Perseverance Finds Complex Organics (Not Life) On Mars

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https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/perseverance-finds-complex-organics-not-life-on-mars/

By Colin Stuart, Sky & Telescope Magazine. 

Excerpt: Planetary scientists analyzing data from NASA’s Perseverance rover have found signs of organic molecules on Mars, hinting that the planet had a more complex geochemical cycle in the past than previously thought. If true, it shows that the building blocks of life have been present on the Red Planet for around billions of years. These new findings, published in Nature, come from examining the floor of Jezero Crater, a 45-kilometer- (28-mile-) wide impact basin just north of the Martian equator. NASA picked it as Perseverance’s landing site due to geological signs that an ancient river flooded into the crater some 2.5 billion years ago.... 

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