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<ul><li>UK based-scientists have created a concrete-like material made of extraterrestrial dust.</li><li>The material may now make it easy build <keyword id="12093698" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="houses-on-mars" source="Orion">houses on Mars</keyword>.</li><li>The human serum albumin could act as a binder for simulated moon or <keyword id="47638" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mars" source="Orion">Mars</keyword> dust to produce a concrete-like material.</li></ul><br />Planning to build a house on Mars may now be easy as scientists have created a concrete-like material made of extraterrestrial dust along with the blood, sweat and tears of astronauts.<br /><br />Transporting even a single brick to Mars can prove to be very expensive — estimated at about US$2 million —, which means that future Martian colonists cannot bring their building materials with them, but will have to utilise resources they can obtain on-site for construction and shelter.<br /><br />But, scientists at the University of Manchester demonstrated that a common protein from blood plasma — human serum albumin — could act as a binder for simulated moon or Mars dust to produce a concrete-like material.<br /><br />The resulting novel material, termed AstroCrete, had compressive strengths as high as 25 MPa (Megapascals), about the same as the 20-32 MPa seen in ordinary concrete, according to the article published in the journal Materials Today Bio.<br /><br />However, the scientists found that incorporating urea — which is a biological waste product that the body produces and excretes through urine, sweat and tears — could further increase the compressive strength by over 300 per cent, with the best performing material having a compressive strength of almost 40 MPa, substantially stronger than ordinary concrete.<br /><br />The new technique holds considerable advantages over many other proposed construction techniques on the moon and Mars, said Dr Aled Roberts, from the varsity, who worked on the project.<br /><br />"Scientists have been trying to develop viable technologies to produce concrete-like materials on the surface of Mars, but we never stopped to think that the answer might be inside us all along," he said.<br /><br />The team calculated that over 500 kg of high-strength AstroCrete could be produced over the course of a two-year mission on the surface of Mars by a crew of six astronauts.<br /><br />If used as a mortar for sandbags or heat-fused regolith bricks, each crew member could produce enough AstroCrete to expand the habitat to support an additional crew member, doubling the housing available with each successive mission.<br /><br />Animal blood was historically used as a binder for mortar. "It is exciting that a major challenge of the space age may have found its solution based on inspirations from medieval technology," said Roberts.<br /><br />The team investigated the underlying bonding mechanism and found that the blood proteins denature, or "curdle," to form an extended structure with interactions known as "beta sheets" that tightly holds the material together.<br /><br />SEE ALSO:<br /><h2 style="margin-bottom: 8px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.5; font-family: LabGrotesque-Black, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a class="list-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/the-perseverance-rover-has-collected-a-sample-of-a-mars-rock-the-first-of-dozens-nasa-aims-to-bring-back-to-earth/articleshow/85883953.cms">NASA's Perseverance rover has finally drilled a sample of Mars rock, kicking off its search for alien microbes</a></h2><h2 style="margin-bottom: 8px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.5; font-family: LabGrotesque-Black, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a class="list-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/elon-musk-says-tesla-bots-will-hopefully-be-sent-to-work-on-mars-in-inhospitable-environments/articleshow/85512285.cms">Elon Musk says 'Tesla Bots' will hopefully be sent to work on Mars in inhospitable environments</a></h2>

Scientists develop cosmic concrete made of extraterrestrial dust and human waste to construct a house on Mars

<br /><ul><li><strong><keyword id="6360409" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nasa">NASA</keyword> has finally found out the reason behind the season shift of methane levels in the Martian atmosphere.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>Organic matter has also been found in sedimentary rocks from Mars.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>Scientists believe that these studies could be a sign of ancient life on the <keyword id="6369125" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="red">red</keyword> planet.</strong></li></ul><br />On Friday, NASA released two studies that further elaborate on the inner-workings of the red planet, Mars. The studies, which were published in the journal <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/journals">Science</a>, may be the evidence scientists need to back up their predictions of ancient <keyword id="6449862" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="life-on-mars">life on Mars</keyword>. <br /><br />Both studies are based on data and samples collected by the <keyword id="6599490" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Curiosity-rover">Curiosity rover</keyword>, which moves inside the <keyword id="6603480" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gale-crater">Gale Crater</keyword> on Mars, at a speed of about 0.08699 m/hr.<br /><br />
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<br /><strong>First Study</strong><br /><br />In the first study, the scientists discovered the reason behind seasonal shifts of methane in the atmosphere of Mars. The gas, which was first detected by researchers back in 2003, and was confirmed by NASA’s Curiosity rover in 2015, could point scientists towards biological life on Mars, as all biological organisms produce methane.<br /><br />In 2017, scientists from NASA announced that the levels of methane on the red planet <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/01/mars-atmospheric-methane-sign-life-earth-changes-mysteriously-seasons">appeared to rise and fall throughout the year</a>. Though methane was detected, no one knew from where it was sourced.<br /><br />“We saw methane spikes that we couldn’t understand. We had some ideas about them, but we couldn’t stifle them because these spikes were occasional,” <a href="https://futurism.com/curiosity-nasa-new-studies/">says</a> the lead researcher Chris Webster.<br /><br />
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<br />After the analysis of data for more than four years, scientists have concluded that it was likely that methane in the Martian atmosphere was coming from iced methane pockets, which also exist on Earth.<br /><br />Though there are many ways in which the gas could have been produced, there’s a chance that this methane, which has been frozen for many millennium, was first made by lifeforms.<br /><br /><strong>Second Study</strong><br /><br />The Curiosity rover also collected soil samples from two spots in the <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/timeline/prelaunch/landingsiteselection/galecrater2/">Gale crater</a>, which were then analysed by scientists. When the samples, which are about three billion years old, were heated, researchers were able to recognise several organic molecules commonly found on Earth.<br /><br />
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<br />For someone who is searching for signs of alien life for decades, this is a pretty promising finding.<br /><br />NASA will also be <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive">hosting a live discussion</a> on these studies on June 8, at 0815 hrs. <br />

