first story is actually from Ars, neowin just doesn't explicitly say so but they link to them

Think twice; Without a reason to create missions, NASA would be out of work and thousand of engineers would be looking for jobs just like many people are in this economy. They have a vested interest in getting new missions funded.

Looking for Life, Water, and now Snow are great teasers.

Might as well say the moon is made of green cheese ...

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Figures don't lie, but .....

Is that a religious objection? NASA has backed away for years from saying it has any kind of evidence of life on Mars, even though it acknowledges that its experimental method of detecting complex hydrocarbons would destroy any lingering evidence. Which has prompted a lot of conspiracy theorists to blame the Christian right for bureaucratic adoption of flawed experimental designs.

All that aside, my favorite phrase from the article has to be: "the possibility for life outside of our planet, while remote, is completely possible." Well, yes, Mars is pretty remote, so it is good to be reminded that a possiblity is, you know, possible.