Scientists have found microbes inside a lava tube that can thrive in the freezing cold and low oxygen environment of Mars.
Scientists have found microbes inside a lava tube that can thrive in the freezing cold and low oxygen environment of Mars.
In a laboratory setting at room temperature and with normal oxygen levels, the scientists demonstrated that the microbes can consume organic material (sugar). But when the researchers removed the organic material, reduced the temperature to near-freezing, and lowered the oxygen levels, the microbes began to use the iron within olivine – a common silicate material found in volcanic rocks on Earth and on Mars – as its energy source.
Scientists have found microbes inside a lava tube that can thrive in the freezing cold and low oxygen environment of Mars.
In a laboratory setting at room temperature and with normal oxygen levels, the scientists demonstrated that the microbes can consume organic material (sugar). But when the researchers removed the organic material, reduced the temperature to near-freezing, and lowered the oxygen levels, the microbes began to use the iron within olivine – a common silicate material found in volcanic rocks on Earth and on Mars – as its energy source.