didn't read enough nvm

NASA's actually answered the speculation and plastic story:
http://www.space.com/18697-mars-rove...ry-rumors.html

TL;DR version: We said we had data for the history books, but that's just scientific history books, it's actually really mundane boring crap nobody with less than four doctorates is capable of getting excited about.

ROFL ya that got me good, I thought the picture looked too much like a string of plastic beads, my first thought was how the hell did the rover find that?

it certaily was fun while it lasted.. So .. has the rover found tar sand or shale yet
that would be some pipe line project.. i can see the NASA oil and lube signs now..

Free space shuttle wash with every fill up!

The rover hasn't found anything like that and even if such a thing exists it isn't going to be lying around on the surface where a robot can find it.

It's not real oh and i think we can all find that out lol.

Quaid...start the reactor...free Mars.

^^^
This. I'm usually pretty careful, but I guess the fact I'd love to see life discovered elsewhere got the better of me. Just goes to show, you can't believe what you read off the internet. (Looking at all the "Wikipedia is valid info" folks.)

this is how bad news gets disseminated. Even if you put in your post that it's a hoax, still half of the people that read it will think it's true. Sigh.