In this week's Mars news, NASA has officially denied rumors from over the weekend that they'd told the President that there was proof of life on Mars, and counter-rumors that they'd said life is impossible there.

In actuality, Phoenix's latest efforts in its tumultuous quest for space-dirt have resulted in ambiguous findings as to whether or not the Martian soil contains perchlorate ions, which may or may not even mean very much (some microbes use it here on earth, but it may be toxic to others, and in particular it inhibits thyroid function in humans). More, we don't even know which of many possible perchlorate salts it was, if it's really there.

So uh, yeah. More dirt, more questions, few or no answers. Just another day on Mars

In the latest fascinating news from our robotic minions on the red planet, Phoenix is in a sticky situation once again. It seems our little neighbor's asparagus-friendly soil is being uncooperative with the lander's attempts to analyze it; Phoenix is trying to shake and bake it, but try as it might it can't seem to get the frozen soil to come loose from the scoop. At least so far, we can be thankful that it hasn't been damaged in its attempts.

It's a bit funny really, that the (by NASA standards) dirt-cheap Spirit and Opportunity rovers have done so much for so long, and are still running... yet this latest lander, built on the experiences we've had with the rovers, can't seem to do much of anything right. At least we know there's water on Mars now, so how about we just get on with putting boots on the ground? I bet an astronaut would be a lot more skilled at digging holes and getting the mud to come off the shovel.

In the latest news from NASA on our little red neighbor, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Global Surveyor have revealed new evidence that the planet was once impacted by another body larger than Pluto. As it turns out, the biggest known impact basin in the solar system has been there all along (some theorized it over twenty years ago), it was just hidden due to some volcanoes that had grown up around the edges.

Down on the surface, the recently-landed Phoenix has been hard at work, digging in the dirt and trying (having failed on its first attempt earlier this month) to get said dirt into its instruments. Having now succeeded, the lander made a startling discovery: Mars may be a good place to grow asparagus, were it not for the pesky sub-zero temperatures and thin atmosphere.

...Well, not quite, depending on your definition of a life. Perth, Australia resident Ian Usher has placed all of his material belongings, plus a chance to take over his job and introductions to his friends up for auction on eBay.

The auction ends this weekend, and he plans to walk out his door afterwards with little else than his identity and the clothes on his back.

Is amassing possessions all there is to life? He seems to be betting a lot of people think so, while believing otherwise himself. It's certainly a brave (or crazy) thing to do, and one has to wonder if he's truly giving up everything as he claims, or if he's already made plans and arrangements for his new life.

Do you think you could do this--give up everything you've got, and start all over? Granted, the proceeds from the sale will surely help Ian, but what if you had to do without that?