Perhaps the strongest reason to think the planet could be home to
Something is that over the past 20 years, we've learned that many inhabitants of
Earth live in environments as peculiar as those on Mars. Here, some organisms
exist inside rocks in the chilly wastes of Antarctica, or a mile deep in the
ground. Others live in ice sheets, or breed in the strongest acids. If it can happen
here, it could possibly happen on Mars, too. Finding life on Mars obviously
would be thrilling. It would, in a small way, ease our (@). In addition, it
might illuminate that great mystery, the origin of life on Earth. But the
possibility of life on Mars also suggests that we should approach the place with
caution. If something is living there, then bringing Martian rocks back to Earth
could be a mistake if not undertaken very carefully.