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Nature News: http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101202/full/news.2010.645.ht...

[Edit] They are calling it a member of the Halomonadaceae, which means it is descended from the common ancestor of that group, and so does not represent a second, independant origin of life.

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You know what I don't get. Why is this NASA news?

The scientists that made the discovery work for NASA. Edit: That is to say, the work that led to this discovery was funded by NASA, and was done to gain information about how to look for life on other planets.

Why is this interesting at all if it is not an independent origin of life?

Phosphorous is used by all previously known life in a number of ways, including as part of the DNA backbone. If there's something that uses something else, it's a big deal.

It's a proof-of-concept for radical new ideas of where/how life can form.

For instance, Titan has a thick atmosphere and lakes of liquid ethane/methane. If Arsenic-based life exists, could there be Methane-based life in those depths?

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Right, I guess 'methane-based life' was poor wording. Suffice it to say that this discovery implies that life can form in ways and places that we've never considered.

The issues may be different, but the doubt that is raised now in the one true way path of life are real.

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