What's New Robert L. Park 3 Dec 2012

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Monday, 3 Dec 2012   Washington, DC

1. ORGANIC: BEYOND THE HIGH-PRICED STUFF AT THE SUPERMARKET.=20
Jet Propulsion Laboratory director Charles Elachi, speaking to an=20
international conference at La Sapienza University in Rome last week,=20
implied that evidence of extraterrestrial life had been discovered on Mar=
s=20
by NASA's Curiosity Rover. The search for life to which we are not relate=
d=20
is arguably the greatest scientific quest of our time. Although NASA and=20=

JPL now downplay the story, there=92s room for uncertainty. "Organic" is =
not=20
a particularly exclusive club.  There are about 4 million known organic=20=

compounds and new ones are found every day. There is an urgent need for=20=

more detail about the discovery and how it was made. But I remind you tha=
t=20
November is "rutting season."  Even as male deer are fighting over access=
=20
to females, science laboratories around the world are fighting for a shar=
e=20
of the tight science budget.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
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