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This mosaic image shows spherules, or 'blueberries,' partly embedded and spread over the soil on Mars. (Image courtesy NASA/JPL/Cornell University.) |
...never count Rover out.
It’s unlikely anything lives on Mars today, but it may well have done so millions or billions of years past. And it may have left traces of its existence in the geology of the red planet.
One such tantalising hint was discovered by the NASA Opportunity Rover, which found small spherical hematite balls, dubbed ‘blueberries,’ in the Martian soil.
These were originally thought to have provided the first evidence of liquid water on Mars, but their existence may hold an even more profound implication.
Now researchers from the University of Western Australia and University of Nebraska have found that such iron-oxide spheroids, when they appear on Earth, are formed by microbes.
Jet Propulsion Lab: Mars Rover
Life Scientist: Iron 'blueberries' may be a sign of microbial life on Mars
Phsy.org: Mars 'blueberries' could be clues to presense of life
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