I am curious about the results!
I'm assuming they will find polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which were found in the 1996 meteorite from Mars:
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/marslife.html.
I think the main question was whether those compounds had formed due to inorganic processes or due to microorganisms that lived billions of years ago on Mars. Perhaps the current findings point more definitely to a biological origin!
If there *were* once microorganisms on Mars, this would be both wonderful to discover and sad, I feel, because the current sterile Mars foreshadows Earth's sterile future when our planet will spend its last 2 billion years (if I recall correctly) devoid of any living beings because it will be too hot here (due to the sun's increasing brightness as it ages). Mars is like a massive tombstone showing our own future.
On the positive side, life has a long future here on Earth, and it isn't over 'til it's over!
I really like this part of the NPR article, because it relates science to music, which both involve sharing the discovery of the unknown:
"'How many composers would actually compose music if they were told no one else could listen to their compositions? How many painters would make a painting if they were told no one else could see them?' says Zare. It's the same for scientists. 'The great joy of science is to be able to share it. And so you want to say, 'Isn't this interesting? Isn't that cool?' "