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Nora Noffke, a geologist at Old Dominion University in Virgina closely observed the images of NASA Rover Curiosity.
The study uncovered striking similarities between the ancient rocks of Mars and the structures microbes formed on Earth. These sedimentary rocks are located in the Gillespie Lake outcrop which is nearly 3.7 billion years old. Rocks include erosional remnants, pockets, roll-up pits and domes. On Earth, such kind of rocks can be extended from a centimeter to a kilometer.
However, the study does not show any proper evidence of life on Mars. Researchers need samples of these rocks from Mars in order to provide a proof. NASA has not yet planned any mission to bring rock samples for further analysis. Noffke admits that she has presented her hypothesis along with minor evidences. Thus, the recent research only gives a new turn to all the previous researches.
Chris McKay, a planetary scientist at Ames Research Center of NASA shed some light on the significance of Noffke research. He states that earlier the researches merely pointed out a thing which they found similar on Mars and on Earth. However, Noffke carefully analyze the entire mechanism of these similar things. Hence, the paper is printed in a journal like Astrobiology.
The report is printed online in the Journal Astrobiology.
