Technologies

NASA Hopes Mars Rock Sample Might Contain Droplet of Ancient Water

Let’s get this Martian rock back to Earth and take a closer look.

This story is part of Welcome to Mars, our series exploring the red planet.

There’s a growing sense of excitement around NASA’s future Mars Sample Return mission, an effort to bring the Perseverance rover’s rock collection back to Earth. A new rock sample is adding to the anticipation because it might contain evidence of ancient water and (fingers crossed) long-ago microbial life — if it existed there.

The rock in question is now Perseverance’s 15th core sample. It’s named «Kukaklek» after a lake and river in Alaska. On Wednesday, the Perseverance team trumpeted the successful collection of the «nice piece of sandstone.»

Astrobiologist Erin Gibbons of McGill University offered more details on the rock in a rover update this week. Gibbons pointed out a set of thin, white veins visible in the sandstone after the rover abraded the surface away to get a look underneath. The veins are evidence of past water activity that filled small factures with mineral deposits.

NASA had previously talked up the sandstone rock prior to the rover gathering a sample, expressing hope that it might hold biosignatures, which the agency defines as «any characteristic, element, molecule, substance, or feature that can serve as evidence for ancient life.» Gibbons’ update highlights an even more specific dream of perhaps finding water hidden within.

NASA picked the Jezero Crater as the Perseverance rover’s landing site due to its intriguing history of water. It appears to be home to an ancient lake bed and river delta from a time long ago when Mars was wetter.

The rock was part of an outcrop named Hidden Harbor that likely formed back when Jezero was a lake. «This was an exciting find because the veins are strikingly different than the sedimentary rock surrounding them, suggesting that they formed at a different time and under different conditions,» said Gibbons. It’s like cracking open a tiny window into the Martian past.

The veins could hold hidden clues to Mars’ history of microbial life, if it was ever in residence there. «It is even possible that, during crystallization, the minerals in the veins trapped a droplet or two of the ancient water that carried them through the network of fractures in the first place, providing a time capsule of Mars’ watery past,» said Gibbons.

Miniscule fluid inclusions have been found in ancient Earth rocks. A study earlier this year described the discovery of microorganisms 830 million years old in fluid inclusions in halite crystals, raising the possibility that a similar find from Mars could preserve organic matter. «Do the veins in Jezero contain such fluid inclusions? It’s possible, but we cannot know for certain until we bring a sample back to Earth for detailed analysis,» Gibbons wrote.

The Mars Sample Return mission will be complicated and challenging, but necessary to truly understand Mars’ past and, hopefully, answer the question of whether the red planet was once home to microbial life.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, July 5

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for July 5.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? 14-Across was a real doozy. I hadn’t ever heard anyone use that word to mean what the NYT says it means, even though I do recognize it as part of a related word. Whether this clue or another one has stumped you today, read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Blasts with unwanted messages
Answer: SPAMS

6A clue: Orderly assortment
Answer: ARRAY

7A clue: Its state mammal is the bison, and its state sport is rodeo
Answer: WYOMING

9A clue: «Let me think …»
Answer: HMM

10A clue: Hawaii’s Mauna ___
Answer: LOA

11A clue: Shanghai-born N.B.A. Hall-of-Famer who stood at 7’6″
Answer: YAOMING

13A clue: Emotionless, as a gaze
Answer: STONY

14A clue: Another name for an earthquake
Answer: SEISM

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Lead a Catholic ceremony
Answer: SAYMASS

2D clue: Hype up
Answer: PROMOTE

3D clue: Place for Popeye’s anchor tattoo
Answer: ARM

4D clue: Ballots cast from home
Answer: MAILINS

5D clue: Thesaurus listing
Answer: SYNONYM

7D clue: Alphabetically last of the «five W’s»
Answer: WHY

8D clue: Silly joke
Answer: GAG

12D clue: «Excusez-___!»
Answer: MOI

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for July 5, #285

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 5, No. 285.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition raised my confidence with a very easy yellow category. Then my guesses kind of fell apart. Need some help? Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: First question?

Green group hint: You win it.

Blue group hint: They call it football.

Purple group hint: Baseball accessories.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Setting for a news conference.

Green group: Starts of trophy names.

Blue group: England women’s soccer players.

Purple group: ____ base.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is setting for a news conference. The four answers are dais, lectern, podium and stage.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is starts of trophy names. The four answers are Ballon, Cy, Heisman and Stanley.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is England women’s soccer players. The four answers are Bronze, Mead, Stanway and Williamson.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ____ base. The four answers are fan, first, stolen and third.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for July 5, #1477

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for July 5, No. 1,477.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a pretty tough one. I grew up on a farm, so I know the word, but I didn’t put it together right away, even though the letters are common ones. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.