Ugh. Mercury is way too touristy, though.

"I thought there was mercury in the fish now." ~The late Emily Litella

Frozen water seems common.. mars, the rings of Saturn, Jupiter's moon.

The big find would be liquid water... even better if we find liquid salt water.

http://www.bing.com/search?setmkt=en-US&…

And by "organic matter" they mean carbon and hydrogen based-compounds. Petroleum is organic matter, and so is methane and alcohol, but none of those things are alive.

However, here on Planet Earth, all those things are derived from organisms, former or living. It takes photosynthetic cells to put carbon structures together. (I don't know enough about the general metabolism of bacteria living deep underground or underwater, shielded from the reach of solar radiation.) So who knows, you know? Bacteria have been found in more extreme environments than Mercury's polar regions, as described in the post.

The more dispatches I hear from the field of astrobiology, the more doubtful I grow of Earth's exclusive claim to life.

The fact they found a black hole spouting water removed any doubts I had about it being everywhere in the universe. I have concluded the universe is structured for life.

I for one welcome our water-based Mercurial Zombie Overlords.

@3 If it's frozen at one spot, and 800F elsewhere, there has to be a zone in between the two. Maybe even a large wet zone.

Black hole spouting water? Is this a joke? Link please.

Ideal if we ever want to establish a base on that planet 200 years from now. Water = Fuel. Not exactly sure what humans would do on that planet, but now its a workable possibility.

NO ALIENS?! Weak.

@7 -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublimation…

@8 news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/80125…