NASA has made an incredible discovery on Mars, which it claims is the clearest evidence of life on the planet. Using one of its rovers, evidence of ancient alien microbes have been uncovered in a dry river channel which is believed to have been formed an impressive 3.7 billion years ago, scientists revealed on Wednesday.
A sample obtained by NASA’s Perseverance rover found sediment on the bottom of the ancient Neretva Vallis lake, which points towards potential signs of ancient microbial life. The researchers have said the rocks contain tiny dark specks – less than a millimetre in length – that they have called “poppy seeds”. Other sediments have also been found, containing larger dark-rimmed rosettes with lighter centres, now dubbed “leopard spots”. Both are said to be rich in iron and phosphorus.
These chemicals can form when tiny microbes break down organic material – a sign of life here on Earth.
“We’ve not had something like this before, so I think that’s the big deal,” said Prof Sanjeev Gupta, a planetary scientist from Imperial College London and one of the authors of a study published in the journal Nature.
“We have found features in the rocks that if you saw them on Earth could be explained by biology – by microbial process. So we’re not saying that we found life, but we’re saying that it really gives us something to chase.”
But these poppy seeds and leopard spots are not the only discoveries. The scientists also found vein-like structures, believed to be white calcium sulphate.
The age of the samples collected by Perseverance are estimated to be aged between 3.5 to 3.7 billion years old. Each of the rocks are now due to be taken for in-depth analysis, once they are returned to Earth, which will fully determine if the minerals were made by microbes.
The Perseverance Rover first arrived on Mars in 2021, sent to look for signs of biology. It has spent the last four years exploring a region called the Jezero Crater – once an ancient lake with a river flowing into it. It carries a drill to penetrate rocks and tubes to hold the samples.
Sean Duffy, the acting NASA administrator, said: “A year ago, we thought we found what we believe to be signs of microbial life on the Mars surface […] So, this very well could be the clearest sign of life that we’ve ever found on Mars.”