Scientists from NASA have found possible signs of life on Mars: Study

Colonising Mars — Four space missions that will explore Earth’s closest neighbour to see if it can one day support human life

<p><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Warning: If you haven't read "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Martian-Novel-Andy-Weir-ebook/dp/B00EMXBDMA" target="_parent">The Martian</a>" yet, there are spoilers ahead.</span></strong></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">Science</keyword> fiction writers have a long history of fascination with Mars and its potential inhabitants.</span></p><p>Terrifying Martians invade Earth in H.G. Wells's "War of the Worlds." There's an elaborate underground city of aliens in Lester del Rey's "Marooned on Mars." And some of Ray Bradbury's lesser known work pits human colonizers against aboriginal-like Martians.</p><p>Following in this long line of Mars-obsessed authors is Andy Weir, author of "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Martian-Novel-Andy-Weir-ebook/dp/B00EMXBDMA" target="_parent">The Martian</a>" (which has skyrocketed to to the top of sci-fi <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/trade-fiction-paperback/list.html?pagewanted=print" target="_parent">bestseller lists</a>, and the movie adaptation comes out on Nov. 25).</p><p>So that made this statement from Weir at the&#xa0;<a href="http://h2m.exploremars.org/" target="_parent">Humans to Mars Summit</a>&#xa0;in Washington, D.C. on May 5, surprising:</p><p><strong>"I suspect that there is no life on Mars," Weir said during a Q&amp;A<span style="background-color: #ffffff;"> about his book.</span></strong></p><p>"The Martian" tells the story of Mark Watney, a botanist and mechanical engineer who is left stranded on Mars when his crew is forced to evacuate without him during a violent dust storm on the planet. His crew is part of the fictional Ares program which is exploring Mars to look for signs of life. <span style="background-color: #ffffff;">None of the characters come across any life forms though - the entire plot line is Martian-free.</span> <span style="background-color: #ffff99;"><br /></span></p><p><span>And</span><span>&#xa0;even&#xa0;</span><span>outside the science fiction realm,&#xa0;</span><span>Weir doesn't think there's any life to find on Mars.&#xa0;</span>He'<span>s a self-described life-long space nerd and he&#xa0;</span>has done a lot of research and reading about Mars for his book, so he has a well thought out reason why:</p><p>"If you look at life on Earth it is extraordinarily tenacious and omnipresent," Weir said. "Life is good at occupying the entire planet."</p><p>Not so much on Mars. Rovers have been driving around the red planet for years and haven't detected anything living. (Of course rovers are limited in what they can do, and we don't have one that can drill down very far below the surface yet.)<span style="background-color: #ffff00;"><br /></span></p><p>Still, Mars and its potential life have captured the attention of the human race for good reason: scientists think it used to be <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-latest-pictures-of-mars-look-exactly-like-something-from-earth-2012-8" target="_parent">a lot like Earth</a>, and there's evidence that it used to have a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-mars-looked-like-with-water-2015-3" target="_parent">huge ocean</a>.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Mars could still have the potential to harbor life, and it's close enough for us to go and find out.<p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">And even though he's not a scientist,</span><span>&#xa0;</span>Weir is pretty sure about what we'll find.</p><p>"Fossilized evidence might exist and Mars might have had life at one point," Weir speculated.<span>&#xa0;"But not currently."</span><span style="background-color: #ffff00;"><br /></span></p><p>This seems to be what the majority of planetary scientists think too - <span style="background-color: #ffffff;">it's unlikely life (at least the kind of life we're familiar with) could survive the bitter cold temperatures and blasts of radiation constantly bombarding the planet.</span>&#xa0;</p><p>Even if life isn't thriving on Mars now, there are theories that ancient Martian rocks sent flying by a planetary or asteroid collisions&#xa0;could have carried primitive life to Earth that eventually flourished into life as we know it today.<span style="background-color: #ffff99;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Weir didn't end the conversation about life on Mars on a negative note. He pointed out that <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/02/120221-oldest-seeds-regenerated-plants-science/" target="_parent">some seeds</a>&#xa0;can survive in harsh conditions on Earth for tens of thousands of years, just biding their time and waiting for a chance to germinate, implying that something similar could exist on Mars.</span></p><p>"You never really know when something is truly extinct," Weir said.</p><p>Even without actual Martians, Weir's love of Mars and space science is reflected in "The Martian," and that's exactly why we're so excited about it. It's one of the best sci-fi stories about Mars because it has a foothold in what really might be possible.&#xa0;<span><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">The <a href="http://www.slashfilm.com/the-martian-movie-image/" target="_parent">movie adaptation</a> is in the hands of rockstar director Ridley Scott and it stars Matt Damon as Watley. You can get a sneak peek at the movie set in the photo below:</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;"></span></p><div><div><div id="fb-root"></div><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/462962073803090/photos/a.463868883712409.1073741828.462962073803090/717286745037287/?type=1" data-width="500"><div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"></div></div></div></div><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;"></span></p><p class="embed-spacer"></p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">It's&#xa0;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">already amassed a huge fan following and it's not hard to see why. </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">NASA consulted on the movie and the European Space Agency has been on the actual set.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The movie is going to be way more scientifically accurate and way more gritty than it's blockbuster counterparts like "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/neil-degrasse-tyson-questions-interstellar-2014-11" target="_parent">Interstellar</a>" and "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/neil-degrasse-tyson-gravity-oscars-2014-2" target="_parent">Gravity</a>."</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">We can't wait.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-booster-rocket-test-mars-2015-3">NASA just tested its biggest booster rocket ever that will help astronauts get to Mars</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="00dXF2czovcumO8uRhmmDgTMFSiWWjG4" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

