Latest about what Rover found on Mars

 Non-Life Explanations about what Rover found on Mars by NASA

Last year, NASA’s Curiosity rover made a fascinating discovery after boring into a suspected ancient lake bed on Mars: long-chain organic molecules, called alkanes, which could serve as a potential chemical relic of ancient life on the Red Planet. The molecules, researchers suggested at the time, could have derived from fatty acids, which are common building blocks of cell membranes on Earth, once again strengthening the case that Mars could’ve been teeming with life billions of years ago. It was just another tantalizing clue in our search for extraterrestrial life, not the smoking gun we’ve all been waiting for. At that time scientists studying a rock sample collected by NASA’s Curiosity rover disclosed something tantalizing: the largest organic molecules ever detected on Mars. The compounds, decane, undecane, and dodecane, may be fragments of fatty acids, which on Earth are most often linked to life. While non-living processes like meteorite impacts can also create such molecules, researchers found those sources couldn’t fully explain the amounts detected.

Nonetheless, scientists continue to be fascinated by the finding. A team led by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Alexander Pavlov argues that the presence of these molecules, despite the millions of years of destructive radiation that pummeled the Martian surface after it lost much of its atmosphere,  “cannot be readily explained” by non-biological processes alone. One theory is that carbon-rich dust particles and meteorites could have deposited these long-chain organic molecules on the surface, with the ancient Martian atmosphere allowing the organics to accumulate billions of years ago. NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took a selfie at a location nicknamed Mary Anning after a 19th-century English paleontologist. Curiosity snagged three samples of drilled rock at this site on its way out of the Glen Torridon region. A new scientific analysis suggests that known non biological processes cannot fully explain the amount of organic material discovered in a rock collected on Mars by NASA's Curiosity rover. Organic compounds are carbon containing molecules that form the chemical building blocks of life as we know it. They can be created by living organisms, but some can also form through natural chemical reactions that do not involve life. Curiosity, which has been exploring Gale Crater since 2012, carries a miniature chemistry lab designed to heat rock samples and analyze the gases they release. Using this onboard laboratory, scientists detected several intriguing compounds in a drilled rock sample.

Nonetheless, scientists stopped well short of making any definitive statements about life on the Red Planet. After all, there could be still-unknown, non-biological processes we don’t know about that could have resulted in the observed concentration of long-chain carbon molecules on Mars. “We agree with Carl Sagan’s claim that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence and understand that any purported detection of life on Mars will necessarily be met with intense scrutiny,” they concluded. “In addition, in practice with established norms in the field of astrobiology, we note that the certainty of a life detection beyond Earth will require multiple lines of evidence.” Curiosity's instruments can identify molecules, but they cannot directly determine how those molecules formed. Because of this limitation, researchers could not tell whether the compounds were produced by biological activity or by non living chemical processes. To explore that question, scientists conducted a follow up investigation focused on known non biological sources. One possibility is that meteorites striking Mars delivered organic material to the surface. Meteorites are known to contain carbon based molecules, and impacts have been common throughout Martian history. The team evaluated whether this type of external delivery, along with other abiotic chemical reactions, could account for the levels of organic compounds measured in the sample.

The researchers reported that the non biological mechanisms they examined could not fully account for the abundance of organic compounds detected by Curiosity. Based on their analysis, they concluded that it is reasonable to consider the possibility that living organisms could have contributed to the formation of these molecules. This does not mean life has been confirmed on Mars. Instead, it suggests that non living explanations alone may not be sufficient to explain the data. However, Pavlov and his colleagues aren’t convinced. After studying how 80 million years’ worth of pelting radiation could have affected these molecules, they concluded that prior to the loss of the planet’s atmosphere, the concentration of these alkanes was likely much higher than previously thought. To help explain their findings, they took into account other non-biological processes in an attempt to arrive at their inferred original abundance,  but couldn’t, even after combining all of them. In other words, biological processes like the ones observed on Earth are still a leading theory, even after researchers’ best efforts to find a non-life explanation. “We argue that such high concentrations of long-chain alkanes are inconsistent with a few known abiotic sources of organic molecules on ancient Mars,” they said.

