Curiosity rover finds organic carbon molecules on Mars

[Shreyas1]

I, for one, welcome our alien overlords

[Cole5]

Or as my friend said

Mars farts in the summer

[Sauron]

12 hours ago, Master Disaster said:

It's starting to look like life in the universe might be much more abundant than we think it is. If we can prove our neighbour planet once supported life then the chances of life existing outside of our solar system increases hugely.

Maybe, but if all it can support turns out to be monocellular organisms it will be a little disappointing... we have life in pretty extreme scenarios here on Earth, but it's not particularly advanced. If advanced carbon based life were possible with barely any atmosphere and at (relatively) extreme temperatures we'd probably have found some here already.

[tikker]

12 hours ago, Master Disaster said:

It's starting to look like life in the universe might be much more abundant than we think it is. If we can prove our neighbour planet once supported life then the chances of life existing outside of our solar system increases hugely.

 

13 minutes ago, Sauron said:

Maybe, but if all it can support turns out to be monocellular organisms it will be a little disappointing... we have life in pretty extreme scenarios here on Earth, but it's not particularly advanced. If advanced carbon based life were possible with barely any atmosphere and at (relatively) extreme temperatures we'd probably have found some here already.

It would be surprising to me if we were the only form of  life in the universe. In what form however is a good question indeed. There's also still a debate going on, on what exactly are the conditions needed for life. For example, the habitable zone is not as simple as it sounds and is still quite uncertain.

 

Also, for those interested, the papers referred to:

1) The organics: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6393/1096

2) Seasonal changes: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6393/1093