Name: There might just be life on Mars
Uploaded: 2008-12-17T21:47:00Z
Duration: 18 min 9 s
Description: So the Mars Rovers didn't scoop up any alien lifeforms. Scientist Penelope Boston thinks there's a good chance -- a 25 to 50 percent chance, in fact -- that life might exist on Mars, deep inside the planet's caves. She details how we should look and why.

So the Mars Rovers didn't scoop up any alien lifeforms. Scientist Penelope Boston thinks there's a good chance -- a 25 to 50 percent chance, in fact -- that life might exist on Mars, deep inside the planet's caves. She details how we should look and why.

There might just be life on Mars

Caves on Earth teem with unique life adapted to the harshest conditions, like acid-filled chambers with bacteria thriving at pH zero. By studying how organisms survive in these hidden places, scientists build blueprints for searching life in similar underground environments on Mars. New discoveries, such as sub-surface ice and ancient seabeds, suggest Mars could have supported life, perhaps still hiding below ground. Exploring these alien worlds demands both imagination and new technology, including swarms of robotic explorers.