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Scientists who are searching for extraterrestrials on the red planet are likely to find them hiding in newly discovered "pockets" in the Martian soil.
According to the research, air cavities could act as small reactors that enhance the appearance of microscopic life.
Experts discovered the cavities while examining pieces of the billion-year-old Mars meteorite stored in a French museum.
They say their findings indicate that life may have existed on Mars much later than previous estimates, and it is possible that microbes still live there today.
"Such vents for nascent life may have arisen on Mars at several times throughout its history," the experts wrote in the journal Astrobiology.
The team, from a group of French research laboratories, investigated the formation of a Mars meteorite known as NWA 5790.
The meteorite was discovered in the North African desert in 2009 and is believed to have been launched towards Earth after colliding with Mars 1.3 billion years ago.
At that point, Mars is believed to have enjoyed a largely dry and arid landscape, as it is today.
The planet was covered with lakes and rivers until about 3.7 billion years ago, at which time it dried up due to rapid climate change.
And since water is an essential component of life, scientists have long believed that if anything lived on Mars, it would likely have happened before this dramatic change.
That may not be the case, the researchers write in the new study.
They trained powerful microscopes on samples from NWA 5790, which is believed to be a piece of Mars' crust, and discovered mud.
Previously, it was believed that mud could not form without water on the planet's surface.
Lead researcher Jean-Christophe Vignet and his colleagues suggest that the mud was formed as a result of volcanic activity on Mars over a billion years ago.
"This is a theory put forward by scientists before, and with strong evidence behind it, it may now challenge our idea of what makes a planet habitable. This is because mud can serve as a melting pot for life without the need for an abundance of water on the planet's surface," Vignet said.
During its creation, the mud forms a network of internal pockets that "can serve as microscopic reactors" for life, the researchers write in their paper.
All you need are a few life's ingredients, like organic molecules like carbon, nitrogen and water spray.
Dr. Vignet said mud pockets have "really remarkable properties for organic reactions that will ultimately lead to life".
This means, contrary to popular theories, life probably did not need lakes or rivers to grow on Mars.
Alternatively, it could have formed in mud after being ejected from the planet's many volcanoes. This means that microbes may be there long after the hiatus that many scientists set 3.7 billion years ago for the end of Mars' life.
"Does this mean that the microscopic Mars creatures are still able to live on this planet today? We do not know yet, but everything is certainly possible," said Dr. Vignet.
The researchers acknowledge that the presence of clay does not necessarily guarantee the growth of microbes.
Source: The Sun
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