New Method Helps Find Life in Mars Rocks

火星の岩石に生命を見つける新しい方法

Scientists want to bring rock samples from Mars to Earth. These rocks might have life inside. A team from Japan and NASA made a new way to detect small life in rocks. They tested the method using very old rocks from Earth that are similar to Mars rocks.

The new method uses a tool called O-PTIR. It shines infrared light on thin pieces of rock. The light shows small microbes that are hard to see. This helps scientists study the rocks without breaking them too much. The same idea was used with Moon rocks many years ago.

This new tool worked well with rocks that are 100 million years old. Scientists want to try it on even older rocks, like the ones already collected by a robot on Mars. They hope this will answer the big question: Is there life on Mars?

Vocabulary List

• scientists - 科学者
• rock samples - 岩石のサンプル
• new way - 新しい方法
• detect - 検出する
• tested - 試した
• tool - 道具
• similar - 似ている
• shines - 光を当てる
• infrared light - 赤外線
• pieces of rock - 岩石のかけら
• hard to see - 見えにくい
• too much - 過度にたくさん、～すぎる
• worked well - うまくいった

Our articles are adapted from multiple news sources. These articles are meant for educational purposes only.