Space & Astronomy

Signs of water found in Martian meteorite

By T.K. Randall
September 16, 2014 ·  15 comments

Could life still exist on Mars today ? Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech The Red Planet has been getting a lot of attention lately, not only because of Curiosity's recent endeavors but also because Mars itself remains one of the best places to look for alien life.

Despite being a cold and seemingly dead world, Mars is believed to have once been far more Earth-like with its own oceans, lakes and rivers. Many scientists believe that this would have provided an ideal habitat for primitive forms of life to flourish.

Now Professor Ian Lyon from the University of Manchester and his colleagues have discovered further evidence of the planet's aquatic past thanks to a 1.3 billion-year-old meteorite.Using high resolution imaging the team was able to identify a cell-like feature embedded deep inside the rock that they believe once held liquid water which later heated up and boiled away.

"We have been able to show the setting is there to provide life," said Professor Lyon.

"It's not too cold, it's not too harsh. Life as we know it, in the form of bacteria, for example, could be there, although we haven't found it yet. It's about piecing together the case for life on Mars - it may have existed and in some form could exist still."

Source: Yahoo! News | Comments (15)

Tags: Mars, Meteorite