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Rover Discovers More Building Blocks of Life on Mars

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover took this selfie at a location nicknamed “Mary Anning” after a 19th-century English palaeontologist in this image released by the US space agency on Nov 12, 2020. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Handout via Reuters)
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover took this selfie at a location nicknamed “Mary Anning” after a 19th-century English palaeontologist in this image released by the US space agency on Nov 12, 2020. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Handout via Reuters)
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Rover Discovers More Building Blocks of Life on Mars

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover took this selfie at a location nicknamed “Mary Anning” after a 19th-century English palaeontologist in this image released by the US space agency on Nov 12, 2020. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Handout via Reuters)
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover took this selfie at a location nicknamed “Mary Anning” after a 19th-century English palaeontologist in this image released by the US space agency on Nov 12, 2020. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Handout via Reuters)

A NASA rover has discovered more building blocks of life on Mars after carrying out a chemistry experiment never before conducted on another planet, scientists said Tuesday.

The organic molecules are not definitive evidence of past life, the NASA-led team emphasized, because they could also have formed on the red planet or crash-landed on meteorites.

But it proves that these important clues to Martian history have been preserved on the surface for more than three billion years, they added.

Back then, the surface of Mars was thought to have been dotted with huge lakes and rivers full of liquid water, a key ingredient for life as we know it.

NASA's Curiosity rover landed in a former lakebed called the Gale crater in 2012, and has been searching for signs of possible past life since.

The car-sized rover carried two tubes of a chemical called TMAH, which can break apart organic matter to see what it is made out of.

"This experiment's never been run before on another world," Amy Williams, an astrobiologist working on the Curiosity mission told AFP.

The team were under pressure because they only had "two shots to get it right", added Williams, the lead author of a new study describing the results.

The experiment, conducted in 2020, detected more than 20 organic molecules, including several that had never before been confirmed on Mars.

These included a molecule called benzothiophene, which has also been found in meteorites and asteroids.

"The same stuff that rained down on Mars from meteorites is what rained down on Earth, and it probably provided the building blocks for life as we know it on our planet," Williams said.

Another molecule containing nitrogen "is a precursor to how DNA is eventually built," she added.

"We're seeing the building blocks for life -- prebiotic chemistry on Mars -- preserved in these rocks for billions of years."

- Future missions -

But none of this can prove that life -- even tiny, microbial organisms -- once flourished on Mars.

One way to potentially make such an "extraordinary claim" would be to bring some Martian rocks back to Earth so scientists can study them more closely, Williams said.

NASA's Perseverance rover has already collected a bunch of rocks for such a mission, called Mars Sample Return.

However, the mission has effectively been cancelled by the administration of President Donald Trump following a US Congress vote in January.

Future missions could still benefit from Curiosity's demonstration that experiments using the TMAH chemical work on other worlds, the new study in Nature Communications said.

The European Space Agency's Rosalind Franklin rover, which has a much longer drill than Curiosity, will take the chemical to Mars.

After years of delays, NASA announced last week that the ESA's rover is now scheduled to blast off towards the red planet in late 2028.

The chemical will also be on board the Dragon rotorcraft, which is planned to launch in 2028 on a mission to explore Saturn's moon Titan.

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Varieties

UK Set to Break Record for Hottest May Day

A drone view shows people using kayaks and paddle boards in the River Thames at Teddington Lock, London’s first official river bathing water site, as temperatures climb over the bank holiday weekend due to a heat dome spreading across the region, in London, Britain, May 24, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view shows people using kayaks and paddle boards in the River Thames at Teddington Lock, London’s first official river bathing water site, as temperatures climb over the bank holiday weekend due to a heat dome spreading across the region, in London, Britain, May 24, 2026. (Reuters)
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UK Set to Break Record for Hottest May Day

A drone view shows people using kayaks and paddle boards in the River Thames at Teddington Lock, London’s first official river bathing water site, as temperatures climb over the bank holiday weekend due to a heat dome spreading across the region, in London, Britain, May 24, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view shows people using kayaks and paddle boards in the River Thames at Teddington Lock, London’s first official river bathing water site, as temperatures climb over the bank holiday weekend due to a heat dome spreading across the region, in London, Britain, May 24, 2026. (Reuters)

Britain was set to break its record for the hottest day in May on Monday, the national weather agency predicted, as the country sweltered in an "unprecedented" heatwave.

