The lake is made up of lots of smaller pools. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Mykola Swarnyk
The lake has been described as 'a chunk of Mars [that] has somehow broken off and travelled 33 million miles'.
Situated in British Columbia, the aptly named Spotted Lake is a large body of water with hundreds of smaller pools inside it which, according to local folklore, are said to possess unique healing properties.
What makes the lake particularly interesting to scientists however is the way it parallels certain conditions found on Mars.
"Analysis of water from Spotted Lake reveals that organisms are indeed living in the pools," said researchers working with Discovery's Science Channel. "It's like Mars has come to Earth."
"In these weird holes are clues to life on the Red Planet."
Still, the lifeforms in the lake are extremophile earth bacteria. That does not mean life exists on Mars, but if it does, it will certainly have to be just as, if not much more extreme in its survivability.
well is it previously undocumented life or just stuff you can find on earth that has migrated there, if it's something new then how advanced is it, is it like a microbe or like a small plant, just saying we found stuff somewhere is kinda a let down, they could have at least told us more about the thing they found and the argumentation on why isn't it just something from earth that lives there
Click bait writing at its worst. First line is totally misleading: "The lake has been described as 'a chunk of Mars [that] has somehow broken off and travelled 33 million miles'." Suggesting a Martian origin. Whereas it's actually: "it's like a chunk of Mars..." So, similar chemistry and appearance. Any life here is terrestrial in origin, and in no way implies the presence of similar life on Mars. Very poor journalism.
! I remember seeing this lake on a school trip to Nelson, on the bus drive there. I tried to get a picture of it when we drove past, but you couldn't see the spots. Very cool looking lake. Could never figure out what it was exactly. Now I know. As for it being like something you'd find on Mars;.... I've never seen any pools like this on Mars. Very alien looking, but not really Martian.
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