<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A tiny find inside some three-billion-year-old rocks by </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/nasa" rel="" target="" title="NASA's Perseverance rover"><span>NASA's Perseverance rover</span></a><span> is adding to a growing body of evidence that life once existed on </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/mars" rel="" target="" title="Mars"><span>Mars</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Perseverance rover made its way through Neretva Vallis - an ancient river channel that once carried water into a lake in a </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/space" rel="" target="" title="Martian crater"><span>Martian crater</span></a><span> - in 2024.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The rockbed is believed to be more than three billion years old.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>MONEY:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/reserve-bank-recommends-removing-card-fees-surcharges-in-new-report/b1946a2c-ea63-48bf-b1d4-676dc696f369" target="_blank"><strong><span>RBA to end credit card surcharges as cash usage dwindles</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Using laser, infrared and X-ray technologies, Perseverance examined 126 sedimentary rocks and eight rock surfaces on Neretva Vallis.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A team of researchers led by Henry Manelski from Purdue University in </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/usa" rel="" target="" title="the United States"><span>the United States</span></a><span> say among the discoveries was a large number of nickel-rich rocks with a similar chemical composition and shape of the iron sulfide arrangements to pyrite - sedimentary rocks found on Earth.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>This is significant because previous research has found that pyrite is primarily formed by chemical reactions from living microbes.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/life-on-mars-suggest-by-nickel-rich-rocks-found-by-nasa-perseverance-rover/bfbde5a3-a780-478f-b871-8bc280d92960" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Even if the nickel-rich rocks were not produced by microbial lifeforms, it is another point of evidence suggesting that Mars was once conducive to life.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Nickel is an essential component of enzymes in many ancient lifeforms, including archaea and bacterial species.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The find adds to a growing body of evidence that life could have once existed on the Martian planet.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It's not the first discovery that Perseverance has made on the topic.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In 2024, the rover discovered rocky "leopard spots" in the Jezero crater, indicative of ancient microbial chemical reactions.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/health-insurance-premiums-increase-april-1-cancel-downgrade-switch-providers/9df5ccf7-0654-48bd-b60d-1a8a082e648f" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Why thousands of Aussies plan to cancel their health insurance tomorrow</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>NASA's acting administrator Sean Duffy called that find "the closest we have ever come to discovering life on Mars".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The identification of a potential biosignature on the Red Planet is a groundbreaking discovery, and one that will advance our understanding of Mars," he said at the time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The new findings were </span><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70081-3" rel="" target="_blank" title="published in the journal Nature Communications"><span>published in the journal Nature Communications</span></a><span> today.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>ticking this box here</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Sign up to</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></em></strong></a></li></ul></div></div>