A Nasa scientist has said chemicals found on Mars would be considered signs of ancient life if they were found on Earth, leading to suggestions the Red Planet could potentially have harboured life. Dr Michelle Thaller said: “On Mars we see chemistry that on Earth, if it were here, we would say is due to life. “But the question is, how well do we understand Mars and are we being fooled by something?” It’s not a done deal, of course. Signs of ancient life that we find regularly on Earth may not mean the same thing elsewhere, particularly with the vastly different conditions between the two planets. Dr Thaller told The Sun she is certain there is life out there in our solar system, but did not reveal the exact chemical substance that had been found. Nasa has previously found methane on Mars, which it said “could have supported ancient life”, and the organisation has also revealed plans to look for amino acids that haven’t yet been destroyed by space radiation. Organic chemicals like amino acids are used by archaeologists to determine whether life was present. A blog post from the US space agency said: “Amino acids can be created by life and by non-biological chemistry. “However, finding certain amino acids on Mars would be considered a potential sign of ancient Martian life because they are widely used by terrestrial life as a component to build proteins. “Proteins are essential to life as they are used to make enzymes which speed up or regulate chemical reactions and to make structures.” Alexander Pavlov of Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, added: “Our results suggest that amino acids are destroyed by cosmic rays in the Martian surface rocks and regolith at much faster rates than previously thought. “Current Mars rover missions drill down to about two inches (around five centimeters). “At those depths, it would take only 20 million years to destroy amino acids completely.” That may sound like a long time, but Nasa is looking for life that is billions of years old, because scientists think Mars would have been more like Earth back then. Dr Thaller said it was important not to actually say there were signs of life until there is 100 per cent confirmation. “The solar system may be teeming with simple life, microbial life. “We just have to get that 100% certainty to say that we found it and we don’t have that yet.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A day after controversy erupted over months-ago revisions to Zoom’s terms of service that evoked

It’s happened to us all. Maybe you’re walking down the street, or sitting on the bus, or even just sending an email – then suddenly, you realise you’ve been here before. Déjà vu can be a puzzling thing. It literally means already seen in English, and it remains pretty mysterious as to why we feel it. Now, scientists have a couple of theories. Sanam Hafeez, a clinical psychologist, told Fox News: "It refers to the eerie and distinct feeling that one has already experienced the current situation or event, even though it’s a new and unfamiliar occurrence. "It feels like a powerful wave of familiarity with the present moment as if the person is re-living a past experience. "Some suggest it may be linked to how memories are processed in the brain, potentially involving delays or errors in memory retrievals." She added that it may be because the brain is processing information through multiple pathways at the same time, creating the illusion of a memory when you are living in the present moment. She said: "Regardless of the precise mechanism, déjà vu is a transient and common experience that lasts only briefly, affecting people of all ages and not considered a pathological condition. "While it remains a puzzle, déjà vu continues to be a fascinating facet of human consciousness." "It is also important to note that déjà vu is not associated with any particular medical or psychological condition. It is usually a brief and transient experience and is considered a normal aspect of human perception and memory." About two-thirds of people in good health experience déjà vu during their lifetime, according to WebMD, though it is more likely to happen to people aged 15 to 25. The website explains: "A familiar sight or sound can trigger the feeling. You may walk into a room in a building you’ve never visited yet feel like you know it intimately." Health.com adds: "People with more education, those who travel a lot and people who can recall their dreams are also more likely to experience déjà vu." How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

(Reuters) -Sam Altman and OpenAI's board have opened discussions to bring back its former CEO, and the startup's backer Microsoft

DUBLIN TikTok has been fined 345 million euros ($370 million) for breaching privacy laws regarding the processing of

