NASA finds 'leopard rocks' that give biggest clue yet that life is on Mars

Scientists have been trying to find evidence of life on Mars for some time but their latest discovery could be the clearest evidence yet.

The 'leopard rocks' which were recently found by NASA's perseverance rover might well be the closest we've come to answering Bowie's question about whether there's life on the Red Planet.

Robots have been present on Mars since 1997, and while some of us had hoped to see some aliens give the various rovers a warm welcome, 28 years on and we are still yet to meet one.

Although some recent UFO sightings have left military personnel spooked, Mars seems to be almost completely barren, with traces of water there often the biggest discoveries made by the various rovers parading the planet.

Now though, some mudstones have been found in a dusty riverbed, and are dotted with some strange markings which have been nicknamed leopard spots and poppy seeds.

Scientists are still torn as to whether the potential minerals in the rocks have been formed by chemical reactions or natural geological processes but they seem confident that it is one of the clearest signs of life ever found.

Professor Sanjeev Gupta, a planetary scientist from Imperial College London, said: "We've not had something like this before, so I think that's the big deal. We have found features in the rocks that if you saw them on Earth could be explained by biology - by microbial process.

NASA's perseverance rover discovered the rocks recently (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

"So we're not saying that we found life, but we're saying that it really gives us something to chase."

The only way we can know for sure whether the minerals were caused by microbes or geological processes is by bringing them back to Earth for testing but sample missions are sadly one of the many space trips which will be cut as part of Donald Trump's 2026 budget.

Joel Hurowitz from Stony Brook University in New York, who is also a Perseverance mission scientist and lead author of the paper, said:

"We kind of immediately knew there was some interesting chemistry that had happened in these rocks so we were pretty excited right away.

He added: "We think what we've found is evidence for a set of chemical reactions that took place in the mud that was deposited at the bottom of a lake - and those chemical reactions seem to have taken place between the mud itself and organic matter - and those two ingredients reacted to form new minerals."

A sample of the rocks, which scientists want to bring to Earth (NASA/JPL)

Dr Hurowitz suggests that chemical reactions causing the minerals to appear is 'one of the possible explanations', adding that 'this feels like the most compelling potential biosignature detection that we've had to date.'

Given how terribly things are going back on Earth, it can only be a good thing that there seems to be a potential for life on Mars.