This is CBSI in the world. I'm John Batchner to the surface of Mars, to curiosity, the

rover, to revelations in these last hours that require explication. This is Hotel Mars

episode n. David Livingston, Dr. Space of the Space Show is here as my colleague and co-pilot

and we go to the astrobiologist of my experience these many decades. David Grinspoon, David

joins us to understand the information we're getting from curiosity that's raised lots of

excitement. But then again, Dr. Grinspoon has taught me over the years, do not get carried

away with that word life. Lay back, wait, wait, wait, explore all the other possibilities.

And then Dr. Grinspoon, a very good evening to you. I'll read from the Life Science Report.

Master's Curiosity rover has found some interesting organic compounds in the red planet. What

have they found here understanding? Good evening, David. Good evening, John and hello, David.

Yes, well, it's very exciting. And I think that, you know, they're representing it in a reasonable

and responsible way. That is, they're saying correctly, this is something that is intriguing,

unusual, and potentially a sign of life. And yet, there are other possible explanations.

I mean, that's the right way to discuss it. Part of what's, you know, so cool about this and

striking to people that have been studying Mars for a long time is that this particular anomaly

that they found is one of the anomalies that we've previously discussed that could easily

be an indicator of life. In other words, before they found it, it was on the list of things that

people said, hey, if we find this, then that's possibly a sign of life. So that, you know, that

bumps it up in credibility. The, you know, this is an isotopic ratio, which is a fancy word for

meeting, you know, there are different flavors of carbon. Carbon, every carbon atom has six

protons and either six or seven or sometimes eight neutrons. And that gives them different masses.

And they chemically act the same. In other words, they make the same bonds that two,

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