Perseverance Scratches the Martian Surface, Finds Organic Carbon

NASA's Perseverance rover has scraped the Martian surface and found organic carbon in the rock below. According to Nautilus, the discovery adds to evidence that Mars once harbored the chemical ingredients for life. Organic carbon—a fundamental building block of living systems—points to a more hospitable ancient Mars and deepens the question: did microbial life ever exist on the red planet?

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