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RNZ News
18-05-2025
- Science
- RNZ News
Claims of alien life 'fatally flawed'
Caroline Freissinet. Photo: Supplied / Caroline Freissinet Headlines last month captured global excitement after astronomers claimed they detected the "strongest evidence to date" of life on another planet, but a world-leading astrobiologist says the science behind the claim is "fatally flawed". However, one of the scientists behind the claims is standing behind their work. In April, a team from Cambridge claimed to have recorded a possible biosignature, or signs of past or present life linked to biological activity, on an exoplanet named K2-18b. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, the team detected chemical fingerprints that suggest the presence of dimethyl sulphide (DMS) and dimethyl disulphide (DMDS), molecules that on Earth are only produced by microbial life. Carolyn Freissinet is a leading astrobiologist at the French National Center for Scientific Research. She told RNZ's Saturday Morning she believed the claims made by the Cambridge researchers were premature - and potentially misleading. Freissinet, who collaborates with NASA and leads studies of Martian samples collected by the Curiosity rover, said the science behind the announcement simply did not stack up. "This finding is super controversial," she said. "It's not based on a very serious scientific study. It has fatal flaws in the method that has been used." According to Freissinet, just a week after the initial announcement, another team reviewed the same spectral data and found no trace of DMS at all. "So first, there's a problem with the measurement itself." Even if DMS was detected, she said, we shouldn't jump to the conclusion that it's a biosignature. "We understand very poorly the sulphur chemistry of exoplanet atmospheres. There is this famous quote by Carl Sagan. He said that extraordinary claims, such as finding life, require extraordinary evidence." One of the study's authors however said Freissinet's understanding of the findings was "clearly incorrect". Nikku Madhusudhan, professor of astrophysics and exoplanetary science at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, told RNZ their study was "the most advanced analysis conducted for an exoplanet with this [James Webb Space Telescope] instrument, and reported the first mid-infrared atmospheric spectrum of a potentially habitable planet outside the solar system ever". "This is a major advancement in the field." He said claims no other teams had detected molecules suggesting evidence of biological processes were also incorrect. "None of them claim that the gases we reported cannot be found. The first study they mentioned, that came a week after ours, was a preliminary analysis which didn't even look for the gases so no conclusive statement can be drawn from it regarding our findings. "The second and third papers which used more realistic models confirmed our calculations and suggested additional gases that could provide alternate explanations to at least some of the data. Our original suggestion of the gas DMS is still the most favoured at this point, considering all available data." Freissinet did not dismiss the search for extraterrestrial life - it was the core of her work. But she argued that the search must be methodical, rigorous, and grounded in evidence. "Right now, we're accumulating hints... pieces of a puzzle." Some of those puzzle pieces are found on Mars. In 2013, Freissinet and her team also made headlines with the discovery of long-chain hydrocarbons in 3.7-billion-year-old Martian rocks at a site called Cumberland. These molecules, made up of ten or more carbon atoms, are incredibly fragile, especially on Mars, where conditions are harsh and preservation is rare. "What we can say now is that if life ever existed on Mars... we could find those traces of life." But she's careful not to overstate the findings. "It's definitely not hints of life," she clarified. "We cannot tell if the origin of the molecules if they are biological or if they are pure chemical reactions." So what would "life" look like? Freissinet emphasised just how difficult it was to identify alien life, especially when we only have one known example - Earth. "We try to identify life as we don't know it," she said. "It's really hard." One method scientists use is to look for chemical imbalances that suggest biological processes. For example, amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, exist in two mirror-image forms. On Earth, life uses only one of these forms. A similar imbalance found elsewhere could be a clue. Still, even these signs require cautious interpretation. Natural processes can sometimes mimic the patterns life creates. At the Cumberland site, Freissinet's team also found traces of nitrates and lighter isotopes of carbon and sulphur elements, which, on Earth, were often associated with biological activity. But even these, she said, had potential non-biological explanations. Madhusudhan said there was "usually a lot of debate" around the subject, but urged people "not to confuse debate with misinformation". Freissinet's perspective was not one of scepticism, but of scientific integrity. She said discovering evidence of life beyond Earth would likely be a long, slow process and should not take the form of rushed conclusions or overhyped discoveries. "For now, we're we are very far from biosignature detection. We are accumulating hints everywhere in the solar system and elsewhere in the universe, looking at exoplanets to make a story. "We're accumulating pieces of a puzzle. And one day, hopefully, this puzzle will assemble." 