New Sensor Could ‘Sniff’ for Life on Mars

An instrument used to detect bio-hazards here on Earth could be used to find signs of current or former life on Mars. The instrument, developed by NASA technologist Branimir Blagojevic, is called BILI, and is a “fluorescence-based lidar,” which works like radar, but instead of using radio waves, it analyzes light to analyze particles in the atmosphere. “NASA has never used it before for planetary ground level exploration. If the agency develops it, it will be the first of a kind,”...

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