False Fossils on Mars: Explorers Searching For Life on Red Planet Can Be Fooled, Research Says

The NASA Perseverance rover and other spacecraft are investigating Mars for traces of ancient life. But they may be put off by 'false biosignatures,' which are fossil-like specimens formed by chemical processes.

The two authors, astrobiologists Sean McMahon and Julie Cosmidis from the Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford, highlighted that the origins of any fossil-like species found on Mars are likely to be exceedingly confusing.

Researchers detailed their study, "False Biosignatures on Mars: Anticipating Ambiguity," in the Journal of the Geological Society. The new article advises caution in interpreting what rovers uncover in both current and future sources.

Mars May Have Fake Fossils

Researchers said rocks on Mars might include several forms of pseudofossils, structures generated by chemical processes, or minerals simulating organic structures that seem similar to the kind of fossils anticipated to be found in the planet's ever-hosted life.

According to scientists, the ability to distinguish phony fossils from what may be evidence of ancient life on Mars' surface is critical to the success of current and future missions. They examined known mechanisms that may have resulted in lifelike deposits in Martian rocks, discovering scores of inorganic formations that resemble tiny, basic lifeform structures.

Until recently, most of these mechanisms have been known through "random findings" rather than "systematic study," researchers claim and are still poorly understood.

"The success of major current and forthcoming rover missions now calls for significant efforts to mitigate this risk," they wrote in the study (via Independent).

Hundreds of Mechanisms Found

The researchers discovered hundreds of mechanisms that can build chemical structures that resemble small, microscopic lifeforms that may have lived on Mars in the past.

McMahon, a Chancellor's Fellow in Astrobiology, School of Physic and Astronomy, added per News18 that the Mars rover would almost likely encounter something that looks a lot like a fossil. According to McMahon, at least one non-biological mechanism makes very comparable things for every sort of fossil out there.

"We have been fooled by life-mimicking processes in the past. On many occasions, objects that looked like fossil microbes were described in ancient rocks on Earth and even in meteorites from Mars, but after deeper examination they turned out to have non-biological origins," Cosmidis said in a statement.

Researchers claim that many additional mechanisms that produce chemical deposits that resemble bacterial cells and carbon-based compounds - indicating tiny life - have yet to be uncovered.

The researchers want to know more about how interactions between minerals, fluids, and organic matter on Mars may have resulted in misleading, false biosignatures. They want a deeper and more thorough investigation.

Check out more news and information on Space in Science Times.