Although humanity has played with the idea of life on Mars for centuries, the nagging mystery of whether or not it actually existed — or is still extant — is a constant driving force for study and exploration of the Red Planet. And with study after study pointing toward the existence of methane and water and other factors that suggest Mars once — sometime in its past — had the capability of sustaining life as we know it, there are also studies that provide optimal search areas. The latest such study indicates that life on Mars might not only be present and prevalent, living organisms could very well be as close as the nearest rock.
Seeker reported last week that SETI (Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence) Institute astrobiologist Janice Bishop has been working on the idea that iron oxides coating the surface of rocks on Mars just might be a “sunscreen” for microbial organisms. She developed the idea from work she did in the Mojave desert that turned into a 2011 study wherein Bishop presented findings of an iron oxide coating on carbonate rocks found in the desert. That study became an extension of a 2006 study she conducted where she posited that iron oxides were an “ultraviolet sunscreen” for ancient photosynthesis on Earth. The carbonates, which are thought to be strong indicators of the presence of liquid water, were found just below the coating.
“They were all hiding under this red mineral at the top, called hematite,” Bishop told Seeker.
To read more, click here.