They are training a new AI that is 88% more likely to find life on Mars.

The point is to know where to look. NASA team trains new AI that the probability of finding life on Mars may be 88% higher than ours. The purpose of this technology is to help space rovers such as Curiosity and Perseverance – analyze the territory of the red planet faster and better. Thus, it would be possible to more accurately determine those places in which there are conditions for the existence of life.

Researchers at NASA’s Institute of Astrobiology, led by Kimberly Warren-Rhoads, combined environmental statistics with machine learning techniques to create this AI. Thus, they gave it the ability to display “biosignatures”: any feature that is indicative of a past or present life.

To test this, they traveled to the closest place we know of to Mars: Atacama Desert, north of Chile. The equipment was installed in the Salar de Pajones area, according to a scientific journal. Nature. First, they took aerial photographs using drones, carried out geochemical analysis, and even studied DNA sequences. With all this they built a large data library that “taught” the AI ​​system how to live in the wild. The next thing was to look for life.

AI optimizes few existing resources to search for life on Mars

The Chilean desert is one of the driest places in the world. According to these and other characteristics, the scientific community says that its soil is very similar to Martian. The team asked the AI ​​to help them identify places in the Atacama Desert where life was most likely to be found. The results are impressive.

researchers were able to narrow down the search to 97%. So they increased the likelihood find life up to 88%. This is in comparison to the conventional “random scan” technique.

“Eventually, we could sit down and instead of wandering around for a long time, we could find life in a minute,” Warren-Rhoads said. Theoretically, a new rover with this AI could use fewer resources and be almost twice as likely to find life on Mars than the vehicles that are currently exploring the planet.

Rover that is already looking for “Martians”

Today, only three rovers explore the surface of Mars. Of the three only Perseverance has a specific mission to search for extraterrestrial life. The device landed in 2020 and is equipped with seven of the most advanced scientific instruments. However, he continues to randomly search for “biosignatures”.

Another of them, t. curiosity, made headlines this week with the unveiling of a never-before-seen postcard of a vibrant Martian sunset. This rover has been around for over 10 years. Its goal is to explain why the red planet went from hot and humid to the icy desert it is today.

Researchers at NASA’s Institute of Astrobiology said they will continue to improve their artificial intelligence algorithm to be able to send better tools to search for life on Mars. His discovery is in itself a great progress.