The longest particles ever discovered on Mars have actually been uncovered by NASA’s Curiosity rover, and they might imply the world is scattered with proof for ancient life.

Particle chains consisting of approximately twelve carbon atoms connected together were spotted in a 3.7 billion-year-old rock sample gathered from a dried-up Martian lakebed called Yellowknife Bay, according to a research study released Monday(March 24 )in the journal Procedures of the National Academy of Sciences

These long carbon chains are believed to have actually stemmed from particles called fats, which, in the world, are produced by biological activity. While fats can form without biological input, which might hold true on Mars, their presence on the Red Planet implies that indications of life might be hiding within its soil.

“The fact that fragile linear molecules are still present at Mars’ surface 3.7 billion years after their formation allows us to make a new statement: If life ever appeared on Mars billions of years ago, at the time life appeared on the Earth, chemical traces of this ancient life could still be present today for us to detect,” research study co-author Caroline Freissinetan analytical chemist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in the Laboratory for Atmospheres and Space Observations, informed Live Science.

The particles– hydrocarbon strings of 10, 11 and 12 carbon atoms called decane, undecane, and dodecane– were spotted by Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument.

No stone unturned

The Curiosity Rover got here on Mars in 2012 at the Gale Crater, an enormous 96-mile-wide (154 km-wide) effect crater formed by the world’s accident with an ancient meteorite. In the years because, the rover has actually taken a trip about 20 miles (32 km) throughout the crater, examining locations consisting of Yellowknife Bay and Mount Sharp (Aeolis Mons), a 3.4-mile-high (5.5 km-high) mountain in the center of the crater.

Related: NASA Mars rover discovers ‘very first engaging detection’ of prospective fossilized life on the Red Planet

Nicknamed “Cumberland”the sample evaluated for the brand-new research study was drilled by Curiosity in 2013 from Yellowknife Bay, and previous analyses discovered it to be abundant in clay minerals, sulfur, and nitrates.

Regardless of lots of comprehensive tests, the hydrocarbon strings in the sample stayed unnoticed for more than a years. The hydrocarbons were really found by mishap as part of an effort to discover the foundation of proteins– called amino acids– in the sample.

The scientists behind the brand-new research study believed to check out a brand-new technique for discovering these particles by pre-heating the sample to 1,100 ° C (2,012 ° F) to launch oxygen before analysis. Their outcomes revealed no amino acids, however, by pure luck, they found the fatty particles concealing there rather.

“The excitement was super high when I saw the peaks on the spectrum for the first time,” Freissinet stated. “It was both surprising and not surprising. Surprising because those results were found on the Cumberland sample that we had already analyzed many times in the past. Not surprising because we have defined a new strategy to analyze this sample.”

“New method, new results,” she included.

The scientists recommend that the particles might have broken off from the long tails of fats called undecanoic acid, dodecanoic acid, and tridecanoic acid, respectively. Fats are long chains of carbon and hydrogen with a carboxyl (-COOH) acid group at the end.

Life-forming chemistry

To check this theory, the scientists blended undecanoic acid into a Mars-like clay in the laboratory before carrying out a test comparable to that performed by the SAM instrument As anticipated, the undecanoic acid broke down to decane, showing that the carbon chains might undoubtedly have actually stemmed from fats.

In the world, particles like these are extremely produced by biological procedures, however they can likewise happen naturally without life. Non-biological procedures typically just result in fatty acids with less than 12 carbon atoms, the scientists state. While the longest carbon chain identified by SAM had 12 carbons, the instrument is not enhanced to find longer particles, indicating that it is possible longer chains were likewise present.

“There is evidence that liquid water existed in Gale Crater for millions of years and probably much longer, which means there was enough time for life-forming chemistry to happen in these crater-lake environments on Mars,” research study co-author Daniel Glavina scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, stated in a NASA declaration

No matter what made them, the detection of the carbon chains and their most likely origins as fats validates that Curiosity can identify particles of this kind, which the particles can stay maintained for billions of years in the Martian environment. The scientists want to one day bring samples of Martian soil back home to Earth to appropriately examine the contents, and ideally resolve the secret of the Red Planet’s evasive life at last.

“We are ready to take the next big step and bring Mars samples home to our labs to settle the debate about life on Mars,” stated Glavin.

Jess Thomson is a self-employed reporter. She formerly worked as a science press reporter for Newsweek, and has actually likewise composed for publications consisting of VICE, The Guardian, The Cut, and Inverse. Jess holds a Biological Sciences degree from the University of Oxford, where she specialised in animal habits and ecology.