The Martians are Jewish! That's right, you're not misreading it.

We're not talking about real Martians, natch. (Don't be ridiculous! There is no such thing as real Martians... or is there?) We're talking about "The Martians", a phrase coined by physicist Leo Szilard.

Szilard used the phrase to refer to Hungarian Jewish scientists who emigrated to the United States. When asked about proof of intelligent extraterrestrial life, he answered: "They are already here among us — they just call themselves Hungarians."

Who was among these Martians? We've profiled many of them already: mathematicians, physicists, chemists — Paul Erdos, Theodore von Karman, John Kemeny, Peter Lax, John von Neumann, Edward Teller, Eugene Wigner... That list obviously includes Szilard himself. He not only worked with Enrico Fermi on the first nuclear reactor, but was a key figure in the conception of the Manhattan Project, where a number of fellow Martians joined him.

(We think they bought it! No such thing as real Martians! Whew...)