Scientists Detect ‘Leopard Spots’ on Mars, and It Looks a Lot Like Life
The Daily Galaxy••science
Key Points:
- NASA’s Perseverance rover detected chemical signatures in Mars rocks, specifically vivianite and greigite, minerals commonly associated with microbial life on Earth, from a mudstone sample in Jezero Crater’s ancient riverbed.
- The mineral patterns, resembling bullseye structures seen in Earth’s anoxic sediments influenced by microbes, were found alongside organic carbon, phosphate, and sulfur, suggesting a once water-rich, low-temperature environment conducive to microbial activity.
- According to NASA’s Confidence of Life Detection (CoLD) scale, these findings represent preliminary biosignature evidence but require further verification through isotope analysis and microtextural studies in Earth laboratories.
- The sample has been preserved for potential return to Earth as part of NASA
