The search for life beyond Earth is a complicated affair. Elsewhere in the Solar System, we are looking for microorganisms, and our robotic explorers do not have the ability to do the things that we do in the lab. There are many ways for rovers and spacecraft to look for evidence of life , recent or ancient. Now, researchers report a new method that could confirm the presence of living things using old tech. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

If there is life on Mars, and it is not too dissimilar from Earthly life, it is made of cells. Those cells will have membranes, and those membranes will be made of specific fatty molecules known as intact polar lipids (IPLs). Graduate research Solomon Hirsch and his supervisor Pro

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