"Today will be the hottest day in May in the UK in our temperature records, with highs of 35 degrees Celsius expected," the Met Office said on social media.

The current record for the hottest May day is 32.8C, set in 1922 and seen again in 1944.

"Records are usually only broken by tenths of a degree -- making this heatwave unprecedented for the time of year," added the Met Office statement.

Monday is also expected to be the hottest bank holiday ever, as heatwave conditions spread to parts of southeast England and London by Sunday night.

"We rarely see temperatures above 35C, even in the summer months, so to see temperatures getting close to 35C in May is, as I say, pretty historic," Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan told the Press Association news agency.

"It's nice to have it, but it is much, much hotter than it should be in the UK," Andrea Quaine, a 41-year-old mother, told AFP in London as temperatures exceeded 30C on Sunday.

"I am worried about it because it obviously shows that global warming is happening," she added.

"The weather here, it's like a mini version of hell. It's boiling. It's like really hot. The sunscreen, it will protect me, but it's really hot," said 10-year-old Liza Nizari, who was visiting London from Manchester in the northwest.

Scientists say human-induced climate change is making extreme weather events like heatwaves, droughts and floods more intense, resulting in temperature records being broken more frequently.

Britain saw its hottest year on record in 2025.

Climate advisers last week warned the UK government that the country was "built for a climate that no longer exists" and urged it to adapt infrastructure like schools and hospitals for a warming planet.

Varieties

How Collecting DNA Samples in the Wild Could Transform Conservation

A golden monkey is seen in Volcanoes National Park in Kinigi, Rwanda, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP)
A golden monkey is seen in Volcanoes National Park in Kinigi, Rwanda, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP)
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How Collecting DNA Samples in the Wild Could Transform Conservation

A golden monkey is seen in Volcanoes National Park in Kinigi, Rwanda, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP)
A golden monkey is seen in Volcanoes National Park in Kinigi, Rwanda, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP)

A guide called out to endangered golden monkeys with grunts and clicks to signal he posed no threat, a familiar sound in the mist-covered forests of Rwanda ’s Volcanoes National Park.

Here in one of Africa's most well-known parks, steep ridges and dense vegetation often obscure even the largest mountain gorillas — also endangered — and scientists are turning to new technology to detect and protect them.

Known as environmental DNA, or eDNA, the technology allows researchers to identify species using genetic material like fur or feces left in soil and water. This reduces the impact of human interaction during wildlife surveys that can leave researchers groping through the mist.

The technology, more often used in marine conservation work, was introduced by the African Wildlife Foundation in partnership with the Rwandan government. It aims to develop a list of all species in the country. That will help protect biodiversity that is threatened by climate change and population growth.

“We selected eDNA as a new technology to bring solutions and to complement existing methods used in ecological monitoring,” said the foundation’s country manager for Rwanda, Patrick Nsabimana.

Biodiversity monitoring for decades has relied on camera traps, which operate when animals trigger their sensors, and ranger observations.

But that is a challenge in rugged terrain such as the Virunga mountains that are central to Volcanoes National Park, which covers part of Rwanda, Uganda and Congo. Insecurity in the border area also can limit ranger movement.

Nsabimana said eDNA is a cost-effective monitoring approach in large ecosystems such as Virunga. Samples are taken from locations like downstream ponds that are likely to have traces of animals on higher ground. Then they are tested.

“With one sample, you can detect multiple species, mammals, birds, amphibians and many others,” said Deogratias Tuyisingize, a Rwanda-based biodiversity researcher with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund that is also involved in the project.

He said a combination of traditional methods and new technology is needed to ensure all species are monitored. Because of steep ravines and mountainsides, “we are sure we were missing some species."

Meanwhile, having a better sense of where endangered species are could help in patrolling against poachers, people with the project said.

The ability to generate a broad snapshot of biodiversity is critical for conservation, especially as Rwanda expands some of its national parks by rehabilitating previously agricultural land.

“We can see how species are colonizing these sites over time,” Tuyisingize said.

That allows conservationists to measure success by the return of rare or threatened species, and offers early warnings of invasive species.

But the eDNA technology is not without limitations. It cannot reliably estimate how many animals are present in an ecosystem. DNA can linger long after a species has left.

