During its very brief scientific mission, the Philae comet lander discovered organic molecules on comet C-G last week. That's the word today from the scientists and engineers at the European Space Agency. According to a German-led ESA group, one of Philae's several chemical detectors sniffed out these (unspecified) molecules in the comet's atmosphere during its ill-fated descent.

Scientists have long theorized that comets may have carried important organic molecules to Earth, which could have jumpstarted the genesis of life. It's one of the biggest open questions we have about comets.

Here's why you should curb your enthusiasm—for now.

What would be really exciting is if Philae discovered a set of specific organic molecules, like amino acids. But ESA has yet to say just what molecule we're dealing with here.

Although the term "organic molecule" may sound a heck of a lot like it has something to do with lifeforms, in chemistry "organic" means little more than "this molecule has one or more carbon atoms somewhere in it." While life as we know it must contain organic compounds, you can have lots of organic compounds without having life. For example, gases like methane (a couple of hydrogen atoms clinging to a carbon atom) and methanol (essentially methane with an extra hydrogen and oxygen atom) are by definition organic molecules, but both can be produced in common chemical reactions that need have nothing to do with living organisms.

And here's the kicker. Both methane and methanol have already been detected on C-G months ago by the instrumentation on board Philae's mothership, Rosetta. In other words, we've already found organic molecules on C-G.

Exciting news is sure to come soon as ESA researchers delve in Philae's short-lived data stream. With any luck, soon we'll have a really good reason to get excited.

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