Hopes of finding life on Mars, at least on the surface, were dealt a blow Thursday by a study revealing that salt minerals present on the Red Planet kill bacteria.
In lab tests on Earth, the compounds known as perchlorates killed cultures of the bacteria Bacillus subtilis, a basic life form, a research duo from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Physics and Astronomy reported.
Perchlorates, stable at room temperature, become active at high heat. Mars is very cold. – READ MORE
READ MORE:
[contentcards url=”https://phys.org/news/2017-07-mars-surface-uninhabitable-thought.html” target=”_blank”]