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Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Mars weather: Clear with a low of 114 below zero
NASA's Curiosity Rover has been roaming the Red Planet since 2012, taking thousands of pictures, drilling small holes in the planet's surface and searching for evidence of past habitable environments on Mars. It has also been busy observing the weather. Curiosity is outfitted with a miniature weather station that measures temperature, humidity, winds, pressure and ultraviolet radiation. These observations are sent back to Earth on a regular basis, and they help scientists understand the alien weather on the desolate world. On May 12, the high temperature was 11 degrees below zero, and the low temperature was a staggering 114 degrees below zero. It is currently late autumn in Gale Crater, the region of Mars where Curiosity is exploring, meaning even colder weather is ahead for the rover in the coming months. Temperatures on Mars can climb as high as 70 degrees during the summer months and as low as 225 degrees below zero during the coldest winter nights. And there can even be dramatic changes in temperature across just a few feet. "Because the atmosphere is so thin, heat from the Sun easily escapes this planet," NASA explained. "If you were to stand on the surface of Mars on the equator at noon, it would feel like spring at your feet and winter at your head." NASA has also documented Earth-like weather phenomena, including dust devils and shimmering clouds.
Digital Trends
13-05-2025
- Science
- Digital Trends
Marvel at Mars' ancient landscape, captured by Curiosity
With its hills and distant mountains, the landscape seems somehow familiar yet at the same time eerily alien. The striking image was captured just recently by NASA's Curiosity rover as it continues its years-long exploration of Mars. Recommended Videos 'Some perspective: These hills have been here for billions of years, and the tracks I leave will fade over time,' Curiosity — or rather the NASA team operating it from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California — said in a message accompanying the image. The rover added: 'It's humbling to know my time of exploration is just a brief moment in history on such an ancient planet.' Some perspective: These hills have been here for billions of years, and the tracks I leave will fade over time. It's humbling to know my time of exploration is just a brief moment in history on such an ancient planet. — Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) May 13, 2025 The remarkable Curiosity rover has been trundling along the surface of the red planet for nearly 13 years after landing in Mars' Gale Crater in 2012. The main goal of the mission is to determine whether Mars was ever had the conditions to host microbial life, though its findings will also assist NASA in preparations for the first crewed mission to the distant planet, for which a date has yet to be set. About the size of a Mini Cooper, Curiosity conducts its ongoing research using 17 cameras and a robotic arm containing a suite of specialized laboratory-like tools and instruments. The six-wheeled has already found chemical and mineral evidence strongly supporting the idea that Mars once had habitable environments. It was also the first rover to drill into martian rocks and analyze subsurface samples, research that revealed past water activity and various environmental conditions. During its time on Mars, Curiosity has traveled nearly 19 miles, captured more than a million images, and continues to provide valuable data on Mars' geology and climate. It's fair to say that Curiosity's discoveries have fundamentally changed our understanding of Mars, confirming that the planet was once potentially habitable while also paving the way for future robotic and human exploration. Incredibly, the mission was originally expected to last no more than a couple of years, but the rover's early success and robust performance prompted NASA to continue it. The space agency has yet to announce a specific end date for the mission, suggesting that it will continue for as long as Curiosity remains functional and capable of returning valuable scientific data.
Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
Scientists discover 'honey and waffle' structures on Mars
Some optimistic astronomers might still hope to find signs of aliens on Mars , but no one could have expected to discover something that sounds quite so delicious. Scientists have been baffled after discovering bizarre structures on the Martian surface which look like 'a patchwork of honeycombs, or maybe a patch of waffles'. These 'wild' hexagonal shapes were uncovered by the Mars Curiosity Rover inside the Gale Crater, where the roaming robot landed in 2012. Scientists say these tasty-sounding structures might hold the secrets of how life could have started on the Red Planet. Writing in a NASA blog post, Dr Catherine O'Connell-Cooper, a planetary geologist at the University of New Brunswick, wrote: 'Coming into planning this morning, we found a workspace with amazingly well preserved polygonal shaped fractures. 'We have spotted these before but usually not as well preserved and extensive as this.' Previous studies suggest that these types of formations may have been created by wet and dry seasons 3.6 to 3.8 million years ago. As the planet dried out, repeated wet-dry cycles created cracks just like the ones you might see around a drying lake bed on Earth, which have been preserved ever since. After discovering the honeycomb fractures last week, NASA scientists instructed Curiosity to analyze their composition. Using a technique called 'Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy', Curiosity will fire a laser pulse at the surface of the sample to create a small burst of plasma. By looking at the light emitted by this plasma, scientists are able to work out what kinds of chemicals are in the rocks. 'Or during later periods when groundwater moved through the bedrock?' This is not the first time that NASA has spotted regular, polygon structures on Mars, but scientists are still working to learn more about how they formed. Previously, scientists thought that they were mud cracks, like those you might see in an empty riverbed during a drought, formed as a once-wet Mars dried out. However, new analysis has suggested that their origins might be more complex. In 2021, NASA first took images of a series of polygonal cracks on the slopes of Mount Sharp, a 3-mile (5 km) tall peak in the Gale Crater. The cracks were found above a rich clay deposit, which was probably once the bed of an ancient lake, and below an area rich in sulphates left behind as the water dried. This initially supported the idea that the cracks had been formed by a drying lake , but subsequent analysis showed that the newer cracks contained traces of sulphates. This suggested that the lake had dried out multiple times, pulling sulphate-rich water down into the cracks. According to the researchers, this means the cracks were made during a time in which the water level in the lake was rising and falling seasonally. Their complex, waffle-like shape emerged and became more complex through these repeated wet-dry cycles. Since these newly discovered polygons have a similar shape, they may have been formed through a similar process. If so, they could hold clues to how life might have formed on Mars during the planet's wet past. On Earth, scientists believe that repeated wet-dry cycles could be how the first organic compounds, molecules found in all living things, were formed. As the water rises and falls, new chemicals are constantly brought into the environment, which encourages the reactions which form complex molecules. In a statement at the time, NASA scientist Dr Ashwin Vasavada said that these processes could have 'promoted the origin of life'. However, these smaller structures are not the only mysterious patterns that scientists have spotted on Mars. In 2023, the Chinese Zhurong rover detected 15 vast honeycomb structures hidden dozens of metres beneath the Martian surface. Each crack is 70 metres across and is bordered by 30 metres of ice and mud slurry formed between two and 3.5 billion years ago. On Earth, similar structures are only found in Greenland, Iceland, and Antarctica, where sudden temperature shifts create fractures that are filled with ice and mud. Scientists believe a similar process might have split open Mars' surface as it wobbled on its axis, drastically changing the seasonal temperatures. This could be yet another clue about how the Red Planet's climate has changed over the last few billion years, and whether it was ever habitable.
Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
Scientists BAFFLED after discovering weird ‘honey and waffle' structures on Mars
Some optimistic astronomers might still hope to find signs of aliens on Mars, but no one could have expected to discover something that sounds quite so delicious. Scientists have been baffled after discovering bizarre structures on the Martian surface which look like 'a patchwork of honeycombs, or maybe a patch of waffles'. These 'wild' hexagonal shapes were uncovered by the Mars Curiosity Rover inside the Gale Crater, where the roaming robot landed in 2012. Scientists say these tasty-sounding structures might hold the secrets of how life could have started on the Red Planet. Writing in a NASA blog post, Dr Catherine O'Connell-Cooper, a planetary geologist at the University of New Brunswick, wrote: 'Coming into planning this morning, we found a workspace with amazingly well preserved polygonal shaped fractures. 'We have spotted these before but usually not as well preserved and extensive as this.' Previous studies suggest that these types of formations may have been created by wet and dry seasons 3.6 to 3.8 million years ago. As the planet dried out, repeated wet-dry cycles created cracks just like the ones you might see around a drying lake bed on Earth, which have been preserved ever since. After discovering the honeycomb fractures last week, NASA scientists instructed Curiosity to analyse their composition. Using a technique called 'Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy', Curiosity will fire a laser pulse at the surface of the sample to create a small burst of plasma. By looking at the light emitted by this plasma, scientists are able to work out what kinds of chemicals are in the rocks. NASA also plans to take some measurements of the nearby bedrock without any honeycomb structures for comparison. However, it might be some time before the findings from those studies are analysed and made public. In the meantime, NASA's rover operators are not entirely sure what the polygon structures might be. Dr O'Connell-Cooper says: 'The origin of these cracks is not clear - could they have formed as desiccation cracks as Mars began to get drier, billions of years ago? 'Or during later periods when groundwater moved through the bedrock?' NASA's Curiosity Rover has been travelling around Mars' Gale Crater since it landed in 2012. This vast impact crater was formed around 3.7 billion years ago when a meteor hit the planet. In the distant past, it may have been filled with water and formed a large lake This is not the first time that NASA has spotted regular, polygon structures on Mars, but scientists are still working to learn more about how they formed. Previously, scientists thought that they were mud cracks, like those you might see in an empty riverbed during a drought, formed as a once-wet Mars dried out. However, new analysis has suggested that their origins might be more complex. In 2021, NASA first took images of a series of polygonal cracks on the slopes of Mount Sharp, a 3-mile (5 km) tall peak in the Gale Crater. The cracks were found above a rich clay deposit, which was probably once the bed of an ancient lake, and below an area rich in sulphates left behind as the water dried. This initially supported the idea that the cracks had been formed by a drying lake, but subsequent analysis showed that the newer cracks contained traces of sulphates. This suggested that the lake had dried out multiple times, pulling sulphate-rich water down into the cracks. According to the researchers, this means the cracks were made during a time in which the water level in the lake was rising and falling seasonally. Their complex, waffle-like shape emerged and became more complex through these repeated wet-dry cycles. Since these newly discovered polygons have a similar shape, they may have been formed through a similar process. If so, they could hold clues to how life might have formed on Mars during the planet's wet past. On Earth, scientists believe that repeated wet-dry cycles could be how the first organic compounds, molecules found in all living things, were formed. As the water rises and falls, new chemicals are constantly brought into the environment, which encourages the reactions which form complex molecules. In a statement at the time, NASA scientist Dr Ashwin Vasavada said that these processes could have 'promoted the origin of life'. However, these smaller structures are not the only mysterious patterns that scientists have spotted on Mars. In 2023, the Chinese Zhurong rover detected 15 vast honeycomb structures hidden dozens of metres beneath the Martian surface. Each crack is 70 metres across and is bordered by 30 metres of ice and mud slurry formed between two and 3.5 billion years ago. On Earth, similar structures are only found in Greenland, Iceland, and Antarctica, where sudden temperature shifts create fractures that are filled with ice and mud. Scientists believe a similar process might have split open Mars' surface as it wobbled on its axis, drastically changing the seasonal temperatures. This could be yet another clue about how the Red Planet's climate has changed over the last few billion years, and whether it was ever habitable.
