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>> It drilled into sedimentary rocks and detected traces of organic molecules.>> This is the moment that sparked a major announcement from NASA. They found the building blocks of life on Mars.>> So today we're announcing a discovery of a repeatable, identifiable, seasonable pattern in the methane measurements.
>> One of their rovers has found organic matter, and unexpectently large seasonal fluctuations of atmospheric methane. It means Earth's neighbor once also had the ingredients needed to create life. And it's the strongest evidence ever found that in the distant past life may have existed here.>> This new detection is exciting, because it comes from rocks that are billions of years old.
>> To be precise, 3.5 billion years at a site that once held a large lake. When ancient Mars was warmer, and wetter than the barren planet it is today.>> But some scientists say this may not prove anything. While what's been found are key raw materials for life as we know it, they could have been produced by chemical rather than biological reactions.