Curiosity Finds Earth-Like Rock on Mars

Kind of rock's never been seen on Mars before

After shooting it with lasers and X-rays, NASA's Curiosity rover has determined that a rock nicknamed "Jake Matijevic" is of a variety that no other rover has ever spotted on Mars.

The rock, a highly fractionated alkalic rock type, is relatively well known to geologists since it is common in rift zones on Earth, such as volcanoes of the Hawaiian Islands.