3 ms·

Mars Rover Finds Organic Matter in Rock

• sp332 4y ago
  In context, "organic" means the material is carbon-based. "The rover team emphasized that finding organic matter doesn't mean it's found evidence of ancient life."
  • simonblack 4y ago
    Once upon a time, it was considered that all those strange carbon-based compounds could only be made by living organisms, hence the original name for carbon-based chemistry as 'Organic Chemistry'. It's well past time we put the term 'Organic Chemistry' in the Junk-heap of Science along with the non-existent 'Ether' and 'Spontaneous Generation of Life'.
• bediger4000 4y ago
  They're easing us into discovery of extraterrestrial life, aren't they?
• 8bitsrule 4y ago
  Quite a bit of organic matter falls from space. (Where it was first spotted decades ago.) So it matters what it is, and whether and how it's 'inside' of 'native' rock.