LIFE ON MARS? Organic molecules found on Mars are ‘consistent with alien LIFE’ – and are found in mushrooms on Earth

ORGANIC molecules found on Mars are “consistent with early life” on the red planet, scientists have revealed.

The matter is a tantalising clue in the hunt for alien life in our Solar System.

Mars has always been great candidate for alien life – and hunting for it there is relatively easy, compared to other planets.

Now hope for a breakthrough has been boosted by the discovery of organic compounds on Mars.

They’re called thiophenes, and are found on Earth.

You’ll find thiophenes in coal, crude oil, and even white truffles – a popular type of mushroom.

According to scientists, their presence is consistent with early life having existed on Mars.

It’s believed that a biological process may have played a role in the organic compound’s existence on Mars.

However, they say this more likely involved bacteria than a truffle.

“We identified several biological pathways for thiophenes that seem more likely than chemical ones, but we still need proof,” said astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuchm, of Washington State University.

“If you find thiophenes on Earth, then you would think they are biological, but on Mars, of course, the bar to prove that has to be quite a bit higher.”

The bad news is that it’s possible that these compounds were formed through non-biological processes.

One explanation would be meteor impacts, which can create the compounds through high-temperature chemical interactions.