Tech

Mars rock discovery makes strongest case for past life, scientists reveal

Published

8 months ago

September 11, 2025

Vicky

A Mars rock sample collected last summer shows chemical fingerprints that might be traces of past microbe activity, though non-biological explanations are still possible, according to NASA.

The Perseverance rover found the rock in July 2024. The drilled sample, nicknamed Sapphire Canyon, is now the strongest clue scientists have that life once existed on ancient Mars, according to the U.S. space agency.

NASA held a news conference Wednesday to announce that the rover's findings have since passed peer review in the journal Nature, a key step in the scientific process to ensure the evidence is solid. Associate administrator Nicky Fox emphasized that the sample does not contain life itself but a fossilized remnant that suggests life had possibly been there.

"It's kind of the equivalent of seeing … leftovers from a meal, and maybe that meal has been excreted by a microbe," she said.

But whether this possible sign of life will ever be confirmed remains to be seen. Right now the sample is still on Mars, and it's unclear whether a NASA mission will ever bring it back to Earth for further analysis, crucial for getting to the point of certainty. In January, before President Donald Trump took office, NASA officials said they were working on two potential new approaches for Mars Sample Return that could cut costs. The decision for how to proceed would ultimately fall on the Trump administration, whose budget request calls for cancellation of this mission.

Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy, who Trump tapped to lead the agency two months ago, seemed disconcerted by the series of questions from reporters focusing on the mission and its funding rather than the research, which was announced last year.

"We got some of the brightest people at NASA with us," Duffy said during the event. "I was hoping your questions were going to be more on this exciting news that we have today."

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NASA's Mars rovers had a gangbusters summer of rocks

A rock sampled from Mars in July 2024 called Sapphire Canyon.

The sample, taken from a site called Cheyava Falls, is one of 27 rock cores the rover has collected since landing on the Red Planet in February 2021.
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech

The sample, taken from a rock called Cheyava Falls, is one of 27 rock cores the rover has collected in tubes since landing on the Red Planet in February 2021. The Martian location where it was found was in Neretva Vallis, home to a bygone river that once emptied water into Jezero Crater, the region Perseverance has been exploring.

The rock is a reddish, clay-rich mudstone, with speckles and leopard spots that hint at chemical reactions similar to those that some microbes use for energy here on Earth. It contains organic carbon, sulfur, phosphorus, and iron-rich minerals that could have supported tiny life forms billions of years ago. Though these minerals can also form without living things, the local conditions make a non-biological explanation seem less likely.

"When we see features like this in sediment on Earth, minerals are often the byproduct of microbial metabolisms that are consuming organic matter and making these minerals as a result of those reactions," said Joel Hurowitz, lead author of the Nature paper. "But there are non-biological ways to make these features that we cannot completely rule out."

For example, an alternate way to make an iron-sulfide mineral known as greigite, detected in the sample, could be to heat the rock, said Hurowitz, a planetary scientist at Stony Brook University — essentially cooking those ingredients to create a new mineral phase.

Perseverance scientists say they've exhausted what they can learn about the sample with the car-sized rover's instruments. Back home, researchers could better inspect the material. Advanced tools could search for complex organic molecules, DNA, cell structures, and more.

Without the sample in hand, scientists will continue to pore over the rover's data by testing surrogate ingredients in laboratories, especially to see if they can create similar results in non-biological ways.

Mars Sample Return has been in limbo since a review found it would cost upward of $11 billion and take nearly two decades to achieve. NASA engaged the greater aerospace industry for input on how to wrangle in spending and development last year. Several companies suggested a variety of ideas, which Mashable reported, including repurposing Artemis moon landers and rethinking the last leg of the journey.

The mission is not off the table, said the acting administrator, who is also the U.S. transportation secretary, and the agency will continue to explore cost-saving options to make it feasible.

"If we don't have the resources for the right missions, or the right people, I will go to the president, I'll go to the Congress, I'll ask for more money," he said. "I feel pretty confident that with the money that we've been given in the president's budget, we can accomplish our mission."

Tech

NYT Strands hints, answers for April 24, 2026

Published

2 weeks ago

April 25, 2026

Vicky

A game being played on a smartphone.

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you're rowdy.

Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

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Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 24, 2026

Table of Contents

NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Hullabaloo

The words are related to sound.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe ruckus.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Lets Get Loud.

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

NYT Strands word list for April 24

Shout
Holler
Clamor
Lets Get Loud
Bellow
Whoop
Caterwaul

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Strands.

Tech

Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 24, 2026

Published

2 weeks ago

April 25, 2026

Vicky

Wordle game on a smartphone

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you love a good drink.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

Table of Contents

Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once.

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO:

NYT Pips hints, answers for April 24, 2026

Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

Intoxicated.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…

Today's Wordle starts with the letter D.

The Wordle answer today is…

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is…

DRUNK

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints. Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Wordle.

Tech

FCC challenges gender identity themes on kids TV

Published

2 weeks ago

April 25, 2026

Vicky

A young girl watches TV with remote in her hand.

The Federal Communications Commission is using the presence of "controversial gender identity issues" in children's television programming as a pretense for questioning how TV ratings are developed and enforced, according to a notice published Wednesday by the federal agency.

The notice generally assesses TV ratings, but specifically points out that these industry guidelines have rated shows featuring "transgender and gender non-binary programming" as appropriate for children. It argues that parents aren't provided this information, "thereby undermining the ability of parents to make informed choices for their families."

In the document, the FCC poses a series of open-ended questions about TV ratings development, including whether the board responsible for the guidelines is "sufficiently balanced" with viewpoints outside of the entertainment industry and if faith-based organizations should be represented in the body.

"What more could the board do to include family-oriented perspectives — which are not well represented in the media industry — in its ratings process?" the notice asks.

SEE ALSO:

What's new to streaming this week? (April 24, 2026)

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced the public notice on X, explaining that "parents have raised concerns with the industry's approach." He added that these parents believe "New York & Hollywood programmers" promote objectionable content in kids programming without disclosing that to parents. Carr didn't mention gender identity in his X post.

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TV parents guidelines can include both a rating as well as descriptors for content that includes crude language, sexual situations, and violence.

LGBTQ+ advocates criticized the public notice, arguing that it amounted to discrimination and censorship.

"Trump's FCC is trying to turn transgender people into a warning label," Tyler Hack, executive director of the transgender rights advocacy group Christopher Street Project, said in a statement. "It is dehumanizing, and it is part of a broader political strategy to stigmatize LGBTQ+ people in every corner of public life."

Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, described the notice as government overreach.

"Media companies must be allowed to create and broadcast stories that reflect one-quarter of their audience without interference from a government agency with its own anti-transgender political agenda," Ellis said in a statement.

This isn't the first time Carr has been accused of censorship. Carr has claimed broadcasters air "hoaxes" and "news distortions" that also happen to be unfavorable to President Trump. Carr has suggested the licenses of such broadcasters won't be renewed.

In March, dozens of free speech experts argued in an open letter to Carr that his threats against broadcasters are "unlawful jawboning" and his vague characterization of "fake news" violates the First Amendment. The authors called on Carr to "withdraw" his threats.