Organic material found on Mars by Curiosity rover may reveal clues to life on Earth
For nearly 12 years, NASA's Curiosity rover has been actively collecting samples from the surface of Mars and continuously making groundbreaking discoveries. The recent findings related to the properties of the organic material present on the red planet have challenged the existing knowledge of scientists on both Mars and Earth.
The material discovered has properties that are generally a sign of microorganisms on Earth. However, they can also be due to non-biological, chemical functions. The findings published in Nature Geoscience have baffled researchers from where it came into being.
According to researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the Tokyo Institute of Technology, who are collaborating on this research, this discovery can help understand how life came into being billions of years ago on our planet Earth.
Co-author of the study, Matthew Johnson of the University of Copenhagen calls this discovery "the smoking gun", which confirms a decade-old theory of so-called photolysis in the atmosphere of Mars.
