Space & Astronomy

New seismic evidence raises hopes that there is life on Mars right now

By T.K. Randall
April 12, 2025 ·  3 comments

NASA's InSight lander. Image Credit: NASA The question of whether or not there was ever life on Mars still remains a major topic of debate and research, with multiple spacecraft and exploratory rovers currently scouring the planet's surface for evidence that this desolate world was once home to primitive alien organisms.

Now, however, a new study has raised hopes that life on Mars might not be relegated solely to the distant past, but could still exist today, deep beneath the surface.

The findings come courtesy of researchers Ikuo Katayama of Hiroshima University and Yuya Akamatsu from the Research Institute for Marine Geodynamics who have been analyzing seismic readings collected by NASA's InSight lander which arrived on Mars in 2018.

The probe was designed to detect various types of seismic waves produced by Marsquakes and meteorite impacts, but the interesting thing is that it found signs of shifting wave velocities around 10 to 20km beneath the ground.

Previous studies have dismissed these as simply changes in porosity or chemical composition, but in this new study, the researchers believe that they are more likely to be an indication of liquid water."Many studies suggest the presence of water on ancient Mars billions of years ago," said Katayama.

"But our model indicates the presence of liquid water on present-day Mars."

And where there's liquid water, there is also the potential for living organisms.

It has long been speculated that life might still exist deep down in caves or pockets beneath the surface of Mars where it would be sheltered from the harsh surface conditions.

If the researchers are correct about what the seismic readings show, then it could mean that they have identified a potential reservoir of water and a prime place to look for signs of alien life.

Getting to the water, however, will prove a major challenge for scientists to overcome.

Source: Daily Galaxy | Comments (3)

Tags: Mars