Follow The Nitrogen To Extraterrestrial Life

To quote:

Even if NASA were to find water on Mars, its presence only would indicate the possibility of life, said Kenneth Nealson, Wrigley Professor of earth sciences in the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

"It's hard to imagine life without water, but it's easy to imagine water without life," Nealson said.

The discovery of nitrogen on the Red Planet would be a different story.

"If you found nitrogen in abundance on Mars, you would get extremely excited because it shouldn't be there," Nealson said.

The reason has to do with the difference between nitrogen and carbon, the other indispensable organic element.

Unlike carbon, nitrogen is not a major component of rocks and minerals. This means that any substantial organic nitrogen deposits found in the soil of Mars, or of another planet, likely would have resulted from biological activity.

Full article here:

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Follow_The_Nitrogen_To_Extraterrestrial_Life.html