New NASA findings hint at ancient life on Mars

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00:00After roaming the red planet for four years, NASA's Perseverance rover has collected unprecedented

00:06evidence that ancient microbes may once have thrived on Mars.

00:12A year ago, we thought we found what we believe to be signs of microbial life on the Mars

00:19surface.

00:20And so, we put it out to our scientific friends to pressure test it, to analyze it.

00:25And after a year of review, they've come back and they said, listen, we can't find another

00:32explanation.

00:34In the rocks of a dry riverbed, Perseverance found organic carbon, a building block of life,

00:40as well as specs the scientists dubbed poppy seeds and leopard spots, full of iron phosphate

00:45and iron sulfide.

00:47These same chemical compounds are found on Earth when microorganisms feed on organic matter.

00:52Today, we are really showing you how we are kind of one step closer to answering humanity's

00:59one of their most profound questions.

01:01And that is, are we truly alone in the universe?

01:04And so, they've done the analysis on these leopard spots.

01:08And we think they are potentially made by some sort of ancient life.

01:14This finding by our incredible Perseverance rover is the closest we've actually come to

01:19discovering ancient life on Mars.

01:23Scientists have not yet ruled out that these deposits could be produced by non-biological

01:27processes.

01:29They say the samples need to be analyzed further, ideally on Earth, to confirm the findings.

01:35With the operation currently hampered by budget issues, NASA is now searching for cheaper

01:39ways to get the samples into labs.

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