Scientists Discover Potential Hiding Places for Alien Life on Mars
The study identifies key locations where extraterrestrial life might be most likely to thrive.
Scientists suggest that Mars’ mid-latitudes, beneath layers of dust-filled ice, may harbor the right conditions for photosynthesis—the process by which plants, algae, and cyanobacteria on Earth convert light and water into energy, producing oxygen.
The researchers, whose findings were published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment, believe that these essential components for life could also be present beneath Mars’ icy surface.
Both Earth and Mars lie within the Sun’s “habitable zone,” a region where temperatures allow liquid water to exist on planetary surfaces. While Earth is covered in 71% liquid water, Mars is a dry, barren landscape.
However, evidence from rovers and orbiters suggests that Mars once had liquid water billions of years ago. Today, water on Mars exists primarily as ice, not just at the poles but also in mid-latitude regions.
Mars likely lost its liquid water when its magnetic field weakened, causing most of its atmosphere to escape and exposing the planet to harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun.
Despite this, scientists propose that photosynthesis could still occur beneath the protective ice layers in the mid-latitudes.
These regions are not as frigid as Mars’ poles, and the ice could shield potential life forms from harmful solar radiation while allowing enough light for photosynthesis to take place. Additionally, frozen water in the ice may occasionally melt into liquid form.
The study’s modeling indicates that potential habitable zones could exist within the ice at depths ranging from 5-38 centimeters to 2-3 meters, depending on the amount of dust in the ice.
These conditions resemble habitats on Earth, where life has been found in similar icy environments. Thus, it’s possible that extraterrestrial organisms could exist in these subsurface ice layers on Mars.
