It would appear that the US President has been briefed by Phoenix scientists about the discovery of something more "provocative" than the discovery of water existing on the Martian surface. This news comes just as the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) confirmed experimental evidence for the existence of water in the Mars regolith on Thursday. Whilst NASA scientists are not claiming that life once existed on the Red Planet's surface, new data appears to indicate the "potential for life" more conclusively than the TEGA water results. Apparently these new results are being kept under wraps until further, more detailed analysis can be carried out, but we are assured that this announcement will be huge…

Sources say the new data do not indicate the discovery of existing or past life on Mars. Rather the data relate to habitability--the "potential" for Mars to support life--at the Phoenix arctic landing site, sources say.

The Phoenix lander has found evidence of a chemical called perchlorate in two samples of Martian soil.

At a press conference on Tuesday, researchers said the find raises a number of questions about Martian geochemistry, particularly about the flow of water on the planet. But they said its discovery will likely have little bearing on the key question of whether or not Mars might be able to host life.

...

If perchlorate is detected beyond the Phoenix landing site in the northern plains of Mars, it may have implications for studies of the Martian atmosphere, where it likely forms. It "could potentially keep a lot of graduate students busy for a very long time", said MECA lead Michael Hecht of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.