The author of 'The Martian' doesn't think there's life on Mars

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1509a/">ESO/M. Kornmesser</a></span></p><p class="caption">Illustration of what Mars would look like with water.</p></div><p></p></div></div>A trio of scientists says they've identified the best place to look for evidence of ancient life on Mars - one of the youngest lake-bearing basins ever discovered. </p><p>Though Mars has no liquid water today, the Red Planet was submerged under vast oceans billions of years ago. And where there's water, there's the potential for life.</p><p>Scientists suspected that after the oceans evaporated, that was it for water - and life - on Mars. But a recent paper published in the journal <a href="http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/2015/07/28/G36895.1.abstract">Geology</a> says that's not the case. </p><p><span>Mars had a second wave of surface water about 3.6 billion years ago - 200 million years after scientists thought Mars had seen the last of its liquid water. This water, the researchers report, was located in a lake inside a basin near the Martian equator, about 100 miles from where NASA's Opportunity rover rests today. </span></p><p>It is one of the youngest lakes and therefore possibly one of the last liquid water sources to ever exist on Mars, the researchers report. </p><p>The discovery is exciting for the prospect of ancient Martian life, explains lead author Brian Hynek who is a <span>research associate at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at Colorado University-Boulder:</span></p><p>"Having a later stage of water on Mars is probably a good thing for the potential for life on that planet because it gave life more time to be conceived," Hynek told Business Insider. <span>"There was life on Earth when this lake was active so by that analogy, we can say there's potential that Mars had microbial life and this was a great place where it could have resided."</span></p><h2>Getting around a tricky problem</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/multimedia/mro20091012a.html">NASA/JPL-caltech/University of Arizona</a></span></p><p class="caption">Crater in Meridiani Planum, where the researchers found evidence for one of the youngest lakes ever discovered.</p></div><p></p></div></div>The researchers are investigating the age and origin of hundreds of salt deposits across Mars to map how much water existed on the surface.  </p><p>"Just like on Earth, when salts are left somewhere, that probably means that water was there," Hynek said. "So, these are indicators that water was there in some form."</p><p>Estimating the age of these salt deposits is tricky. The way scientists determine the age of anything on Mars is by counting the number and measuring the size of impact craters in that region. Then they compare this information to similar regions on the Moon, whose age we have a better handle on.</p><p>But wind has eroded the regions where these salt deposits are located, which makes it hard to estimate their age. T<span>his latest paper is the first time anyone has ever calculated with any confidence the age of one of these salt deposits, Hynek said. </span></p><p><span>Using images taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been orbiting Mars since 2006, the team studied the terrain and geography around the basin. They found evidence to suggest that at one point, the lake grew large enough to spill over the rim of the basin, carving channels in its wake. </span></p><p><span>The researchers traced these channels to neighboring volcanic plains hundreds of miles away that are about 3.6 billion years old. Because the water channels over-cut the volcanic plains, they must be younger. That means the lake must also be younger than 3.6 billion years.</span></p><h2>Life locked in salt</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonneville_Salt_Flats#/media/File:Bonneville_Salt_Flats.jpg">Promking at en.wikipedia</a></span></p><p class="caption">Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah are similar to the salt deposits on Mars.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Right now, there are no plans to visit this basin in search for the potential for life. But Hynek hopes that this latest paper will make the basin a more popular touch down point for the NASA Mars rover scheduled to launch in 2020.</p><p>Hynek has a pretty good idea of where he'd look first:</p><p>"I think you'd want to target the salt deposits," he told Business Insider. "As the water evaporates away a lot of organic matter and a lot of microbial evidence gets encased in salts and is preserved for long time periods."</p><p>Though there was liquid water in the basin, there are still other factors that would ultimately determine whether life could have existed there, Hynek cautions. The lake's salinity, acidity, oxygen levels, and available nutrients for food are all important. </p><p>The lake had a relatively low salt content, which would have made it ideal for life, Hynek said. However, the other three factors are hard to measure without sending a rover there to scoop up the soil and analyze what's in it.</p><p>So far, this single lake is the only evidence for water on Mars around 3.6 billion years ago. Hynek plans to continue studying these salt deposits to see if there's more evidence of water on a younger Mars.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-martian-trailer-2015-6">Matt Damon is left to die on Mars in first trailer for 'The Martian'</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="BsZnVqdTouutVZa2jN-Yvla7lSvxjV28" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Scientists say they've discovered one of the most likely places for life on Mars

