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NASA's Perseverance rover found a rock on Mars that could indicate ancient life

A Martian rock sample collected by Perseverance contains "chemical signatures and structures" that could've been formed by ancient microbial life from billions of years ago.

On our planet, those spots could form on sedimentary terrestrial rocks when there are chemical reactions that turn hematite, one of the minerals responsible for Mars' reddish color, to white. As The New York Times notes, the Mars Sample Return mission is years behind schedule and would not be able to bring back rocks from the red planet until 2040 instead of in the early 2030's like originally planned. Scientists will also have to conduct extensive testing to rule out contamination and non-biological processes, as well as other possible explanations for how the leopard spots had formed, before they can proclaim that they're indeed evidence of ancient Martian life.

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