RIVERWOODS, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 12, 2023--

Diverse types of organic molecules have been found on Mars by a Nasa rover. The material was detected by the Perseverance rover in the Jezero Crater on Mars, scientists said. Researchers are unable to rule out that the materials have a “biotic” origin, or are the result of life on the planet. But they might also be formed in other ways, such as interactions between water and dust or having been dropped onto the planet by dust or meteors. The findings suggest that Mars may have had a far more active past than we realised – and could have significant implications for the search for alien life. According to the study, understanding more about Martian organic matter could shed light on the availability of carbon sources, with implications for the search for potential signs of life. The Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (Sherloc) instrument on the rover is the first tool to enable fine-scale mapping and analysis of organic molecules and minerals on Mars. Perseverance landed within the Jezero crater, the site of an ancient lake basin with high potential for past habitability, in February 2021. Since then scientists have been exploring the geological make-up of the crater floor using a suite of tools on board the rover that can take pictures of and analyse the rocks. Sunanda Sharma, Ryan Roppel and their colleagues analysed observations from two formations on the Jezero crater floor. Signals of organic molecules were detected on all 10 targets that Sherloc observed in the Jezero crater floor, concentrated in the Maaz formation, more than in the Seitah formation. The data showed diverse mineral association and spatial distribution that may be unique to each formation. The researchers suggest the diversity among these observations may provide insight into different ways that organic matter may have originated: potentially through deposition by water, or in combination with volcanic materials. Writing in the Nature journal, the authors said: “Our findings suggest there may be a diversity of aromatic molecules prevalent on the Martian surface, and these materials persist despite exposure to surface conditions. “These potential organic molecules are largely found within minerals linked to aqueous processes, indicating that these processes may have had a key role in organic synthesis, transport or preservation.” The findings are published in a new article, ‘Diverse organic-mineral associations in Jezero crater, Mars’, in Nature today. Additional reporting by Press Association Read More Nasa to begin Moon mining within next decade Microsoft’s attempt to buy Call of Duty developer reaches huge new development Elon Musk posts series of explicit tweets about Mark Zuckerberg Microsoft’s attempt to buy Call of Duty developer reaches huge new development Elon Musk posts series of explicit tweets about Mark Zuckerberg Scientists invent cloak inspired by Roman god that could help us live on Mars

SUSSEX, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 12, 2023--

A new study will determine how vulnerable you are to fake news. Through an online test, users have to rate 20 headlines as real or fake and see how many the get right. Ten of the headlines are real, while the other 10 were generated by artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT, before being vetted and selected by a panel of experts. When refining and selecting the fake questions, the team looked for common features of misinformation, such as looking at people's political biases, and tinges of conspiracy theories. The real headlines were selected from the Media Bias Fact Check database, from reputable news sources. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The team, conducting the research on 1,516 US adults, found that the average American got 13 out of 20 headlines correct meaning that on average US adults fail to classify one-third of real or fake headlines into their correct category. The headline people got correct the most was "Republicans Divided in Views of Trump’s Conduct, Democrats Are Broadly Critical", with 80 percent of participants rating it as real. Younger participants scored lower on the misinformation test, getting on average 12 out of 20 to older adults' 15. If you fancy seeing how susceptible to fake news you are, you can take the test yourself by clicking the link. 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.

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 12, 2023--

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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 12, 2023--

China has called accusations that a China-based hacking group breached government-linked email accounts “disinformation,” saying they were meant to divert attention from U.S. cyber activities

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 12, 2023--

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ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 12, 2023--

Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with senior executives from the country’s leading technology firms including Alibaba Group Holding