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posted by CoolHand on Saturday May 02 2015, @11:02PM   Printer-friendly
from the wine-and-dine-with-brine dept.

Scientists have discovered bacteria living in sub-surface brine in the Dry Valleys in Antarctica, in conditions similar to those that might still exist on Mars.

At the end of Taylor Glacier, which spills into one of the Dry Valleys (Taylor Valley, actually), a mysterious red trickle of salty, iron-rich water periodically stains the ice as it spills out like blood from a wound. It’s a good thing that it isn’t a paranormal message from ghosts warning researchers to leave the valley, because it has had the opposite effect—it draws them in. In 2012, for example, biologists looking for signs of life eking out an existence in the Dry Valleys discovered that Blood Falls contained an impressive community of microbial life.

It is thought that the weight of the glacial ice is squeezing these periodic flows out of the sediment beneath, but the bigger question is what that water is doing there in the first place. It’s cold enough in this area that Taylor Glacier should be frozen to its bed—which ought to be made of frozen sediment. But that assumes fresh water. The Blood Falls water is salty enough to stay liquid down to -6 degrees Celsius at surface pressure (and could go lower at higher pressure).
...
And if there are bacteria living in the water of Blood Falls, it stands to reason those bacteria live in the groundwater, as well—an unexpected ecosystem in a terribly inhospitable environment surviving because the water is too salty to yield to the frigid temperatures. Those bacteria are probably getting their energy from breaking down minerals in the sediment.

Given recents reports that brine could form on Mars, there's a chance that life once did, or still could, inhabit it. It would rather put the "extreme" in "extremophile," though.

 
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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Gravis on Saturday May 02 2015, @11:32PM

    by Gravis (4596) on Saturday May 02 2015, @11:32PM (#177979)

    2 billion years ago, Mars was warmer and wetter because it had a dense atmosphere and possibly a molten core. however, sunlight has slowly stripped it away which let in more cosmic rays, lost a lot of heat and solidified the core. it's still possible something is living on mars but i think it would be deep underground.

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  • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday May 03 2015, @01:19AM

    the earth's magnetic field protects us from the solar wind; with no magnet field on mars, its upper atmosphere is blasted away by solar wind particles.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2015, @01:24AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2015, @01:24AM (#177995)

    How the fuck do you, or even any scientist, have any idea about the state of Mars' core?

    • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2015, @02:37AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2015, @02:37AM (#178014)

      How the fuck do you, or even any scientist, have any idea about the state of Mars' core?

      They check it with great big giant dipsticks. Not as big as you, but big nonetheless.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2015, @03:22AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2015, @03:22AM (#178030)

        How the fuck do you, or even any scientist, have any idea about the state of Mars' core?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2015, @04:08PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2015, @04:08PM (#178142)

    Life is STILL perfectly possible on the surface of Mars. Citation: Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt [www.dlr.de]