Scientists have invented a cloak inspired by Roman mythology that can cool anything it covers during the day and warm it up at night. The Janus thermal cloak, named after the two-faced Roman god Janus, could be used in everything from electric cars to space craft, with the researchers claiming it could even be used to build off-planet colonies on the Moon and Mars. “The thermal cloak is like clothes for vehicles, buildings, spacecrafts, or even extraterrestrial habitats to keep cool in summer and warm in winter,” said Kehang Cui, a materials scientist at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, who was involved in the research. “The cloak works basically the same way the Earth cools down, through relative cooling. The Earth is covered by the atmosphere, and the atmosphere is transparent to a certain range of electromagnetic energy we radiate.” The futuristic material, made of silica and aluminium, is able to achieve the heating and cooling effect passively, without the need for any outside energy. Covering electric vehicles in the cloak helps to cool them 8°C on a hot day and warm them 6.8°C on a cold night, helping to prevent deterioration of the battery. “This is the first time that we could achieve warming above the ambient temperature by almost 7°C during winter nights,” said Professor Cui. “This is also kind of surprising to us – there’s no energy input or sunshine and we can still get warming.” A study detailing the research, titled ‘Scalable and durable Janus thermal cloak for all-season passive thermal regulation’, was published in the scientific journal Device on Tuesday. Read More Record-breaking sugar battery could supercharge transition to renewable energy

TikToker and singer Dixie D’Amelio received horrendous backlash and is branded a “bad example” for children after wearing a transparent top. D’Amelio is a major star on the social media platform with over 57 million followers and is the older sister of fellow TikTok star Charli D’Amelio. Since breaking up with fellow influencer Noah Beck, the older sister has been through some changes including cutting her previously long hair and replacing it with a buzzcut. But, it was another risky fashion statement that sparked controversy across social media after D’Amelio wore a transparent top that showed her breasts. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The star was seen in both a TikTok video and an Instagram post wearing the same shirt, igniting comments from critics who claimed she was being a bad role model to her young female followers. D’Amelio captioned the Instagram post, “Darling don’t feel bad for me” and posed in the top along with ripped jeans, dark sunglasses and a black handbag. One comment on the post read: “You know children see this.” Another said: “So unclassy. Hope young girls don’t get ‘influenced’ by this.” In possibly one of the most sickening responses, one Instagram user said they hoped she would be a victim of a mass shooting. The TeaTok Talk account shared screenshots of some of the horrible responses D’Amelio received and some which she replied to. An Instagram user wrote, “Bro your [sic] a bad example”, to which D’Amelio hit back: “I have said from the beginning that I am not a role model. I do me and want to be myself.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Stablecoin issuer Tether has added Britannia Bank & Trust, a privately-held bank operating in the Bahamas, to process

The remains of 2,000-year-old Roman walls have been discovered by archaeologist in Switzerland in the foothills of the Alps. During the excavation of a gravel pit in Cham in the canton, or state, of Aug in central Switzerland, the walls, which once protected a Roman building complex, were found. Other pieces have also been unearthed by archaeologists, include a plaster wall, iron nails, and gold fragments. As well as items such as bowls, millstones for grinding, glassware, and crockery and ceramic jugs known as amphorae. In a statement form the Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archeology, the findings were labelled an "archaeological sensation" for the region and could shed light on Roman activity in central Switzerland. Gishan Schaeren, head of the Department of Prehistory and Protohistoric Archaeology said in the statement: "Roman buildings of similar dimensions were last excavated in Cham-Heiligkreuz almost 100 years ago. We were also amazed that the top bricks were even visible above ground." The walls extend over an area of at least 5,300 square feet (500 square metres). Although it's unclear how Romans used the site, including whether it was a "villa with a view or a temple building," said professor of archaeology of the Roman provinces at the University of Bern Christa Ebnöther. The team said that findings of Roman tableware known as terra sigillata - which means "sealed earth" in Latin - were found, suggesting elite people were at the site. The amphorae, which typically held liquids such as wine, olive oil and fish sauce, are evidence that Romans in the region traded with those in the Mediterranean. Archaeologists also found several copper and bronze coins, including a silver denarius minted by Julius Caesar from the first century B.C. The discovery of the Roman walls is not the first ancient find in the area. Previously, archaeologists had found remains of a middle Bronze Age settlement, burials from the late Bronze Age, and a number of coins form the era of the Celts. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The Crown Estate has partnered with Microsoft UK to build Minecraft Education worlds to provide green learning and inspire the next generation of environmentalists and conservationists.

By Rollo Ross and Alan Devall PALM SPRINGS, California (Reuters) -Tropical Storm Hilary made its historic arrival in California on

A Delaware judge has ruled in favor of Oracle founder Larry Ellison in a shareholder lawsuit alleging that he coerced the company into paying a grossly inflated price to acquire software corporation NetSuite