In March 2025, scientists reported identifying small amounts of decane, undecane, and dodecane in a rock sample analysed aboard the chemistry lab on Curiosity. Curiosity, was the largest and most capable rover ever sent to Mars by NASA, when it was launched in 2011. Curiosity set out to answer the principal question: “Did Mars ever have the right environmental conditions to support small life forms called microbes?”With the rock sample identified in March 2025 being “the largest organic compounds found on Mars” as per NASA, researchers were hypothesising if “they could be fragments of fatty acids preserved in the ancient mudstone in Gale Crater.”For context, on Earth, fatty acids are produced mostly by life, though they can be made through geologic processes, too.Curiosity’s data alone was not sufficient for any conclusions, so a follow-on study evaluated known non-biological sources of these organic molecules. Possibilities such as meteorites smashing into the Martian surface were also entertained to see if they could account for the amounts of organic molecules discovered.A Study published in the journal Astrobiology on February 4, has concluded that “as the non-biological sources they considered could not fully explain the abundance of organic compounds, it is therefore reasonable to hypothesise that living things could have formed them.”Scientists combined lab radiation experiments, mathematical modeling, and Curiosity data to “rewind the clock” about 80 million years – the length of time the rock would have been exposed on the Martian surface – to arrive at their conclusions.The team says more study is needed to better understand how quickly organic molecules break down in Mars-like rock under Mars-like conditions – and before any firm conclusions can be reached about the absence or presence of life.But essentially, this moves the needle closer to establishing the presence of life on Mars.