PROF. DAUPHAS WAS INTERVIEWED BY THE WASHINGTON POST TO WEIGH ON A STUDY IN NATURE REPORTING THE DISCOVERY OF FEATURES IN MARTIAN ROCKS THAT POINT TO THE POSSIBILITY OF LIFE ON ANCIENT MARS.
2025.09.12
Prof. Nicolas Dauphas was interviewed by the Washington Post to weigh on a study in Nature reporting the discovery of features in Martian rocks that point to the possibility of life on ancient Mars.
"The involvement of microbes is plausible", said Nicolas Dauphas, a planetary scientist who was not involved in the research. But to be more certain would require direct measurements or detailed mineralogical and chemical analyses — and that would mean bringing the samples back to Earth.
“These rocks are prime targets in the search for ancient life on Mars,” said Dauphas, a professor at the University of Hong Kong, in an email. “Only [a] Mars sample return can answer the billion-dollar question: ‘Was there ever life on Mars?’”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/09/10/life-on-mars-rocks-mudstones-rover/
Prof. Dauphas was co-author of a paper that has just been published online in Nature. This is a paper reporting results from the Hayabusa2 mission that sampled a carbonaceous asteroid. This study indicates that liquid water was present on Ryugu relatively late (1 billion years after solar system formation).