<p><div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image"><p class="source on-image">Shutterstock</p><p class="caption">New measurements from the <keyword id="69295" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Curiosity">Curiosity</keyword> rover found only trace amounts of methane on <keyword id="47638" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mars">Mars</keyword>.</p></div></div>Over the last decade, there have been many reports of methane in the Martian atmosphere detected by Earth-based telescopes and satellite observations.</p>
<p>The presence of methane, the main component of natural gas on Earth, would be a sign that the planet is still alive - microbes living far below the Martian surface could potentially be releasing the gas.</p>
<p>But new measurements from the Curiosity rover show that the current Martian atmosphere contains very little or no methane, greatly reducing the likelihood that methane is being produced by bacteria under the surface of Mars.</p>
<p>The discovery also limits the probability that a significant amount of methane was brought to Mars from external sources, like meteorites and dust from other planets.</p>
<p>"Because methane production is a possible signature of biological activity, our result is disappointing for many," study author Christopher Webster, director of the microdevices lab at <keyword id="6360409" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="NASA">NASA</keyword>'s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told Business Insider.</p>
<p class="float_right"><div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image"><p class="source on-image"> NASA/JPL-Caltech</p><p class="caption">A detector on the left side of the Tunable Laser Spectrometer picks up the way laser beams are absorbed by Martian air that is pumped through a chamber to measure concentrations of methane.</p></div></div>The team used Curiosity's Tunable Laser Spectrometer to measure the amount of methane on Mars. The device shoots laser beams through a chamber as Martian air is pumped into the same part of the instrument. Methane is detected by observing how the light from these lasers is absorbed by the Martian air. Researchers can pick up the distinct absorption lines created by molecules of methane.  </p>
<p>Based on the data, the researchers estimate that the most methane that could currently exist in the Martian atmosphere is 1.3 parts-per-billion, which is much lower than previous estimates ranging from 5 to 10 parts-per-billion.</p>
<p>The finding does not rule out the existence of microbes that emit gases other than methane, says Webster. And there is still a possibility that methane-producing organisms lived on Mars in the past but died out.</p>
<p>"Curiosity is not a life-detection mission, but is there to assess the habitability of the Red Planet, and the excitement from the many important observations from its payload eclipse any disappointment in the methane result," said Webster. "The Curiosity rover will continue to make its measurements of both atmosphere and rock samples to discover if organics other than methane exist on Mars."</p>
<p>The findings were reported in the <a href="http://www.sciencexpress.org." target="_blank">journal Science</a> Thursday, Sept. 19.</p>

New Methane Discovery On Mars Is 'Disappointing For Many'

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://mars.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/?ImageID=6453">NASA/JPL-Caltech; Dave Mosher/Business Insider</a></span></p><p class="caption">An illustration of Mars against the blackness of space. NASA scientists are gathering more clues about the potential for life on Mars.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>NASA's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/curiosity-mars-rover">Mars Curiosity Rover</a> has spent years analyzing <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/mars">the red planet</a>'s methane levels, and discovered they ebb and flow on a seasonal cycle.</strong></li><li><strong>The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/curiosity-mars-rover">rover</a> has also drilled into some ancient rocks called mudstones that hold Earth-like organic and chemical matter inside.</strong></li><li><strong>These clues suggest that the planet <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/alien-life">might have once harbored life</a>, or still does - but it's too early to draw any big conclusions</strong><strong>. </strong></li></ul><p><br /><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/nasa">NASA's</a> 9-foot-long roving Martian <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword> lab, the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/curiosity-mars-rover">Curiosity Rover</a>, may have just inched closer to discovering life <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/mars">on Mars</a>. </p><p>New data collected and beamed back from the rover has given two teams of scientists from NASA new hints about how Mars might harbor key ingredients for microbial, carbon-based life.</p><p>The teams, which are studying methane and ancient rocks on Mars, are releasing their findings in two separate papers today. The journal Science published the studies online Thursday afternoon.</p><h2>Methane on Mars follows the seasons</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=pia19400">NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Texas A&amp;M Univ.</a></span></p><p class="caption">A blue-hued sunset on Mars photographed by NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.aaq0131">first study</a>, led by NASA planetary scientist Chris Webster, represents a kind of sniff test of the red planet.</p><p>Scientists used Curiosity to record methane levels in the atmosphere around the rover over the course of four and a half Earth years, or more than two Martian years.</p><p>Their data show that methane concentrations change seasonally: Levels in Mars' northern hemisphere ranged from a low of around 0.24 parts per billion in the spring, then nearly tripled to a high of 0.65 parts per billion by the end of summer.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="NASA/JPL" title_caption="The Curiosity Rover's path over the course of its mission, up to December 12, 2017." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b1953dd1ae66248008b4d63-960/curiositys travels on mars since aug 6 2012 .png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>NASA/JPL</span></p><p class="caption">The Curiosity Rover's path over the course of its mission, up to December 12, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Temperatures on Mars fluctuate between around 67 degrees Fahrenheit at their highest to <span>−243 degrees at their lowest (near the poles), so the researchers think seasonal changes are</span> behind the shifts methane levels. In the paper, they suggest methane may be locked up underground in water-based crystals called "clathrates." Rising temperatures might warm up the clathrates, releasing some methane, which then rises to the surface through faults, fractures, and breaches in the rocks. </p><p>Methane is important in scientists' search for alien life because it may suggest its presence - though not definiteively, because geologic processes can also make it. On Earth, certain microbes release methane as a gassy waste or byproduct, so it could serve as an indirect clue.</p><p>In their new Science study, the researchers point out that methane may have also helped create past climates on Mars that facilitated the formation of water, since it's an excellent greenhouse gas. This may have set the stage for lakes to bubble up and create giant breeding grounds for microbes.</p><h2>3-billion-year-old Mars rocks contain Earth-like chemicals and organic matter </h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/jpl/msl/pia19808/looking-up-at-mars-rover-curiosity-in-buckskin-selfie/">NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS</a></span></p><p class="caption">NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.aas9185%20">Another team of scientists</a>, led by NASA's Jen Eigenbrode, used the Curiosity Rover to drill into soil in Mars's Gale crater.</p><p>The mudstones inside that crater are ancient - more than 3 billion years old. Curiosity extracted some of those rocks, dumped them into an <a href="https://ssed.gsfc.nasa.gov/sam/adventure/">on-deck sample analysis machine</a> (SAM), and heated them up to analyze any gases that came out of the samples.</p><p>The rover found several organic and chemical molecules similar to those you might find on Earth, like stinky dimethyl sulfide that wafts from cooking cabbage, and equally vile methanethiol, which is one of the key compounds in bad breath. </p><p>They think these tiny stinkbombs might be fragments of larger organic molecules, suggesting that maybe - just maybe - there was once life on Mars, or even still is.</p><p>"Organic matter can directly or indirectly fuel both energy and carbon metabolisms, and in doing so can support carbon cycling at the microbial community level," the authors wrote in their paper, arguing that the ancient Gale crater, which once held water, could've been an idyllic spot for signs of life to be preserved. </p><p>Other scientists aren't so sure that these results imply anything certain about life on the red planet. </p><p><span>Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) institute believes we'll find life in space in the next couple of decades, but he cautions that finding indirect evidence of life on Mars doesn't mean that Martians exist. </span></p><p><span>"C</span><span>hemical evidence, we've been through that before. E</span><span>ven the Viking landers got fooled by some chemical reactions in the dirt," Shostak told Business Insider, referencing the NASA Mars mission from the 1970s.</span></p><p><span>But he added that it's always gratifying for scientists to learn more about Mars. </span><span></span></p><p><span>"I</span><span>t takes us, maybe, a little bit farther down the yellow brick road in the direction of finding out whether Mars has biology, or ever did have biology," he said. </span><span>"Knowing more doesn't hurt you, ever."</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-curiosity-rover-5-year-time-lapse-amazing-footage-2017-8">NASA released this 5-year time-lapse of Mars from its Curiosity rover - and the footage looks amazing</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