Earlier, researchers announced they had identified trace amounts of decane, undecane, and dodecane. These are hydrocarbons, meaning they are made only of carbon and hydrogen atoms. They belong to a group of molecules that can be related to fatty acids. Fatty acids are important components of cell membranes in living organisms on Earth, although similar molecules can also form through purely geological reactions under certain conditions. The rock that contained these compounds is an ancient mudstone located in Gale Crater. Mudstone forms from fine grained sediment that once settled in water, suggesting the area may have hosted lakes billions of years ago. Scientists proposed that the molecules detected by Curiosity could be fragments of fatty acids that were preserved in the rock over vast stretches of time. Nonetheless, it’s a tantalizing waypoint in our longstanding efforts to determine whether Mars, a planet that was once covered in huge oceans, rivers and lakes, could have supported life. Pavlov and his colleagues are now calling for further research into how radiation degraded these intriguing molecules under Mars-like conditions to shed more light on the matter.

To better understand how much organic material may have originally been present, the scientists combined laboratory radiation experiments, computer simulations, and Curiosity's measurements. Mars lacks a thick atmosphere and a global magnetic field like Earth's, which means its surface is constantly exposed to cosmic radiation. Over time, this radiation can break apart complex molecules. The team attempted to "rewind the clock" by about 80 million years, which is how long the rock is estimated to have been exposed at the Martian surface. By modeling how radiation gradually destroys organic molecules, they calculated how much material would have existed before being degraded. Their results indicate that the original quantity of organic compounds was likely far greater than what typical non biological processes are known to produce. The researchers emphasize that further experiments are necessary to understand how quickly organic molecules break down in Mars like rocks under Mars like environmental conditions. Laboratory studies that better replicate Martian temperatures, radiation levels, and chemistry will help refine these estimates. Until more data are available, scientists cannot draw firm conclusions about whether these compounds point to past life or can ultimately be explained through chemistry alone. What the findings do show is that the chemical story preserved in Martian rocks may be more complex and more intriguing than previously thought.

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World’s first engine with capability to generate Electricity on 30% hydrogen

 World’s first engine created by Japan can generate Electricity on 30% hydrogen 

Japan just put the world’s first commercial 30% hydrogen gas engine up for sale, complete with warranty and retrofit potential. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. says that it would start sales of large class gas engines capable of hydrogen 30％ co-firing for the first time in the world. The world’s first commercial gas engine capable of running on a 30% hydrogen blend is now available for order. It arrives with a warranty, a service schedule, and a price tag. Kawasaki Heavy Industries began accepting orders for the KG series hydrogen co-firing engine, following after a verification test at its Kobe works. The engine burns a mixture of up to 30% hydrogen by volume with natural gas, a threshold which requires minimal modification to existing pipeline infrastructure. But the fuel itself remains scarce. Japan imports nearly all its energy, and commercial scale hydrogen supply chains are still years from completion. Since October 2024, at our Kobe Works, we have been conducting operational verification of a gas engine power generation system (8MW class), that can co-fire natural gas mixed with up to 30% hydrogen (by volume) as fuel, focusing on hydrogen supply, maintainability, and other operational factors. The verification was completed in September 2025.

The 'Kawasaki Green Gas Engine' has received over 240 orders since its first order in 2011 as a high-efficiency gas engine using natural gas in 5-8MW class. Based on such technology and experience, this product is a hydrogen-ready model which can burn a mixture of up to 30% (by volume) hydrogen with natural gas or city gas, making it adaptable to decarbonization and energy transition. The KG series engine is not designed to run on pure hydrogen, at least not yet. The 30% blend represents what the company calls a drop in compatibility level, meaning facilities equipped with natural gas systems can adopt the engine without replacing distribution lines or storage tanks. The company’s gas engines division has spent more than a decade refining the underlying platform. Earlier generation KG series gas engines can be converted to hydrogen co firing specifications. That means a power plant built a decade ago on natural gas can begin burning a fuel that did not exist in commercial quantities when the plant was designed. The retrofit pathway extends asset life while gradually decarbonizing fuel inputs, avoiding the capital cost of complete fleet replacement. Kawasaki’s verification testing ran from October 2024 through September 2025 and focused on operational factors that laboratory demonstrations cannot replicate. Engineers tested hydrogen supply chain integration, maintainability, and safety protocols, particularly leak detection and purge systems designed for hydrogen’s unusual behavior. Hydrogen molecules are the smallest in existence. They escape through seals that hold methane, they embrittle certain metals over time, and they ignite across a wider range of fuel to air ratios than natural gas. The KG series incorporates hydrogen leak detectors positioned throughout the fuel delivery system and nitrogen purge mechanisms that inert the fuel lines during startup, shutdown, or fault conditions.

