Experts from the University ofColoradoBoulder discovered that microorganisms can survive in some of the most hostile environments on Earth. This could provide clues as to how life once existed there. A team of researchers is currently conducting research on bacteria, also known as extremophiles. They have been found to be living in the hostile environment created by the Pos volcano craterin Costa Rica. The lake, Laguna Caliente (pictured above), is located in the crater. It has a temperature of 212F and contains high levels of extremely toxic metals.
How does Costa Rica compare to Mars?
According to experts, the reason Costa Rica’s volcanic calder was chosen by the researchers is that it resembles Mars’ past environment. Extremophiles thrive in such a setting, scientists believe simple life may have existed on the red planet. This class of bacteria is now well-known for their toughness. They reportedly create energy using the sulfur, iron, arsenic and iron present in the crater as an adaptation to live in such a hostile environment.
Justin Wang, a graduate student at Colorado Boulder, spoke out about the many survival strategies of few organisms in the lake.
We believe they do this by living on the edges of the lake during eruptions. This is where a wide range of genes could be very useful.
The lake is about 984 feet in width and 100 feet in depth. It contains toxic elements that make the water ten million times acidicer than tap water. Experts discovered this in a study published in Frontiers of Astronomy and Spatial Science. Although this research sheds light onto how ‘Earthlife’ might have existed in a hydrothermalMartian climate, Wang stated that Daily Mail still has questions about “whether or not life ever existed on Mars, and whether or not it resembles what we have here.” We hope that our research will lead to a shift in the conversation towards searching for signs and evidence of life in these environments.
Experts hope that Mars samples will be returned in the next few years to help them discover evidence of life on Mars. NASA’s Perseverance currently scans the Jezero Crater, which Wang says has good targets for signs that life might have existed.
