A recent report in the Astrobiology Magazine earlier this week, has brought up the exciting debate about life on Mars back to the forefront yet again.

Rebecca Mickol, the author of the report titled “Low Pressure Tolerance by Methanogens in an Aqueous Environment: Implications for Subsurface Life on Mars” has created news in the scientific community by claiming that there is a lot of possibility for life to exist and thrive on the Martian surface.

Concentration levels of methane on Mars as per NASA data [Photo Source]

Her report discusses the presence of methane on the red planet and says,

On Earth, most methane is produced biologically by past or present organisms. The same could possibly be true for Mars

Is short, her contention is that the methane layer on Mars could be due to biological or geological activities, and adds that volcanic activities on the surface could also lead to the methane production.

But if biology is considered, then the report maintains that it most probably would be microbes, as they essentially produce methane, and could be living just beneath the Martian surface, shielded from harsh levels of UV radiations the planet is subjected to.

Microbes are basically "methanogens", organism's which do not require oxygen for survival and are readily found here on earth in swamps, marshes, guts of cattle and other herbivores. They also live in dead and decaying organic matter.

And now research has found that living microbes can be found in Mars like conditions here on earth, extending the possibility that they may exist on the red planet too.

Also check this video: Living Microbes Found in Mars-Like Conditions in Spain

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Life on Mars Possible: Astrobiologists Prove That Microbes Can Indeed Exist, And Survive On Mars

Also check this video: Living Microbes Found in Mars-Like Conditions in Spain