Test run for Mars detects life beneath Chilean desert

[Judi Lynn]

Test run for Mars detects life beneath Chilean desert
Instrument finds salt-loving microbes in Atacama; similar conditions exist on Red Planet
By Wynne Parry Senior writer
updated 2/18/2012 3:13:08 AM ET

A test run for a biological detector intended for Mars has found salt-loving microbes living just below the surface of the Atacama Desert in North Chile.

Scientists from Spain and Chile used an instrument called SOLID (Signs of Life Detector), which they developed for Mars missions, to detect the microbial life in the desert. Atacama subsoils are thought to be a good stand-in for areas on the Red Planet.

The soil between 6.6 and 9.8 feet (2 to 3 meters) below the surface of the desert contained a "microbial oasis," Victor Parro, a researcher from the Spanish Center of Astrobiology and the study's coordinator, said in a statement.

By analyzing less than 0.02 ounces (0.5 grams) of sample material they collected, the team found bacteria, other single-celled microbes called archaea, as well as biological material, including DNA, which forms the instruction code for life. (Amazing Photos: The Little Things in Life)

More:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46437960/ns/technology_and_science-science/

[Warpy]

1. They've also found blue green algae inside salt nodules

on the surface. Dating the exposed surfaces of rocks has given an estimate of roughly 23 million years since it's rained on the driest parts of that desert.

Life likely occurs everywhere, although most of it is likely microbial.

[Soylent Brice]

2. awesome news. n/t