William Atkins
Monday, 20 April 2009 20:15
Science -
Space
Page 2 of 3
In fact, as one of the Phoenix team members, Hecht is quoted in the Science News article “Mars may host salty reservoirs” (April 11, 2009, page 12) as having said that scientists may have
“to go back and reexamine a lot of conclusions that we’re reached about Mars.”
Currently, scientist just don’t know for sure what to expect from the perchlorates discovered on Mars. But, they are working on finding out more about these Martian soils and the salt they contain.
In a related story, scientists recently found microbes in Antarctica that are surviving by eating iron and sulfur without the need for sunlight, oxygen, or carbon.
Such a discovery holds promise for finding similar microbes on other places besides Earth, such as Mars.
For more information, see the iTWire story “
Antarctic microbes live on iron, sulfur; could survive outside Earth.”
The isolated pool of water containing these microbes is about three times saltier than the ocean, which allows the water to stay liquid even in the very cold region of the Antarctic.
Page three concludes.
