NASA’s Perseverance Rover spent three years exploring the floor of Jezero Crater, located just north of the Martian equator. This close-up look at what had previously been seen only from orbit revealed evidence of chemical reactions that shaped the planet billions of years ago. SETI Institute Senior Research Scientist Janice Bishop and University of Massachusetts Engineering Professor Mario Parente analyzed orbital hyperspectral images from the Compact Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, producing a detailed mineral map at the tens of meters scale of the crater documenting deposits of clays and carbonates signaling abundant water on ancient Mars. In a new Nature News & Views article, Bishop and Parente explore how these findings, combined with Perseverance’s confirmation of the minerals observed from orbit and discoveries of unusual minerals not detectable from orbit, suggest chemical reactions involving minerals, water, and possibly organic material could have created energy-rich environments on early Mars.

“Coordinating mineral detections from orbit at Mars with in situ detections by the Perseverance rover gives us a detailed look at ancient chemical reactions for a few small areas and a broader view across kilometers of the surface,” said Bishop.

Among the winners of Compasso d’Oro International Award is TWIN, the robotic exoskeleton for lower limbs developed by Rehab Technologies IIT – INAIL, the joint laboratory established by the Italian Institute of Technology and the INAIL Prosthetic Center in Budrio, with the contribution of design studio ddpstudio. Since 2013, Rehab Tech and ddpstudio have worked together to merge the functionality of cutting-edge robotics with research on form and aesthetics, creating devices that are both highly functional and visually appealing, an essential factor for user acceptance.