The case for alien life on Mars just got stronger, thanks to NASA's Curiosity Rover

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Mars just scored another <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-discovers-potential-alien-life-evidence-biosignature-perseverance-rover-mars-2024-7">point in favor of alien life</a>.</li><li>Scientists discovered signs of an ocean's worth of liquid water miles below Mars' surface.</li></ul><p>Mars is looking more and more like a place for <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-nasa-could-tell-us-aliens-are-real-2023-2">NASA to find the first signs of alien life</a>.</p><p>Scientists discovered evidence of a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/groundwater-pumping-causes-earth-rotational-pole-to-shift-study-finds-2023-7">reservoir of liquid water</a> seven to 13 miles below the Martian surface, lingering in the pores of the planet's crust.</p><p>They believe there's enough to cover the entire planet with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saturns-death-star-moon-mimas-may-have-a-secret-ocean-2022-1">an ocean</a> about one mile deep.</p><p>The water, if it exists, is <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-discover-underground-moon-cave-astronauts-could-live-2024-7">too deep to access</a> in the foreseeable future. Still, it's another promising sign that Mars could one day yield the most disruptive discovery in human history — that of life beyond Earth.</p><p>The discovery, announced Monday, comes just weeks after <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-asks-help-retrieving-perseverance-mars-samples-alien-life-2024-4">NASA's Perseverance rover</a> drilled a rock sample on Mars that could contain evidence of microbial life from a bygone era.</p><div type="image" title="gritty yellow ring with speckled solid rock sample inside" height="1400" width="1471" msid="112479167" hostid="261" sizebytes="125234"></div><p>Ancient remnants of long-extinct <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-no-contact-with-aliens-2019-9">alien life</a> are all NASA can hope for on the parched Martian surface. But any sizeable source of liquid water,<strong> </strong>like these potential underground reservoirs, is a place to check for active microbial life — even though water 10 miles underground would never see the light of day.</p><p>"It's certainly true on Earth — deep, deep mines host life, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/seamount-new-species-schmidt-ocean-institute-expedition-marine-chile-2024-2">the bottom of the ocean hosts life</a>. We haven't found any evidence for life on Mars, but at least we have identified a place that should, in principle, be able to sustain life," Michael Manga, a co-author of the study and planetary scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/2024/08/12/scientists-find-oceans-of-water-on-mars-its-just-too-deep-to-tap/">said</a> in a press release.</p><h2 id="aaa09a5d-96fd-42cc-8177-e2c4153862f8">Marsquakes helped NASA find water clues</h2><p>When <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-insight-lander-detects-big-mars-quakes-2021-9">NASA put a seismometer on Mars</a>, aboard its InSight lander, the goal was to peer into the planet's interior.</p><div type="image" title="mars brown planet with blue-black and white splotches in the black of space" height="1920" width="1920" msid="112479165" hostid="261" sizebytes="112220"></div><p>Though <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-insight-mars-lander-mission-ending-dust-power-crisis-2022-12">the InSight mission ended</a> in 2022, scientists are still sifting through all the data it collected in hopes of learning something new about Mars's depths.</p><p>InSight's seismometer instrument <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-insight-lander-missing-big-mars-quakes-2021-4">measured Marsquake activity</a>, mapping seismic waves. As those waves move through the Martian interior, their timing and the direction they travel are influenced by the material they're traveling through deep underground.</p><p>So, by measuring the waves, the scientists of the new study<strong> </strong>can tell what's underneath the planet's surface. It's similar to how the waves of an X-ray or CAT scan can reveal what's inside a human body.</p><p>Manga and his colleagues used mathematical modeling to determine that a deep layer of fractured igneous rock, saturated with water, best explains InSight's data. Their findings were <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2409983121">published</a> in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday.</p><div type="image" title="illustration of a column cutout of mars planetary interior beneath the insight lander with a deep layer of cracked rock with water in the cracks" height="825" width="1000" msid="112479161" hostid="261" sizebytes="95798"></div><h2 id="a0164bcd-c556-4a64-a741-6c029fdf4ce2">A clue in a Mars mystery</h2><p>In addition to being downright fascinating and potentially overturning humanity's conception of Mars as a lifeless, dry red rock, the new findings may help solve one of the planet's greatest mysteries: where all the water went.</p><p>Mars's surface was once lush with water. Heck, the Perseverance rover is exploring a basin that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-mars-rover-landing-jezero-crater-search-for-alien-life-2021-2">used to be a giant lake and river delta</a>.</p><p>But the planet didn't have a strong magnetic field, like Earth's, to help it hold onto its atmosphere. As a result, the sun's radiation wore away what little protective layer of atmospheric gases existed, and the planet dried up.</p><p>By about 3 billion years ago, all the water was gone. Some of it is still frozen in Mars's ice caps. Perhaps some simply vaporized in the harsh space environment. But scientists haven't really figured out where it all went.</p><p>The new findings suggest some of the water seeped deep into the planet's crust.</p>

