It seems like the NASA connection is more in the vein of "Holy crap, life exists in more ways than we previously thought, so it's entirely possible we'll find life on non Earth-like planets"
The funniest part of the press conference was when the USA Today lady asked the presenters to comment on the disappointment their readers were already expressing online that they "didn't pull ET out of a hat to do a dance" (actual quote) and the NASA lady was all was like "omg srsly USA Today you don't even understand" (paraphrase).

Insert theme music here.
More Important Than Soccer: Completely new type of DNA discovered
02/12/2010 04:48:51 PM
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Wow. *NM*
02/12/2010 05:32:08 PM
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that is TOTALLY inappropriate
02/12/2010 04:58:47 PM
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Crazy awesome.
02/12/2010 05:07:49 PM
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So the movie Evolution was real!
02/12/2010 05:24:16 PM
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Dang. I thought it was naturally occurring. Missed the part where it was grown in a lab.
03/12/2010 02:16:16 AM
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I won't pretend I know enough about biology to understand the impact of this
02/12/2010 06:26:24 PM
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It's like finding a type of rock that eats laughter
02/12/2010 06:51:15 PM
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... without coming down and dealing with the nasty stomach cramps.
02/12/2010 09:49:06 PM
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I think I had an ex once that was made of arsenic. *NM*
02/12/2010 07:10:57 PM
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So, is it an alien?
02/12/2010 07:19:49 PM
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They haven't mentioned anything saying it's not from Earth, I think
02/12/2010 08:03:44 PM
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It was funded by NASA, I think
02/12/2010 08:15:15 PM
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The bacteria in question is part of a known lineage
02/12/2010 08:07:34 PM
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see my note below
02/12/2010 08:13:35 PM
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Maybe
02/12/2010 08:23:16 PM
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So, apparently, this bacteria doesn't use arsneic for its DNA in its natural state?
02/12/2010 08:06:02 PM
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While awesome, it's a bit of a problem.
02/12/2010 09:04:22 PM
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True, but I'm not "looking for" anything in particular, so I just like it
*NM*
02/12/2010 11:09:21 PM
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Less cool a revelation than I was hoping, but certainly not a complete disappointment. *NM*
02/12/2010 10:35:33 PM
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I don't understand why this is such a big deal. It always seemed common sense to me that there are
02/12/2010 10:40:22 PM
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I think it just makes them happy that they can widen the parameters for life-sustaining planets. *NM*
02/12/2010 11:00:31 PM
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yah. it's one thing to theorize, another thing to find something to hold true.
02/12/2010 11:10:23 PM
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It's much more than an educated guess.
02/12/2010 11:59:18 PM
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You can't "know" from this distance.
03/12/2010 03:13:05 AM
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Why not?
03/12/2010 04:42:15 AM
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obviously you have not learned to look at the back label on the car
*NM*
04/12/2010 07:04:42 PM
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Yes, we can.
04/12/2010 06:04:48 PM
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The problem probably is with me.
04/12/2010 08:00:56 PM
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No, they aren't.
04/12/2010 10:01:25 PM
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Are you baiting me to bait you?
05/12/2010 06:41:49 AM
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I'm just carrying on a conversation.
05/12/2010 07:26:39 AM
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Re: I'm just carrying on a conversation.
05/12/2010 07:08:04 PM
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Re: I'm just carrying on a conversation.
05/12/2010 07:56:43 PM
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Re: I'm just carrying on a conversation.
06/12/2010 03:15:37 AM
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I made my students watch the NASA channel for over two hours today
02/12/2010 11:11:40 PM
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