>Can someone explain why the discovery of ice and organics on Mars and Mercury such a surprise? It isn't a surprise, the hypothesis has been around for a long

>Can someone explain why the discovery of ice and organics on Mars and Mercury such a surprise? It isn't a surprise, the hypothesis has been around for a long time, this is just new supporting evidence. >If the prevailing opinion in science is that life formed spontaneously on Earth because the required chemistry was already present, doesn't it follow that similar compounds would be found through out the solar system? The big difference with Earth is position and the presence of a protective magnetosphere [1]. 1: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast31jan_1/ http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/as...