Lab experiments with primitive microbes taken from an Antarctic lake have shown that the hardy single-celled organisms can tolerate at least the warmest of the frigid temperatures found on Mars.
And they found that these species of microorganisms “huddled” together in colder temperatures to form a chemically linked unit called a biofilm. The finding marks the first time this phenomenon has been detected in the Antarctic species of so-called extremophiles.
The findings provide more evidence for the ideas that liquid found beneath Mars’ surface could harbor microbial life and that life could exist elsewhere in the solar system and galaxy, which is generally incredibly cold.