We break down Pavlov and team’s Cumberland rock study from the Curiosity rover. Long-chain alkanes—decane, undecane, and dodecane—survived 80 million years of Martian radiation, and a decay-model suggests the original organics were orders of magnitude higher than measured today. With space dust and local geology unlikely culprits, a biological origin becomes the best-fitting explanation. We discuss why this isn’t proof of life, what it implies about ancient Martian environments, and why future drilling to reach shielded, underground samples could be the key to confirming our neighbors’ possible ancient biology.

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