An investigation at Tirez lagoon in central Spain, analogous to the surface of Mars, concludes that if life existed when the planet had liquid water on its surface, desiccation would not have necessarily implied that life disappeared for good.
Current instrumentation being sent to Mars to collect and analyze evidence of ancient life on the red planet might not be sensitive enough to make accurate assessments, according to an international research team co-led by a Cornell astronomer.
Floods of unimaginable magnitude once washed through Mars’ Gale Crater equator around 4 billion years ago – a finding that hints at the possibility that life may have existed there.
As scientists prepare to study Martian soil for signs of life, a new worry emerges. Acidic fluids once on Mars’ surface may have destroyed biological evidence hidden within the planet’s iron-rich clays.
When rains fell on the arid Atacama Desert, it was reasonable to expect floral blooms to follow. Instead, the water brought death, according to an international team of planetary astrobiologists.
The geologic shape of the shorelines on Mars show that two meteorites triggered a pair of mega-tsunamis, scarring its landscape, which offers evidence of oceans conducive to life.
For years, scientists had believed that Mars' carbon dioxide-filled atmosphere helped melt the planet's bountiful ice into flowing rivers, streams and ponds billions of years ago. Now there is doubt.
There are some 100 million other places in the Milky Way galaxy that could support complex life, say astronomers, who have developed a new computation method to examine planets orbiting other stars.
