re: "White House Briefed On Potential For Mars Life" - something beyond the water results.
I like the way they put it: ""They have discovered water on Mars for the third or fourth time." Indeed. It would have been news if they didn't find water...
OTOH, the MECA results may have to do with the absence of expected findings, ie: what happened to Oyama's oxides and superoxides? If they are not there, then the soil ("") does become somewhat more hospitable, eh?