NASA's Curiosity rover has found the longest carbon chains ever detected on Mars. These molecules, with up to 12 carbon atoms, were discovered in Gale Crater, an area believed to have been a lake billions of years ago. The research was published in PNAS.

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How scientists confirmed it

An international team, led by scientist Caroline Freissinet from CNRS, studied the samples using special lab tests. The rover drilled into a mudstone deposit called Cumberland, and the team analysed the molecules by heating them to high temperatures.  

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What It means for life on Mars

The detected molecules—decane, undecane, and dodecane—are longer than previous carbon chains found on Mars. While they could have formed without life, they are also common in biological processes on Earth. This raises the possibility that they might be traces of ancient life.  

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 Curiosity's mission is to search for signs of past life. These findings suggest Mars may have had the right conditions for life long ago. 

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Scientist Caroline Freissinet explained to ScienceAlert, "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."