Extraterrestrials could hide on Mars, living in brackish water beneath the planet's surface, according to a new study

According to new research, creatures resembling sponges could hide under the surface of Mars.

The underground salt lakes of the Red Planet are able to provide enough oxygen to support Scientists even believe that they are simple animals.

He has long felt that there was not enough air on Mars to support life.

For more information on the sun

But a computer model developed by an American team suggests that the brackish underground lakes of the planet are composed of salt and water .

And they are probably able to store enough oxygen to allow extraterrestrial life to flourish.

The new study published in Nature Geoscience regions are particularly concentrated in the poles of the planet.

Vlada Stamenkovic stated that brackish water would also be abundant in calcium and magnesium, which would stimulate bone and metabolism.

But places "with enough oxygen to allow aerobic microbes to breathe" could be found all over the red planet.

"In addition, about 6.5% of the total Martian surface could support much higher dissolved oxygen concentrations, thus allowing aerobic oases to meet the respiratory needs of more complex multicellular organisms. such as sponges. "

these aquatic paradises could then look like life in the neighboring Earth

. Stamenkovic, scientist in planetary sciences at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, said: "Due to the scarcity of oxygen in the modern Martian atmosphere, it was badumed that Mars was unable to produce environments with concentrations sufficiently large to support aerobic respiration [19659005] "Here we present a thermodynamic framework for the solubility of oxygen in brines under conditions close to the Martian surface."

Dr. Stamenkovic stated that the role of oxygen on Mars had been neglected because of its scarcity 19659005] But the geochemical evidence of Martian meteorites suggests that it had already had large quantities because of its hot atmosphere and its liquid oceans that played a role in the weathering of the crust.

He said: "Aqueous environments, in the form of brines, pe uvent It exists today on the surface, and especially below, despite the weak atmosphere and the cold general climate. "

Recent evidence demonstrates that hydrated magnesium and calcium salts are found on the surface and in the shallow subsoil.

This suggests that there may oxygen "comparable to the concentrations observed in the Earth's oceans today."

Dr. Stamenkovic said: "Thus, in principle, Mars could offer a wide range of near-surface environments with enough dissolved oxygen for aerobic respiration, as seen in various groups of terrestrial microorganisms. "

Increasingly, the quest for extraterrestrial life According to some groups, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS ) published a report last week in which she invited NASA to make the search for an extraterrestrial life an "integral part of its missions." [1965] 19659005] This story appeared in the 39, originally from The Sun.