By Aazam
October 17, 2022
French scientists claimed on Monday that ancient Mars may have had an underground world teaming with microscopic creatures
The researchers determined that if these primitive life forms existed, they would have caused a Martian Ice Age and suffocated themselves
The study's lead author, Sorbonne University postdoctoral researcher Boris Sauterey, said life even microbes "might actually regularly trigger its own end
He said the results "are a bit depressing, but I think they are also incredibly stimulating" in an email. They push us to rethink biosphere-planet interactions
They hypothesized that hydrogen-gobbling, methane-producing bacteria might have thrived just beneath the surface, protected by several millimeters of earth
Sauterey believes these species swarmed anywhere on Mars without ice, just like on early Earth
At approximately -400F (-200C), species on the surface would have gone deeper to survive
Given Earth's nitrogen-dominated atmosphere, bacteria may have maintained temperate conditions, experts concluded
Kaveh Pahlevan of the SETI Institute said Mars climate models should incorporate French research
Pahlevan conducted another study claiming Mars was born wet with warm waters lasting millions of years
Pahlevan said the French study examined the climate consequences of potential bacteria when Mars' atmosphere was dominated by carbon dioxide and is not applicable to earlier times
Sauterey will investigate whether microbial life exists deep within Mars next