[gremlin]

The article is here.
NASA press conference live.

In addition, scientists suspect impacts as well as solar and cosmic radiation are triggering chemical reactions in the organic material, turning it about twice as dark as Mercury's surface.

"Is there chemistry going on in some portion of the subsurface where liquid water is present, organic material is present and there’s the equivalent of geothermal energy? I think that's something we need to pursue," Solomon said.

Even if Mercury isn't a good candidate to look for ancient life, the planet may hold clues about how life got started on Earth.

"Finding a place in the inner solar system where some of these same ingredients that may have led to life on Earth are preserved for us is really exciting. That may give us some insights into what may have happened way-the-heck-back there on Earth, where all the evidence is pretty much gone," Paige said.

The discovery also is relevant to the search for habitable planets beyond the solar system.

"It could be that it's not just a question of having planets in a habitable zone. Maybe you need all these other ices and organics out there in the outer solar system to seed the planet, to provide the raw the material," Paige said.

MESSENGER is due to wrap up its two-year mission in March, though scientists are hoping for additional funds from NASA to continue for at least part of a third year.

"The organics are high on the list of follow-on targets," Solomon said.

[Echo-chan713]

I find it weird because you'd expect mercury to be this crater wasteland because its so close to the sun and barely any ozone was made because the sun's solar wind would just demolish it.

[Pathosis]

I saw this on the news!
They found ice on Mercury and even on the moon, a few centimeters thick.
And they think that our lakes and oceans were filled by not only va
volcano's, but also from meteors that are carrying it from space and hitting the planet.
So the water we drink now is as old as rock and alien. :p

[Suzerain of Sheol]

Technically speaking, if my understanding of science isn't failing me (it might be), every molecule in existence is equally primordially ancient, originating from the singularity that spawned the Big Bang, so our water is a lot older than that. :P

Do correct me if I'm wrong, though.

This discovery seems really interesting from the perspective of the theoretical interplanetary dissemination of life-producing matter, like you mentioned, Pathosis. Figuring out whether we arose on Earth naturally or there was some kind of astronomical interaction (I'm talking meteors and such, no aliens :P) that produced the right mix of chemicals and environment for life, would tell us a lot about the prospects of encountering other life forms out there.

Or not. I'm a writer, not a scientist. :P

[Coda]

Tut tut, you can't say every molecule. At best you can say every quark.

[Suzerain of Sheol]

That... would make actual sense, wouldn't it?

Many thanks for the correction, Coda.

[Night Fury]

well there are some things that can live in extreme conditions like some types of bacteria
that can live in a volcano so I'm not surprised there is some on other planets even without an atmosphere

not sure were the article was but there is a scientific one where some scientists say everything is made out of star dust
or something like that

[pompon-chan]

lol I know this is off topic but I read the title as "orgasm discovered on mercury" xD aw man I'm so bad at reading

[Kamikaze Chinchilla]

If these organics can make burgers, I'm there *w*

[Echo-chan713]

Originally Posted by pompon-chan

lol I know this is off topic but I read the title as "orgasm discovered on mercury" xD aw man I'm so bad at reading

If they found that in mercury we would mine the crap out if it then sell it at a high premium

[pompon-chan]

@echo-chan

xD no joke! that would be so abused and used . 7 .;