A recent development has shown that billions of bacteria are living in small cracks in volcanic rocks. The rocks are situated approximately 9 miles beneath the ground. Scientists are considering this discovery a complete milestone for living conditions. Similar forms of alien life are likely to be present in the outer space, including on Mars, as reported on CTVNews.
The ocean floor has been forming over the past 3.8 billion years, where the underwater volcanoes erupt at 2.200 degrees. After the eruption, the lava solidifies into rocks because of its reaction to the cold water of the ocean.
The hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor are responsible for preserving the living corpse that is responsible for minerals into energy. Previous research has put the accent on bacteria whose age ranges from 3.5 to 8 million years. However, 90% of the life on the ocean floor ages more than this range.
Resilient bacteria on Earth suggest that alien life on Mars might exist
At the University of Tokyo, the leading researcher Yohey Suzuki and his researchers’ team analyzed bacteria dating back to 104 million years. They studied single-celled microbes situated below 328 feet below the ocean floor. On average, there are 10 billion cells, forming a community that lives on the same cubic centimeter.
The living environment of the bacteria is situated in the cracks formed after the lava cools down. These tiny clay minerals are an exceptional living space for microbes that NASA has thoroughly researched for the past years on Mars since Curiosity landed on the surface of the red planet.
Its landing happened in 2012 and since then, the rover’s primary focus was the Gale Crater, a former dry lake, governed by Mount Sharp at the center. Just exactly as our planet, Mars has a basaltic crust that was built almost four billion years ago.
The research is focusing on determining whether Mars has ever supported microbial life. consequently, the spacecraft has observed and took some samples of the microbial clay from the surface on Mars.
