Nasa geologists emphasized that the rock's appearance is misleading. Its delicate extensions are fossilized mineral veins, sculpted by wind over billions of years after softer surrounding material eroded. "Wind and sandblasting over eons shaped these rocks into the forms we see now. These 'coral-like' shapes are purely the result of prolonged geological processes," a Nasa spokesperson clarified.

The formation process started when mineral-laden water infiltrated tiny cracks in the rock. As the water evaporated, it left behind solidified mineral veins. Over billions of years, sand-heavy winds stripped away the softer material, exposing the complex, branching network.

"Curiosity has encountered numerous rocks like this, shaped by ancient water and wind over billions of years," Nasa officials noted. Online reactions were swift, with many claiming the rock as evidence of fossilized life. "This is the fossilized proof of alien life on Mars we've been waiting for," one X user declared. Another wrote, "Coral-like structures and ancient rivers point to real signs of past life. This is a game-changer."

Since its 2012 landing, following a 566-million-kilometer (352-million-mile) journey, Curiosity has covered 35 kilometers (22 miles) across the 154-kilometer-wide (96-mile-wide) Gale Crater. Its deliberate pace allows the rover to drill, sample, and analyze promising deposits.

NASA has captured an image of a coral-like rock on Mars estimated to be several billion years old. https://t.co/u6hJm5iI7h pic.twitter.com/J3gzAxAUPL

— ABC News (@ABC) August 9, 2025

Early in its mission, Curiosity detected chemical and mineral traces of environments potentially suitable for microbial life, including 3.7-billion-year-old carbon chains. Each discovery, such as a flower-shaped deposit in 2022, deepens our understanding of Mars' history.

"Curiosity's ongoing mission is to gather data and samples to uncover more about Mars' past, particularly when it may have supported microbial life. We're excited for what's next," a Nasa spokesperson stated.

Today, Mars is a frozen wasteland with water mostly trapped as ice, but Curiosity's images continue to suggest a vibrant, wetter past.

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Mars may have a significant amount of water hidden beneath its surface, potentially enough to form a global ocean.

Seismic measurements from NASA's Mars InSight lander support the hypothesis of underground water in the Martian crust, likely originating from ancient rivers and lakes.

Researchers in the University of California, San Diego estimates that there is liquid water in rocks about 11.5-20 km beneath the surface of Mars, with the volume potentially filling a global ocean a mile or so deep.

The water on Mars is believed to have originated from rivers, lakes, and oceans that existed on the planet billions of years ago, and it may be in a liquid state at these depths, with the potential to support microbial life.

The discovery of water in subsurface rock layers on Mars provides an environment that could support microbial life at great depths, although the water would be challenging to extract due to depth and location in pores and cracks.

Geological studies suggest Mars had lakes, rivers, and oceans over 3 billion years ago. The discovery of liquid water deep beneath the surface provides new insights into the potential for past or extant life on the planet.

Mars lost its surface water billions of years ago as its atmosphere thinned. The presence of underground water suggests that surface water seeped into rock formations and formed aquifers when the upper crust was warmer.

The InSight Lander was the U.S. space agency's first craft dedicated to looking beneath Mars's surface and studying its interior. Its data continues to be analyzed by scientists to gain more insight into Mars' interior.

Sources: Fox News, DW, Al Jazeera, The Epoch Times, Times of India, ABC News, Daily Caller, Digital Trends, Aussiedlerbote, CTV News, 1News, The Jakarta Post, The West, Daily Maverick, Manila Bulletin, News Directory 3, Investing.com, Devdiscourse, 10Play

This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.

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Nuclear fusion propulsion, offers 1,000 times more power than current ion thrusters, potentially enabling trips to destinations like Jupiter's moons and Alpha Centauri.

Nuclear rockets have the potential to drastically cut travel times to Mars. It could also allow for quicker return trips due to operations being carried out in time for Mars-Earth alignment.

Nuclear thermal rockets (NTRs) have been envisioned as a revolutionary propulsion technology since the 1950s, promising faster and more efficient by using nuclear reactors to heat liquid hydrogen and expel it through a nozzle, achieving much higher temperatures and speeds than chemical rockets.

The development of NTRs began with the US Air Force's Rover program in the 1950s and was advanced by NASA's NERVA program (1961-1973) and projects like Rover at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Manufacturing fuel rods and materials resistant to high temperatures and corrosive hydrogen remains a challenge. The Phoebus 2A, tested in 1968, was the most powerful space nuclear reactor ever built. It was not utilized due to its size, and cost.

Sources: Ars Technica, Interesting Engineering, Techbox, The Daily Galaxy, Digital Chew, NewsBytes, Greek Reporter.

This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.

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Syntrichia caninervis, a desert moss found in the Mojave desert and Antarctica, has been identified as a potential pioneer plant for colonizing Mars due to its exceptional ability to withstand harsh conditions, according to a recently published study.

The study is the first to examine the survival of whole plants, rather than microorganisms or spores, in simulated Martian environments, focusing on growing plants directly on the planet's surface.

