Is there life on Mars?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science saying…
Sorry David Bowie, probably not, but there was water – billions of years ago. But how do we know? Why does it matter?
Jack Gillespie and colleagues from Curtin University probed for answers.
They examined zircon, a mineral found within Martian meteorites, to learn the Red planet’s ancient history. Using nanoscale imaging techniques, they measured the composition of elements like iron distributed within zircon.
And? Martian zircon was similar to zircon found around hydrothermal activity here on Earth. This ancient presence of water on Mars helps us understand the conditions that may support habitability. This could also hint at how life first started on Earth!
It just makes my cubic zirconia ring that much more… SPECIAL.
Reference: Jack Gillespie et al. ,Zircon trace element evidence for early hydrothermal activity on Mars.Sci. Adv.10,eadq3694(2024). DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adq3694