【Watch online Swingers (2002) full movie】

A new tool developed by the military could Watch online Swingers (2002) full movieeventually help sniff out life on Mars or other places in the solar system.

The prototype instrument -- called the Bio-Indicator Lidar Instrument (BILI for short) -- probably won't fly to space anytime soon, but if it does, it could be used to detect biosignatures like methane or even oxygen in the atmosphere of an alien world from the planet's surface.

Basically, BILI might be able to hunt out signs of life on an alien world.

---

You May Also Like

---

---

SEE ALSO: Europe's Mars lander is lost on the red planet

"If the agency develops it [the instrument], it will be the first of a kind,” Branimir Blagojevic, a NASA technologist who worked at the company that created the experiment, said in a statement.

Originally developed by the military to sniff out toxins and pathogens in the air, BILI, which would be attached to a Mars rover, relies on sniffing out elements in dust plumes coming from the planet.

The detector uses "two ultraviolet lasers to pulse light at the dust," NASA said, causing the particles to become excited. Scientists can analyze the molecules in that state to see what the plumes are made of and possibly find chemical signs that would point to organics and life.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The instrument's methods would allow it to detect these possible organic molecules from hundreds of feet away, which could be a benefit in a tough Martian environment where it might be difficult to get to the exact spot needed to sample something from up-close.

“BILI’s measurements ... can be conducted quickly over a broad area," Blagojevic said. "This is a survey instrument, with a nose for certain molecules."

The instrument could also be used on an orbiting spacecraft, which would detect biomarkers from above whatever interesting planet or moon it happens to find itself around.

While BILI isn't slated for a Mars mission anytime soon, other spacecraft already in orbit around the Red Planet or slated to launch in the future are trying to hunt for biosignatures on Mars.

Via Giphy

The European Space Agency and Russia's ExoMars orbiter, called the Trace Gas Orbiter, just made it to Mars, where it should hunt for possible signs of past or present life in the planet's atmosphere.

The two space agencies are also planning to send an ExoMars mission to the Red Planet's surface as early as 2020 in order to burrow beneath the surface and look for life.

India's Mars orbiter is also searching for signs of methane from its place in orbit.

NASA is planning to send a rover to Mars in 2020, but it isn't specifically designed to look for life on the red planet. Instead, that mission will look for signs of extinct microbial life on the planet and even cache rock samples for scientists to investigate if they can be returned to Earth on a future mission.

• Life
• Tech
• Digital Culture
• Science
• Deals
• Shopping
• Entertainment
• Games

• Creator job opportunities grew 7x in recent years [April 2025]
• Love Poems from the Fourteenth Century
• The Book of Sediments
• What Our Contributors Are Reading This Fall
• Operation Rock Wallaby rains food down on wildlife hurt by bushfires
• #ReadEverywhere, Even When You Can’t Breathe
• Women at Work: Irina Reyn and Emily Barton in Conversation
• David Searcy: “My First Dirty Joke”
• Watch how an old Venus spacecraft tumbled before crashing to Earth
• What Our Contributors Are Reading This Fall

• How to let someone bypass your iPhone Do Not Disturb settings
• Apple Store goes down ahead of iPhone 13 pre
• Here are the 112 new emoji that'll soon be available on your phone
• Xiaomi 11T Pro has a 108
• Let us remember how very bad presidential portraits were until the Obamas
• Top NFT marketplace OpenSea admits shady employee dealings
• The iPhone SE with 256GB of storage has disappeared from Apple Store
• Olympic mascots, ranked
• Watch how this snake moves ever so smoothly along a fence
• 'The Eyes of Tammy Faye' is a simple look at a complex woman: Review

• Best tablet deal: Save $45 on Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet
• Ann Beattie: “Upon Knowing I Must Soon Depart”
• What Should I Bring on My Writing Retreat?
• Hilary Mantel: “The Internet Keeps Regurgitating You”
• Against Fear
• Pigeons Can (Kind of) Learn to Read
• What If the Cultural Apocalypse Has Already Happened?
• Revisited: Jean Rhys, ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’
• Best vacuum mop combo deal: Save $140 on the Tineco Floor One S5
• Congrats to Our Booker Prize & National Book Award Nominees

• Ireland fines TikTok $600 million for sharing user data with China
• Staff Picks: Samuel Beckett, Michael Chabon, Brian Eno
• A Journey to Heaven on a Winged Horse
• Chris Bachelder’s ‘The Throwback Special’ Nominated for National Book Award
• Amazon Prime Grubhub deal: Save $10 off orders of $20 or more
• Here’s Some Timeless Wisdom About Cheetahs
• Imagining a Mystery Novel as a Building
• My Twinkie Poem: On “Goldacre”
• NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for April 17: Tips to solve Connections #206
• Luc Sante: I Was Somebody Else