Mars sample from Perseverance hints at ancient life, lab proof needed

NASA officials said Wednesday that material collected by the Perseverance rover in a dry river channel on Mars contains the clearest signature yet consistent with ancient microbial activity, though scientists cautioned that definitive proof will require laboratory analysis on Earth. The sample, gathered last summer from clay-rich mudstones in Neretva Vallis feeding into Jezero Crater, was described at a news conference as containing chemical and structural features that may have been produced by living organisms billions of years ago.

NASA’s new administrator, Sean Duffy, said the find represents the clearest sign of life on the Red Planet to date. Associate Administrator Nick Fox added, "This is the kind of signature that we would see that was made by something biological." Researchers led by Joel Hurowitz of Stony Brook University reported in the journal Nature that the drill sample from an outcrop dubbed the Bright Angel formation contains organic carbon and tiny specks, nicknamed poppy seeds and leopard spots, enriched with iron phosphate and iron sulfide.

On Earth, those minerals are often associated with microbial processes that break down organic matter. Hurowitz said the...