Organic molecules discovered within a stone on Mars cannot be fully explained by nonbiological processes, and it’s “reasonable to hypothesize” that living things could have formed these odd organic molecules, a NASA-led team reports in a new study. However, this doesn’t mean scientists have found definitive proof of life on Mars, they cautioned.
I didn’t realise curiosity was still creaking around out there doing science. I also didnt realise it could conduct experiments on old samples. A sensible but extraordinary capability.
Skeptics guide podcast was saying once that even if positive evidence of life on Mars was discovered by a rover, it would need to be confirmed / reproduced by a lab on Earth before being credible science.
IIRC there’s a mission plan for an uncrewed mission to return samples from the rovers but its not funded or scheduled.