After returning to the lab, Sellam discovered sinuous filaments preserved in the gypsum samples. "Because they are fossils, ...

Gypsum, a mineral formed by the evaporation of water, has a unique ability to preserve traces of life. On Earth, researchers ...

he chuckles. Once Sellam got the samples to the lab, he saw sinuous filaments preserved in the mineral. These were ancient, fossilized microbes, "which is an indication that gypsum could preserve ...

thanks to a new study of Earthly microbial fossils embedded in the mineral gypsum that was produced when the Mediterranean Ocean dried up over 5 million years ago. Mars was once wet, with rivers ...

At this temperature the mineral anhydrite, which was abundant in the water, dissolved into gypsum, a soft mineral that can take the form of the crystals in the Naica cave. The mining complex in ...

Calcium sulfate can form several minerals, but it turned out that gypsum (CaSO 4 ·2H 2 O), specifically a transparent, colorless variety known as selenite, came to be the dominant mineral in the ...

"While our findings strongly support the biogenicity of the fossil filament in gypsum, distinguishing true biosignatures from abiotic mineral formations remains a challenge," cautioned Sellam ...