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NASA is searching for alien life in our solar system

2025-12-26 17:16:00, Kuriozitete CNA

NASA is searching for alien life in our solar system

NASA announced the discovery of a possible sign of life, known as a possible biosignature, on Mars. The Perseverance rover, which has been exploring a dried-up lake bed for years, found traces of ancient redox reactions, which could be produced either by life or by geological processes.

Although the origin of the reactions remains unclear, the tantalizing discovery represents the latest chapter in the search for biomarkers on alien worlds, notes an article from National Geographic. 

For half a century, scientists have been fascinated and puzzled by the obscure compositions and structures on our neighboring planets and, increasingly, on exoplanets beyond our solar system. 

What is a potential biomarker?

It is worth noting that the definition of a potential biomarker is vague. Geological processes can produce complex structures, such as crystals and polymers, that make it difficult to separate signs of life from non-living processes.

"If you ask the question, how complicated can non-biological chemistry get? The answer is biological chemistry, because biological chemistry comes from non-biological chemistry," says Sean McMahon, an astrobiologist who heads the Planetary Paleobiology Group at the University of Edinburgh.

Indeed, there are structures on Earth that don't fall neatly into either biotic or abiotic categories. Frances Westall, emeritus director of research and former director of the Exobiology Group at the Center for Molecular Biophysics in France, says it took her nearly 20 years to confirm the biological origin of fossilized Australian microbes dating back 3.45 billion years.

In a study published in September, her team said these microbes, known as chemolithotrophs, could be a common form of alien life that is known for its difficulty in detecting and identifying.





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