Scientist Says Life Forms On Mars May Have Been Destroyed

Search for life on Mars has reached past the boundaries of the solar system as well as the large group of exoplanets that surround the unfamiliar stars. Yet, the pursuit will be needing more time and effort before it is  finally completed.  

Life on Mars appears to be more likely, due to the fact that the planet is nearby and easy to search for clues, including the proof that the water once, and might still, flowed over its surface. Also, its organic compounds, while less likely due to biological origin, were found in the Martian soil, which could mean that life's building blocks could be there already.

However, if there is life on Mars, it must deal with the conditions that are past the extreme of the Earth state. This means that what could be enough for life on Earth may not be expected on Mars. According to scientists, Martian life may appear so different that no one could even recognize it. They also believe that Martian life was the effect of a second genesis, which means it started entirely detaching from Earth life, and could even deploy the combo of organic chemicals that are never seen before, Discover Magazine reported.

According to some reports, scientists may have actually found life on Mars decades ago. When Viking landers came in 1976, they conducted an experimental series to check for life, but all appeared to be negative. However,  Joop Houtkooper of the University of Giessen believes that Martian life may have unintentionally been destroyed. Houtkooper hypothesized that life forms on Mars could handle the extreme cold through absorption of hydrogen peroxide into their organisms by  combining it with water to prevent freezing.

In one of the experiments of the Viking lander, it momentarily located a weak positive signal that also disappeared. According to Houtkooper, this was the outcome of researchers, including the water, which is a step that would have destroyed any life forms that are hydrogen peroxide based.  

Further test to search for life on Mars, will therefore, need a specialized experiment and another rover exploration to the red planet, according to Space.