Another point for life on Mars: Signs of liquid water discovered under the planet's surface

Forget Mars, there could be life on Venus

<p>Scientists now think there could be microscopic life floating in the clouds of Venus. Their theory is surprising, considering how inhospitable the surface of Venus is. But in the clouds, the possibility of life is very real. Following is a transcript of the video.</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite decades of searching distant planets and stars for alien life </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">we're still empty-handed. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Turns out, we may have been looking in all the wrong places. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">And the answers could be closer than we thought.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Life could be right next door - floating in the lower clouds of Venus! </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Turns out, Venus has some mysterious dark patches that might be swarms of alien microorganisms. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Scientists have known about these patches for nearly a century.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They first gained attention because they changed shape so often. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Morphing from small patches to giant blobs over a matter of days. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sort of like a lava lamp.</span></p><p><strong>Rakesh Mogul: </strong><strong>"You ever took a lava lamp when it fully warmed up. These patches and blobs are always floating around and they change shapes. They get long, they get short, they break up and get back together it's sort of like that.  At least to me, it seems like that. What the Venus clouds look like."</strong></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For decades, no one could come up with a convincing explanation of what was really going on. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Then, in 1967, famed astronomer Carl Sagan suggested the clouds could support alien life. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">And now a team of scientists have new evidence to back this idea. </span></p><p><strong>Rakesh Mogul: "They are these big splotches that are 3-Dimension but they're hard to see in three dimensions and they just move around. So I think if you were inside an ocean and you looked at a bloom from the bottom it would look the same way."</strong></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This behavior reminded the scientists of algal blooms. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">You know ... they're those green mats in lakes and oceans. And they're teeming with bacteria. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Interestingly enough, they grow and change shape similar to the patches on Venus. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">But the scientists needed more to go on than shapes alone. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">They needed proof that bacteria like this could theoretically exist in Venus's clouds </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">which, at first glance, don't look all that inviting. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">They're not made of water ice like the clouds on Earth. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instead, they contain toxic sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Digging deeper, the scientists found what they were looking for in India. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">A special type of bacteria. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The bacteria could withstand highly acidic environments AND stay aloft in clouds on Earth. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">It's a big stretch to say these bacteria could survive on Venus</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> but it's not hard to imagine how the similar environment in Venus' clouds might harbor </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">some</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> form of life.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After all, Venus wasn't always the pressurized oven we know today </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">with surface temperatures hot enough to melt lead and pressures 90 times greater than sea level on Earth. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you rewind about 2 billion years</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> patterns on Venus' surface suggest the planet once harbored vast oceans. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Which may have spawned life in the early solar system. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">And perhaps that life found a safe haven in the cooler, acidic clouds</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> after Venus became the hellish hothouse we know today.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now, the scientists aren't saying there are definitely aliens on Venus.</span></p><p><strong>Rakesh Mogul: "The number one choice right away should be something that's not biology. So for decades it's been what are the, non-biology or abiotic reasons that could explain these contrasts."</strong></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But as more non-biology explanations are ruled out</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> a biological answer still looms on the horizon.</span></p><p><strong>Rakesh Mogul: "Something in the atmosphere is perpetually in the clouds." </strong></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ultimately, solving this mystery will require a trip to Venus. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Right now, NASA has its sights set on more distant water worlds like Europa and Enceladus. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">But, perhaps one day, we'll skip over next door and see if anyone's home.</span></p>

