NASA study finds carbon on Mars, which may or may not prove ancient 'bugs' once existed on planet.
✖ NASA's Curiosity rover has been roaming the Martian landscape for the better part of the last decade. Now, scientists say the mission may have found evidence life once existed on the planet years ago. A statement recently released by the National Aeronautics and Space Association details a study in which researchers found a particular type carbon commonly associated with life here on Earth.
"We're finding things on Mars that are tantalizingly interesting, but we would really need more evidence to say we've identified life," former Curiosity investigator Paul Mahaffy said in a new posting by NASA."So we're looking at what else could have caused the carbon signature we're seeing, if not life."
They then followed that up with a pair of non-biological explanations: one suggesting the carbon is a result of an interaction between ultraviolet light and carbon dioxide and two, the carbon could have been left behind after a major cosmic event millions of years ago.
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