As a transition technology towards realizing a carbon-neutral society, this product enables practical and sustainable decarbonization as a distributed power source by increasing the hydrogen utilization ratio while leveraging existing facilities and infrastructure. Following are the some important features:-

High Efficiency & Low NOx Design:

Achieves both high efficiency and environmentally friendly performance

Retrofit Compatibility:

Existing engines can be retrofitted to hydrogen co-firing engines.

Flexible Operation:

The hydrogen co-firing ratio can be adjusted even during operation

Safety Measures:

Equipped with hydrogen leak detectors, nitrogen purge systems, and other safety features

The stationary power announcement arrived alongside parallel progress in a different sector. Earlier, Kawasaki, Yanmar and Japan Engine Corporation announced the completion of what they described as the world’s first land based operation of marine hydrogen engines. The demonstration tested multiple engine classes using a newly developed liquefied hydrogen fuel supply system. Kawasaki and Yanmar demonstrated stable hydrogen combustion in medium speed four stroke engines at rated output. Japan Engine is developing a low speed two stroke hydrogen engine, the type used for main propulsion on large container ships, with first operation scheduled soon. All three engines share a dual fuel architecture. They can switch between hydrogen and conventional diesel as needed. The redundancy addresses a practical constraint of hydrogen shipping. Fuel availability will vary by route and by port until bunkering infrastructure matures, which could take decades. A vessel capable of burning hydrogen when available and diesel when necessary can operate through the transition period rather than waiting for it to end. The marine project operates under Japan’s Green Innovation Fund, administered by NEDO, the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization. The Japanese government has committed approximately 2 trillion yen, roughly 13 billion US dollars, to the fund as part of the strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Both the stationary power and marine initiatives depend on infrastructure that remains under construction. Kawasaki is addressing this through simultaneous investment in hydrogen supply chains, a strategy detailed on the corporate website. Earlier, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Japan Suiso Energy broke ground on the Kawasaki LH2 Terminal in Ogishima, described by the partners as Japan’s first large scale liquid hydrogen import facility. The terminal will feature a 50,000 cubic meter liquid hydrogen storage tank, which the partners describe as the world’s largest, along with maritime cargo handling and truck dispatch capabilities. The facility is planned to begin operations by 2030. The terminal is designed to serve as an import and bunkering hub for hydrogen produced overseas. Japan’s geographical constraints limit domestic renewable energy potential, making imported hydrogen a central pillar of the national energy strategy. The partners are simultaneously planning a 40,000 cubic meter liquid hydrogen carrier, a significant scale up from the 1,250 cubic meter Suiso Frontier which demonstrated the first hydrogen shipment from Australia to Japan in 2022.

Kei Nomura, Executive Central Manager of Kawasaki’s Hydrogen Strategy Division, stated in connection with the marine demonstration that “liquid hydrogen is a vital key to realising a sustainable energy society, and we have long been committed to building the technological foundation to support it.” The technological foundation now includes the engines. The fuel terminals and the ships to supply them are scheduled for the end of the decade. Between now and then, early adopters of the KG series will face a choice. They can secure hydrogen from limited local sources, likely at high cost. They can run the engines on natural gas only, effectively ignoring the hydrogen capability they paid for. Or they can wait. Looking ahead to the widespread adoption of hydrogen energy, they are promoting the establishment of a hydrogen supply chain (“Production, Transportation, Storage, and Utilization”). Kawasaki will continue to actively develop technologies related to hydrogen to contribute to the realization of global carbon-neutral societies.

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