<p><div class="image-container" style="width:618px"><div class="image"></div><p class="source"><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16719.html">NASA</a></p></div></p>
<p>The image above is a head-on view of the tip of the drill bit on <keyword id="6360409" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="NASA">NASA</keyword>'s <keyword id="1196336" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mars-Curiosity-rover">Mars Curiosity rover</keyword>. It may look threatening when it's right in your face, but the bit is actually just .6 inch wide — in other words, it's no rock-chiseling jackhammer. </p>
<p>But it does serve an extremely important purpose. </p>
<p>Rather than being restricted to soil samples like all other <keyword id="47638" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mars">Mars</keyword> rovers, the drill on the end of Curiosity's robotic arm, capable of churning 1 inch into Martian rock, creates fine powder from the inside of rock that can be poured into other instruments to determine what chemicals and minerals are in those samples.</p>
<p>In particular, the instruments will be checking for <span>organic chemicals made of of carbon and hydrogen, considered among </span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">the building blocks of life on Earth.</span></p>
<p>If those samples contain the "ingredients for life" than scientists will know that Mars once had environmental conditions that could support microbial life — the first evidence that life could arise on another planet. </p>
<p>Curiosity hasn't reached that stage just yet, though she's getting closer to boring into Martian rock for the first time. </p>
<p>Over the weekend, the six-wheeled robot performed a series of warm-up tests, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/curiosity-taps-into-its-first-martian-rock-2013-2">lightly tapping a Martian rock with the bit</a>, before the first real drilling activity begins. Hopefully we'll see some real rock hammering action this month.  </p>
<p>Take another look at the bit, this time a side-view, below: </p>
<p><div class="image-container click-to-enlarge" style="width:618px"><div class="image"><a title_source="NASA" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/51129ff3ecad04733000000d-960/724596main_pia16718-43_946-710.jpeg"><span class="click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a></div><p class="source"><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16718.html">NASA</a></p></div></p>

This Drill Bit May Be The Key To Finding Life On Mars

Scientists think this enormous crater could be the birthplace of alien life on Mars

Billionaire <keyword id="6355315" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="elon-musk" source="Orion">Elon Musk</keyword> on Monday said his space venture <keyword id="6360701" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="spacex" source="Orion">SpaceX</keyword> aims to build over 1,000 Starships to transport life to Mars.<br /><br />The Tesla CEO stated that making life multiplanetary will help backup the ecosystems on Earth. He added that apart from humans no other species can transport life to Mars.<br /><br />Referring to Biblical patriarch Noah who built an Ark that survived the great flood on Earth, <keyword id="364027" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="musk" source="Orion">Musk</keyword> said his Starship models will be "modern Noah's Arks", that can save "life from a calamity on Earth".<br /><br />"Making life multiplanetary expands the scope &amp; scale of consciousness. It also enables us to backup the biosphere, protecting all life as we know it from a calamity on Earth," he tweeted.<br /><br />"Humanity is life's steward, as no other species can transport life to Mars. We can't let them down," he added.<br /><br />When a user asked Musk "what's the plan", he replied: "Build 1000+ Starships to transport life to Mars. Basically, (very) modern Noah's Arks."<br /><br />SpaceX is developing Starship to take people and cargo to the moon, Mars and beyond. The vehicle consists of two elements: a first-stage booster called Super Heavy and an upper-stage spacecraft known as Starship.<br /><br />Starship and Super Heavy are both designed to be completely and rapidly reusable, and both will be powered by SpaceX's new Raptor engine -- 33 for Super Heavy and six for Starship.<br /><br />Musk earlier said that Mars settlement and deep space exploration will see reduced costs due to its reusability.<br /><br />NASA also sees considerable promise in Starship. The US space agency selected the vehicle to be the first crewed lunar lander for its Artemis programme, which aims to put astronauts on the moon in the next few years.<br /><br />However, the Starship programme has not yet been given a green signal by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).<br /><br />The FAA, last week, delayed the completion of its environmental review of the Starship by another two weeks to June 13.<br /><br />While SpaceX has conducted a number of high-altitude test flights of Starship prototypes at Starbase site in South Texas, its plan to launch the system's first-ever orbital test mission needs approval from the FAA and a host of other regulatory bodies.<br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><br /> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/news/read-the-email-elon-musk-sent-to-tesla-employees-about-returning-to-the-office-before-saying-headcount-will-increase-/articleshow/92022448.cms">Read the email Elon Musk sent to Tesla employees about returning to the office before saying headcount will increase</a><br /><br /> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/bill-gates-says-hes-given-more-to-climate-change-than-elon-musk-who-replies-sigh/articleshow/92018618.cms">Bill Gates says he's given more to climate change than Elon Musk, who replies: 'Sigh'</a><br /><br /> </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tesla-falls-as-elon-musk-says-he-wants-to-cut-10-of-staff-at-the-ev-maker-because-hes-got-a-super-bad-feeling-about-the-economy/articleshow/91989973.cms"><strong>Tesla falls as Elon Musk says he wants to cut 10% of staff at the EV maker because he's got a 'super bad feeling' about the economy</strong></a>

