Science News Roundup: European Space Agency expects NASA backing for suspended Mars mission; ESA expects strong NASA support after Mars mission suspended due to Ukraine war and more

ESA said in March that it was suspending cooperation with Russia's Roscosmos space agency on their joint ExoMars rover mission to search for signs of life on the surface of Mars in the wake of the Ukraine war and sanctions imposed on Moscow. Ancient Inca tomb discovered under home in Peru capital Scientists have unearthed an Inca-era tomb in the heart of Peru's capital Lima, archaeologists said on Wednesday, a burial dug up under a working-class home and believed to hold noble remains wrapped in cloth alongside ceramics and fine ornaments.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

European Space Agency expects NASA backing for suspended Mars mission

The European Space Agency expects strong support from its U.S. counterpart NASA after the agency's plans to cooperate with Russia on a Mars research mission were suspended due to the Ukraine war. ESA said in March it was suspending cooperation with Russia's Roscosmos space agency on their joint ExoMars rover mission to search for signs of life on the surface of Mars in the wake of the Ukraine war and sanctions imposed on Moscow. ] The project was the agency's largest cooperation project with Roscosmos.

ESA expects strong NASA support after Mars mission suspended due to Ukraine war

The European Space Agency (ESA) said on Wednesday that it expects strong support from its U.S. counterpart NASA after the European agency's plans to cooperate with Russia on a Mars research mission were suspended due to the Ukraine war. ESA said in March that it was suspending cooperation with Russia's Roscosmos space agency on their joint ExoMars rover mission to search for signs of life on the surface of Mars in the wake of the Ukraine war and sanctions imposed on Moscow.

Ancient Inca tomb discovered under home in Peru capital

Scientists have unearthed an Inca-era tomb in the heart of Peru's capital Lima, archaeologists said on Wednesday, a burial dug up under a working-class home and believed to hold noble remains wrapped in cloth alongside ceramics and fine ornaments. Lead archeologist Julio Abanto told Reuters the 500-year-old tomb contains "multiple funerary bundles" tightly wrapped in cloth.

The 'Mount Everest' of bacteria discovered in Caribbean swamps

The largest-known bacterium - a vermicelli-shaped organism that was discovered in shallow mangrove swamps in the Caribbean and is big enough to be seen with the naked eye - is redefining what is possible for bacteria, Earth's most ancient life form. Scientists said on Thursday the bacterium, called Thiomargarita magnifica, is noteworthy not merely for its size - colossal for a single-celled organism at up to about eight-tenths of an inch (2 cm) long - but also because its internal architecture is unlike other bacteria.

Scientists probe link between 'snow blood' and climate change

Standing on a snowy mountainside about 2,500 metres above sea level, Eric Marechal holds up a crimson test-tube. Inside is an algae sample known as "snow blood," a phenomenon that accelerates Alpine thaw and that scientists worry is spreading. "These algae are green. But when it's in the snow, it accumulates a little pigment like sunscreen to protect itself," said Marechal, research director at Grenoble's Scientific Research National Center, who was collecting laboratory samples on Le Brevent mountain with teammates.

(With inputs from agencies.)