Life on Mars?

The possibility of life on Mars has been a popular topic in the media for decades, but a new discovery has been revealed that could make it a reality. Nature Geoscience has published a study indicating that there might be enough oxygen under the surface of Mars to support life. NASA's research team made two different discoveries that helped them form this hypothesis: the first was the possibility of lakes below the planet's surface. If the lakes are present, there could be oxygen in them, and oxygen is, of course, what is necessary to sustain life.

The second finding was actually made by the Curiosity rover that was launched onto Mars in 2012. The atmosphere may have been full of oxygen at one point, but when its magnetic field was lost that surface oxygen would have escaped into space. However, there is oxygen within the rocks, so there could be more below the surface.

The question remains: is there enough oxygen to support life? Scientists speculate that the answer is yes, especially in the polar regions of the planet, because lower temperatures mean that it would be easier for oxygen to move into the lakes.