The answer is a little more complicated than you might think, because life has never been a simple concept.
Does life on Mars exist? We still don’t know. Even though Mars is still a planet filled with water and oxygen as it was before the destruction of the Sun, we don’t know if life exists there.
But there are some things we know for sure about Mars. First, on Mars there is liquid water on the surface (although not drinkable). Second, organic molecules – the most likely products of life – have been found on the red planet.
And more recently, we have located a huge source of đây water here. It is a 20 km wide lake at the south pole of Mars, under a layer of ice about 1.5 km thick.
It is this latest discovery that has made many people – experts and ordinary people alike – wonder, does this mean that Mars also has life? And isn’t it the only lake on the planet?
The short answer is always… no one knows. However, we can anticipate some possibilities.
Life is not necessarily what we imagined
Based on what has been confirmed, the South Pole region of Mars is very difficult to live with because the conditions are too harsh. But at the same time, the amount of water here can also be similar to the water under the ice on Earth. And according to popular belief: where there is water, there is life, even if it is salt water, contaminated water, frozen water or water. close to the boiling point.
Today, science has advanced to the point where it can identify life at the level of bacteria and even viruses. We found microorganisms clinging to the edge of the hydrothermal tube at the bottom of the ocean – where the temperature is extremely high. They get their energy from sulfur and survive even when subjected to terrible radiation every day.
We found algae in the winds of the very upper atmosphere – apparently caused by volcanoes. Even life exists in very deep caves. As for viruses, it goes without saying that they exist everywhere.
Even in Antarctica, the most remote place, the biosphere under the permafrost is impressive. In short, life can exist anywhere, in any form, except in impossible areas like in lava.
Of course, until now we have never found life anywhere other than on Earth. It also means that science assumes that life develops, evolves and adapts according to a unique pattern. But that alone is enough to see that life is extremely flexible, there is always a way to exist.
If life had sprouted on Mars and evolved somehow like it did on Earth, we would know. Unfortunately, at the moment there is no definitive proof.
There may not be anything on it. But remember, life has existed in places where conditions were worse than the frozen lake on Mars. So hope is still there, right?
