Life on Mars

NASA scientists have found more intriguing details on speckled Martian rocks spotted by the Perseverance rover. But bringing samples back to Earth will be key.

A vast network of inverted channels, formed of sediment laid by ancient rivers, implies Mars was once a much rainier place than we thought.

The thick, mineral-rich layers of clay found on Mars suggest that the Red Planet harbored potentially life-hosting environments for long stretches in the ancient past, a new study suggests.

NASA's Perseverance rover is exploring a new Mars region called Krokodillen, which is thought to harbor some of the oldest and most intriguing rocks on the Red Planet.

By studying seismic waves, researchers have found a layer deep beneath the surface of Mars that could contain enough liquid water to flood the planet with an ocean thousands of feet deep.

Researchers bombarded lichens with a year's worth of Martian radiation in just 5 hours — and they survived, hinting that the extremophiles could potentially live on the Red Planet.

On March 11, NASA's Perseverance Mars rover spotted a mysterious rock made of hundreds of tiny spheres that resemble spider eggs. Studying its formation could help us look for fossilized remains of microbial life on Mars.

If life exists on other planets, it needs to be adaptable to extreme environments. To get a clue of what it might look like, we can turn to a surprising place: the human gut.

New research has revealed that Martian dust's red hue comes from reactions that occurred in wet — not dry — conditions, and it could have implications for the possibility of life on the planet.