Being able to process samples in Rwanda is also a challenge, as the project's initial ones had to be sent to Europe for analysis.

Joshua Newton, who conducted research on eDNA for Curtin University’s Trace and Environmental DNA Laboratory, said challenges also include having cold storage to preserve DNA samples and ensuring samples are not contaminated.

Data gaps are another issue. Africa has relatively limited genetic reference libraries, despite decades of conservation work on the continent, making it harder to match DNA samples to known species.

Most genetic reference libraries come from Europe and America, said James Munyawera, a lab specialist with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

Researchers are now building region-specific databases.

The project in Volcanoes National Park has also begun training residents of local communities, along with rangers, to participate in monitoring efforts by collecting samples.

Varieties

‘He’s Tiny! It’s Blue!’: Scientists Find New Deep-Sea Octopus

An undated handout picture released on May 22, 2026 by the Charles Darwin Foundation shows a newly discovered blue pygmy octopus off the Galapagos Islands. (Charles Darwin Foundation / AFP)
An undated handout picture released on May 22, 2026 by the Charles Darwin Foundation shows a newly discovered blue pygmy octopus off the Galapagos Islands. (Charles Darwin Foundation / AFP)
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‘He’s Tiny! It’s Blue!’: Scientists Find New Deep-Sea Octopus

An undated handout picture released on May 22, 2026 by the Charles Darwin Foundation shows a newly discovered blue pygmy octopus off the Galapagos Islands. (Charles Darwin Foundation / AFP)
An undated handout picture released on May 22, 2026 by the Charles Darwin Foundation shows a newly discovered blue pygmy octopus off the Galapagos Islands. (Charles Darwin Foundation / AFP)

On the ocean floor near the Galapagos Islands, a submersible controlled by scientists came across a mysterious octopus as blue as the ocean and no bigger than a golf ball.

"He's tiny! It's blue!" one excited scientist was recorded as saying when she first caught sight of the cerulean cephalopod on footage transmitted from the sub.

The team from the Charles Darwin Foundation had just discovered a new species of octopus nearly 1,800 meters (5,900 feet) below the water's surface, according to research published on Monday.

"Right away, I knew it was something really special," said octopus expert Janet Voight, who was asked to identify the strange species.

At first the curator at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago had to make do with photos of the animal.

Then she received its preserved body in the mail.

"When it arrived, I was like 'Oh! My goodness! It's beautiful'," Voight told AFP.

She was immediately interested because the closest known octopus of that shape lives off the coast of Uruguay -- in a different ocean on the other side of South America.

Normally to describe a new octopus species, a specimen needs to be cut open so that its mouth, beak, teeth and other parts can be examined.

"We only had the one specimen, so I didn't want to take it apart," Voight said.

Instead, the team at the Field Museum used CT scans to take thousands of X-ray images, then compiled them to make a 3D model of the octopus, revealing its insides.

"There's nothing like spending the day looking at something no other human has ever seen," the Field Museum's X-ray lab head Stephanie Smith said in a statement.

- 'Deep purple' -

The new species, named Microeledone galapagensis, stands out for reasons other than its blue hue, which is believed to be the rarest color in nature.

The octopus appears to be the runt of the Megaleledonidae family, whose members are normally much larger and live in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica.

"Its stubby little arms with only one row of suckers set it apart from most octopus we are familiar with," Voight said.

Even among "other species with short little arms and a single sucker row, its coloration and smooth skin on the back surface separate it", she added.

While the octopus is light blue on its back, underneath it is a "very deep purple", Voight said.

"We think this color pattern helps keep it safe. If the octopus grabs a prey item that emits light, that light may attract predators that might then eat the octopus," she explained.

"So the octopus puts its dark-colored web over the prey item, keeping itself safe."

Surprisingly, it is not uncommon to find new species of octopus in the deep sea -- particularly in areas that have not been well explored, which is a massive amount of the ocean floor.

"If you took all the land on Earth and pieced it together, you would not cover the Pacific Ocean," Voight pointed out.

She added that she had last seen a new octopus in 2023, off the coast of Costa Rica.

The first sighting of the new blue octopus was made in 2015 near Darwin Island, named after the English scientist whose visit to the Galapagos helped him form the theory of evolution.

Voight's research on the species was published in the journal Zootaxa.