A biosignature is a substance or structure, whether gaseous or solid, that could have a biological origin, but the problem is that it does not automatically mean that it is the product of life forms. In fact, in recent years, every time a team of researchers released a report saying that they had found a biosignature, whether on Mars or Venus or an exoplanet, another team of researchers immediately came out stating, "No, it's false," that the biosignature may have an origin from some geological phenomenon or chemical without the need for life forms, and there they are in a debate, there are cases that have been debated for years, what about Venus is tremendous.
These debates can go on for years, in fact, currently my opinion is that biosignatures are a topic in constant evolution and must be refined, but there is still a long way to go to have conclusions, I suppose that over time the topic of biosignatures will be perfected, knowing which elements are the specific ones, those that are really important and in what quantity they must be found to definitively affirm that they are products of life.
At the moment, the important thing about this finding is, first, the research is peer-reviewed and NASA has made this data available to the entire scientific community and to the entire world. Second, the Rover discovered that the sedimentary rocks of this formation, specifically, are composed of clay and silt, which on Earth are excellent preservatives of past microbial life. They are also rich in organic carbon, sulfur, iron, oxidized and phosphorus. All of them are ideal chemical compounds to feed microbes, at least the ones here. and of the land.
Third, the most juicy thing is that while investigating the Cheyava Falls rock, which is shaped like an arrow feather, measuring 1 meter long by 60 cm wide, they found what appeared to be colored spots. The spots on the rock could have been left by microbial life if it had used ingredients such as carbon, sulfur, phosphorus, etc. The stains bore the signature of two iron-rich minerals, vivianite, which is hydrated iron phosphate with the chemical formula Fe₃(PO₄)₂·8H₂O, and "la granjita" which is iron sulfide.
These minerals are frequently found in soil, in sediments, in peat bogs and around decaying organic matter, in the same way, certain uh life forms, certain microbial beings on Earth can produce these types of minerals, all of this is a possible sign of past microbial life.
There are also those who claim that these minerals can be generated by geological processes and without the presence of life, but here we have all the cards, an ancient river, presence of water, food for microbes and the things that microbes do after feeding, their little things, it would be bad luck if it were a complete geological coincidence, but there is that possibility that it is a geological coincidence.
Scientists are also literally surprised because the rock, although it is old by the standards of terrestrial rocks, is much younger than was supposed, especially for rocks that were affected by the presence of liquid water, because the official explanation is that Mars had rivers and seas until about 3,700 million years ago, during what is called the Noahic period, but this rock dates back to about 3,000 million years ago and that is 700 million more years of presence of water, 700 million more years during which life could emerge and evolve on Mars and 700 million years allows for quite a bit of evolution.
Conclusion, it cannot be stated that there was life on Mars with these data that NASA has presented, but it is a stage completed to affirm it later. NASA in the past has found other basic components for life, but what it does affirm is that these biosignatures in particular are among the best that have ever been found and to confirm that they really are the product of life forms, it would be necessary to bring the samples to Earth, this is proposed in the phases of the Perseverance project, bringing the samples that the rover analyzed to the land.
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