The discovery of cracked mud on Mars has thrilled alien hunters.
Mud found on Mars could prove that aliens exist
A new paper suggests that the same conditions that created the cracks on the Red Planet could have been favourable to extraterrestrial life.
One prevailing theory about the origins of life on Earth says that persistent cycles of wet and dry conditions on land helped to assemble the necessary building blocks for lifeforms.
The paper explains how the hexagonal patterns on Mars offer the first evidence of wet-dry cycles happening on the Red Planet and has excited NASA scientists.
Lead author William Rapin, of France's Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie, said: "This is the first tangible evidence we've seen that the ancient climate of Mars had such regular, Earth-like wet-dry cycles.
"But even more important is that wet-dry cycles are helpful - maybe even required - for the molecular evolution that could lead to life."