NASA just found places where microbial Martians might be able to thrive
NASA Space Technology Scientists believe conditions might be suitable for microbial life in pockets of meltwater formed by so-called cryoconite, dust particles that melt into ice, such as these holes found in Antarctica on Earth. Credit: Hassan Basagic / iStock / Getty Images PlusScientists have discovered small, potentially habitable areas on Mars where life could, in theory, transform sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into oxygen, according to a new NASA study.Though the research doesn't mean photosynthetic aliens are indeed living in these environments now — or even that they were there in the past — the findings provide the U.S. space agency with attractive targets for future searches.For years, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter — a spacecraft circling the Red Planet — has seen white material lining dry gullies thought to be dusty water ice. This...
