Overview
- Curiosity previously detected the largest organics yet found on Mars—decane, undecane, and dodecane—in 3.7‑billion‑year‑old Cumberland mudstone at Gale Crater.
- Laboratory radiation experiments and modeling suggest today’s 30–50 parts per billion translate to roughly 120–7,700 parts per million before ~80 million years of surface exposure.
- The study argues known abiotic inputs, including meteorites, interplanetary dust, atmospheric haze, and common hydrothermal pathways, do not account for the inferred abundances.
- Researchers emphasize the result does not prove life, noting uncertainties and the possibility of unrecognized abiotic processes.
- Definitive tests would require Earth‑based analyses of returned samples, and coverage notes the Mars Sample Return effort is reported as almost entirely defunded.