Perseverance finds potential biosignatures in Jezero Crater

Perseverance finds potential biosignatures in Jezero Crater

NASA’s Perseverance rover has made one of its most intriguing discoveries yet in Jezero Crater. A rock sample called Sapphire Canyon, drilled from the Bright Angel formation, contains unusual chemical and mineral patterns that may be potential biosignatures.

We begin with remarks from Morgan Cable, research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and co–deputy principal investigator of the PIXL instrument on Perseverance, in a video released alongside NASA’s September 10, 2025 announcement. Then, host Sarah Al-Ahmed speaks with Joel Hurowitz, associate professor of geosciences at Stony Brook University and deputy principal investigator of the PIXL instrument on Perseverance, who is also the lead author of the new Nature paper detailing the findings. Hurowitz explains how textures nicknamed "poppy seeds" and "leopard spots" connect organic carbon with minerals like vivianite and greigite, and why these could represent some of the most compelling evidence yet for ancient microbial life on Mars.

Finally, in this week’s What’s Up, Bruce Betts, The Planetary Society’s chief scientist, joins Sarah to explore earlier moments in the history of Mars exploration when tantalizing hints of life sparked scientific and public excitement.

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2025-perseverence-biosignatures

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(1357)

World Space Week and farewell to Swift

World Space Week and farewell to Swift

Dennis Stone, president and co-founder of the World Space Week Association, takes us behind the scenes of the largest annual space event on Earth. From its origins as a volunteer effort in Houston to ...

2 Sep 1h 4min

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is ready to launch

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is ready to launch

After decades of development, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is preparing to launch. Once in orbit, Roman will conduct the widest surveys of the universe ever attempted, probing the nature of d...

26 Aug 56min

Book Club Edition: Becoming Martian by Scott Solomon

Book Club Edition: Becoming Martian by Scott Solomon

Will we change or terraform Mars to better suit humans? Or are we more likely to change ourselves to better fit the red planet? How far can evolution take us in these new and exotic environments? Thes...

21 Aug 1h 17min

The SpaceX Falcon 9 that crashed into the Moon

The SpaceX Falcon 9 that crashed into the Moon

A SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage slammed into the moon on August 5 after spending over a year and a half drifting through the Earth-Moon system. Jared Head, museum facilitator at Columbia Memorial Space ...

19 Aug 1h 3min

Total solar eclipse 2026: Astrophotography and birdsong

Total solar eclipse 2026: Astrophotography and birdsong

On August 12th, 2026, the Moon’s shadow will sweep across Iceland, Greenland, and Spain, bringing the first total solar eclipse visible from Europe since 1999. And because this eclipse happens near su...

12 Aug 57min

Space Policy Edition: “Science: A New Golden Age” - Reimagining U.S. science policy

Space Policy Edition: “Science: A New Golden Age” - Reimagining U.S. science policy

The White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy recently released "Science: A New Golden Age", a sweeping report that calls for a fundamental reimagining of how the United States funds and c...

7 Aug 1h 10min

LHS 1140b: The first atmosphere detected on a rocky habitable-zone exoplanet

LHS 1140b: The first atmosphere detected on a rocky habitable-zone exoplanet

For the first time, scientists have confirmed an atmosphere on a rocky exoplanet in the habitable zone of another star. Sarah Al-Ahmed is joined by Collin Cherubim, NASA Hubble Fellow at the Universit...

5 Aug 57min

TERP RAPTOR: A student-built mission to asteroid Apophis

TERP RAPTOR: A student-built mission to asteroid Apophis

On Friday, April 13, 2029, asteroid Apophis will pass closer to Earth than our geostationary satellites. While NASA, ESA, and JAXA are all sending missions, a team of students at the University of Mar...

29 Juli 1h 1min

Populärt inom Vetenskap

p3-dystopia
dumma-manniskor
allt-du-velat-veta
rss-mottagningen
kapitalet-en-podd-om-ekonomi
halsorevolutionen
ufo-sverige
medicinvetarna
sexet
det-morka-psyket
dumforklarat
rss-spraket
paranormalt-med-caroline-giertz
ufo-sverige-2
rss-vetenskapsradion-2
rss-vetenskapsradion
rss-geopodden-2
rss-tidslinjen-podcast
vetenskapsradion
rss-ufobortom-rimligt-tvivel