perchlorate, a compound used in fireworks and rocket fuel and consumed as food by some terrestrial microbes. How does this affect the odds and possible nature of life on Mars? No one knows. Puzzled scientists discussed the finding at a press conference yesterday: text, audio.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perchlorate http://www.spaceweather.com/
