NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has discovered rocks in a dry river bed that could have signs of ancient microscopic life.

But until those samples are brought back to Earth, no conclusions can be reached, scientists said Wednesday.

Signs of past life on Mars

What we know:

Collected last summer, the sample is from reddish, clay-rich mudstones in Neretva Vallis, a river channel that once carried water into Jezero Crater . This outcrop of sedimentary rock, known as the Bright Angel formation, was surveyed by Perseverance’s science instruments before the drill came out.

The findings appeared in the journal Nature.

Along with organic carbon, a building block of life, a team of researchers found minuscule specks, dubbed poppy seeds and leopard spots, that were enriched with iron phosphate

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