The Big Story Weekend Listen: Honey, come meet the new neighbours...on Mars
Sep 13, 2025
Mariek Schmidt, a Brock University professor specializing in Earth and Mars geology, shares her groundbreaking insights on potential life in our neighboring planet. She discusses NASA's Perseverance rover's discovery of biosignatures in Martian rock samples, revealing tantalizing clues about past microbial life. The conversation takes listeners through the complexities of Mars exploration, including the financial struggles of sample return missions and how Mars' geological history compares to Earth's own origins. Tune in for a cosmic journey!
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Discovery Presented At Team Meeting
- Marieke Schmidt described discovering an unusual fine-grained rock with unique surface textures while working with the PIXL instrument.
- She presented the finding at a team meeting and linked the textures to organics found by another instrument, sparking excitement.
Leopard-Print Spots Signal Possible Biosignature
- The leopard-print spots are iron-phosphate zones that coincide with detected organics, making them a potential biosignature.
- Phosphorus and reduced iron occurring together with organics strengthens the case for possible past microbial activity.
Potential, Not Proof — Balanced Interpretation
- The team cannot conclusively rule out abiotic chemical processes, so they call the feature a potential biosignature rather than proof.
- This sample is the clearest visible potential biosignature found so far on Mars and supports the rationale for sample return.