Life on Mars

Amidst a global pandemic it's sometimes easy to miss science news. But this one really piqued my interest.

This week it's been reported that the Curiosity Rover on Mars has seen some intriguing carbon signatures. From what I understand they're seeing samples that are very hard to explain from a non-biological perspective.

On Mars, Curiosity researchers found that nearly half of their samples had surprisingly large amounts of carbon 12 compared to what scientists have measured in the Martian atmosphere and meteorites. These samples came from five distinct locations in Gale crater, the researchers report, which may be related in that all the locations have well-preserved, ancient surfaces.

In addition to carbon signatures, they've encountered methane plumes which again, are difficult to explain without a biological origin.

It is fascinating to watch these discoveries being made that seem to be increasing in pace, yet tantalisingly slow to come to firm conclusions!

I'm certainly getting ahead of the evidence here, but my dime (or whatever the kiwi currency equivalent is) is down on the side of extra-terrestrial life being confirmed within the next ten years.