Researchers found that S. caninervis is more environmentally resilient than some highly stress-tolerant microorganisms and tardigrades, making it a potential pioneer plant for colonizing extraterrestrial environments and laying the foundation for biologically sustainable human habitats beyond Earth.

The moss regenerated and grew after being frozen, dehydrated, and exposed to gamma rays, demonstrating its resilience and potential as a pioneer plant for Mars colonization. It demonstrated the ability to survive and even show growth promotion after exposure to gamma radiation doses that would kill most plants, making it among the most radiation-tolerant organisms known.

Prior dehydration helps the plants cope with extreme conditions, and plants rebounded more quickly compared to non-dehydrated ones when stored at extremely low temperatures for several years and then defrosted.

Testing under simulated Martian conditions showed that dried S. caninervis plants achieved a 100% regeneration rate within 30 days, while hydrated plants also survived but regenerated more slowly, indicating the potential of this moss as a pioneer plant for growth on Mars.

Terrestrial plants like S. caninervis are vital for long-term space missions as they can convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and carbohydrates, potentially enriching the rocky material on Mars for other plants to grow and contributing to oxygen production and soil fertility.

Sources: The Guardian, Newsweek , Science Times, Conservative Angle, EurekAlert!, Mirage News, The National

This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.

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The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday announced plans to send a probe to land on an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter to collect data on the origins of the universe, the latest project in the oil-rich federation's ambitious space program.

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A successful landing would see the UAE join an elite club of the European Union, Japan and the United States, which have completed the feat on either an asteroid or a comet. The probe would remain behind on the asteroid, transmitting back to Earth information on the composition of the asteroid as long as its batteries remain charged.

The project targets a 2028 launch with a landing in 2033, a five-year journey in which the spacecraft will travel some 3.6 billion kilometers (2.2 billion miles). The spacecraft would need to slingshot first around Venus and then the Earth to gather enough speed to reach an asteroid some 560 million kilometers (350 million miles) away.

It's still under discussion what data the Emirates will collect but the mission will be an even greater challenge than previous ones, given the spacecraft will travel both near the sun and far from it, said Sarah al-Amiri, the chair of the UAE Space Agency and a minister of state for advanced technology.

"Because this comes on the back of the Emirates Mars mission, it is several factors harder, rather than exponentially harder," al-Amiri told The Associated Press. "If we went to get this mission done from the get-go without having the background that we currently have from the Emirates Mars mission, it will be very difficult to achieve."

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the UAE's de facto leader, said that the launch of the new project sets an "ambitious" new goal for the country.

"The UAE is determined to make a meaningful contribution to space exploration, scientific research and our understanding of the solar system," he tweeted.

The launch of a new project to explore Venus and the asteroid belt sets an ambitious new goal for our country's burgeoning space program. The UAE is determined to make a meaningful contribution to space exploration, scientific research and our understanding of the solar system.

The launch of a new project to explore Venus and the asteroid belt sets an ambitious new goal for our country's burgeoning space programme. The UAE is determined to make a meaningful contribution to space exploration, scientific research and our understanding of the solar system. pic.twitter.com/bS7QJpK0KL

— محمد بن زايد (@MohamedBinZayed) October 5, 2021

Some 1.1 million known asteroids circulate in the solar system, the remnants of its formation, according to NASA. Most orbit the sun in the area between Mars and Jupiter targeted by the planned Emirati mission. Their composition includes the building blocks of the world we now know.

The UAE's Space Agency said it will partner with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado on the project. It declined to immediately offer a cost for the effort or describe what particular features of the asteroid it wanted to study. Al-Amiri said discussions were ongoing about what equipment the spacecraft will carry, which will in turn affect what features it can observe.

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The project comes after the Emirates successfully put its Amal, or "Hope," probe in orbit around Mars in February. The car-size Amal cost $200 million to build and launch. That excludes operating costs on Mars. The asteroid mission likely would be more expensive, given its challenges.

The Emirates plans to send an unmanned spacecraft to the moon in 2024. The country, which is home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, also has set the ambitious goal to build a human colony on Mars by 2117 – but its more immediate goal is building out both a private and state-backed space economy with its projects.

"It is difficult. It is challenging," al-Amiri said of the asteroid project. "We fully understand and comprehend that, but we understand the benefits of taking on such large, challenging programs and projects."

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NASA's experimental helicopter Ingenuity rose into the thin air above the dusty red surface of Mars on Monday, achieving the first powered flight by an aircraft on another planet.

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The triumph was hailed as a Wright brothers moment. The mini 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) copter even carried a bit of wing fabric from the Wright Flyer that made similar history at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903.

It was a brief hop – just 39 seconds and 10 feet (3 meters) – but accomplished all the major milestones.

This first test flight – with more to come by Ingenuity, the next as soon as Thursday – holds great promise as future helicopters could serve as scouts for rovers, and eventually astronauts, in difficult, dangerous places.

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