Re: Oh, I dunno ...
I wouldn't expect terrestrial life. However, I am questioning the statement that Martian brines are "unlikely to play host to anything that looks like life as we know it". I rather suspect that if any life is found, it'll look and act an awful lot like life here on Earth ... Including being oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen based, with a sprinkle of calcium and phosphorus, a dash of potassium, sodium, sulpher and chlorine, a bit of magnesium and a small pinch of other contaminants.