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Life does not exist on Mars currently, but a new study suggests that if there were aliens on the Red Planet in its past, they might have lived “well below” the surface.
The research, published in Science Advances, suggests that the ice caps below the surface have melted due to geothermal heat, generating water, providing the perfect environment for all life.
“Even though greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and water vapor are pumped into the early Martian atmosphere during computer simulations, climate models are still struggling to sustain a hot and humid Mars in the long run. “Said lead author of the study Lujendra Ojha, assistant professor at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, in a statement. “My co-authors and I propose that the weak young sun paradox can be reconciled, at least in part, if Mars had high geothermal heat in its past.
A vertically exaggerated, false color view of a large canal carved out of water on Mars called Dao Vallis. Image: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO. 3D rendered and colored by Lujendra Ojha
RESEARCHERS DISCOVER MARS HAD WATER BEFORE IT WAS LIFE ON EARTH
The findings could help researchers understand the weak young sun paradox, which indicates that around 4 billion years ago, the sun was “much weaker” than it is now. It should have frozen the Martian surface; instead, it was hot and humid.
A separate group of researchers suggested in January 2020 that water on Mars once contained the right ingredients to support life. Last month, another group of researchers suggested that there was water on the surface of Mars 4.4 billion years ago, before life existed on Earth.
Ojha and the other researchers looked at various datasets to see if geothermal heat would have been present, or perhaps, during the Noachian era (4.1 billion to 3.7 billion years ago) and have determined there was, well below the surface.
NASA’s InSight lander, which landed on Mars in November 2018, could help experts understand geothermal heat and whether it played a role in life on Mars, the researchers said in the statement.
“At such depths, life could have been sustained by hydrothermal (heating) activity and rock-water reactions,” Ojha added. “So the basement may represent the oldest habitable environment on Mars.”
MASSIVE LAVA TUBES ON MARS AND THE MOON COULD BE AT HOME, RESEARCHERS FIND
In October, a separate group of researchers discovered that Mars had an abundance of liquid water in the underground lakes of its south pole.
In 2018, scientists made the incredible discovery of a “stable body of liquid water” on Mars. The three lakes are approximately 6 miles in diameter, nearly a mile deep, and about 12 miles from the lake discovered in 2018.
NASA recently launched the Perseverance rover into space to explore Mars. On the Red Planet, the rover will perform various functions, including searching for evidence of ancient life.
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