Elon Musk to now build a Noah-like Ark to transport life to Mars

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Mars is no Earth.</p><p>Our planet is swaddled in a nice atmospheric blanket that protects us from dangerous blasts of radiation that permeate space. Mars barely has any atmosphere and its surface is constantly bombarded with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mice-brains-and-space-radiation-on-iss-2015-5" target="_parent">cosmic rays</a>.</p><p>The average temperature in Antarctica - the coldest place on Earth - is minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit. The average temperature for all of Mars is <a href="http://www.space.com/16907-what-is-the-temperature-of-mars.html" target="_parent">minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit</a>.</p><p>Earth is a thriving haven of life. Mars is a frozen, barren wasteland.</p><p>Still, some astronomers and planetary scientists are convinced there could be life on Mars. Here's why:</p><h3>1. Mars used to look an awful lot like Earth</h3><p>Our perception of Mars has dramatically changed over the past couple decades, NASA astrobiologist Jennifer Eigenbrode said at the <a href="http://h2m.exploremars.org/" target="_parent">Humans to Mars Summit</a> on May 5. It may look like an empty chunk of space rock right now, but there's evidence that Mars used to look like Earth billions of years ago.</p><p>It probably <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-mars-looked-like-with-water-2015-3" target="_parent">once had a huge ocean</a> that covered more of the planet's surface than Earth's own ocean does now:</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div> And there's <a href="http://www.space.com/29375-ancient-mars-warm-water-debate.html" target="_parent">evidence that Mars was probably much warmer</a> in the past than it is now. Warm and water-soaked are two big prerequisites for life to arise. So it's possible that life existed on ancient Mars and then died off. Or it could have taken a much different evolutionary path than life on Earth and it's hiding somewhere we haven't uncovered yet.</p><h3>2. Life exists even in the most extreme places on Earth</h3><p>Life is surprisingly resilient. It thrives in the Atacama Desert where it only rains every 10 to 15 years. Fungi is growing in radiation-poisoned Chernobyl.</p><p>"Life exists in all extremes on Earth," Eigenbrode said. "Every time we think 'No there's no way life could live here,' we're proven wrong."</p><p>So it might be possible that it also exists somewhere in the extreme environment of Mars, lurking where robotic rovers can't reach.</p><h3>3. Some ingredients for life already exist on Mars</h3><p>In geology, markers of current and past life are called "biosignatuares," and scientists are scouring Mars for them.</p><p>There are already a few promising leads. For example, methane is regularly cycled into the planet's atmosphere but scientists have no idea where it's coming from. The methane should dissipate, but there seems to be a steady stream so something could be actively producing it. One wild idea is that the methane could be coming from tiny microbes deep below the planet's surface.</p><p>Scientists have already found some of the essential ingredients for life on Mars, including fixed nitrogen (a critical part of amino acids), carbon monoxide (an energy source for some microbes), and there's evidence that <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-04/14/curiosity-water-on-mars-latest" target="_parent">salty, liquid water</a> is flowing beneath the surface.</p><h3>4. We haven't scratched the surface yet</h3><p>Or at most we've only scratched a couple inches with the Curiosity rover's tiny drill.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>We've analyzed small pinches of soil and haven't found anything, but these samples could have actually contained microbial life. That's because we may have used a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mars-could-be-harboring-hidden-microbial-life-2015-2" target="_parent">faulty technique</a> to draw out signs of life from the soil. Martian soil contains perchlorate, and when perchlorate is heated (as it is in a rover's onboard lab) it destroys organic material. So it's possible the soil might hold life and the perchlorate just burned it off before the rover could detect it.</p><p>Even with this question mark, it seems pretty clear that there's no life on the weathered surface of Mars, but there could be "refugem life" lurking deep below the planet's surface, Pamela Conrad, Deputy Principal Investigator for Sample Analysis at Mars, said at the summit.</p><p>Astrochemist Danny Glavin said we need to drill a few meters below the surface to actually get a good idea of what's going on (and potentially living) down there. There's even a startup company that wants to <a href="http://exploremars.org/exolance/" target="_parent">fire drills at the surface of Mars</a> like a spray of bullets and get at what could be hiding below the surface.</p><p>Conrad said she hopes to eventually see a human lab on Mars. Humans can process data much faster than a rover ever could, humans are more flexible in what experiments we can do, and we'll be able to perform a much better soil analysis if we ever get our hands on it.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chris-hadfield-first-blast-off-into-space-countdown-2015-5">An astronaut just blew our minds with the amazing story of his first time in space</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="FrMXd0dDpGhYMP4q2EooVjFSDNVSoph3" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

You Searched For "life on mars" and got 14 results

Scientists develop cosmic concrete made of extraterrestrial dust and human waste to construct a house on Mars

IANS

Scientists from NASA have found possible signs of life on Mars: Study

BI India Bureau

Colonising Mars — Four space missions that will explore Earth’s closest neighbour to see if it can one day support human life

The author of 'The Martian' doesn't think there's life on Mars

Kelly Dickerson

Scientists say they've discovered one of the most likely places for life on Mars

Jessica Orwig

New Methane Discovery On Mars Is 'Disappointing For Many'

Dina Spector

The case for alien life on Mars just got stronger, thanks to NASA's Curiosity Rover

Hilary Brueck

Another point for life on Mars: Signs of liquid water discovered under the planet's surface

Morgan McFall-Johnsen

Forget Mars, there could be life on Venus

Business Insider

Forget Mars, there could be life on Venus

David Anderson,Jordan Bowman

This Drill Bit May Be The Key To Finding Life On Mars

Dina Spector

Scientists think this enormous crater could be the birthplace of alien life on Mars

Elon Musk to now build a Noah-like Ark to transport life to Mars

IANS

Mars looks like a sterile wasteland - here's why some scientists are convinced there's life there

Kelly Dickerson

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