The possibility of extraterrestrial life has confounded mankind for centuries. With technological advancements, astronomers and scientists are indeed using the best of innovation to trace any signs of life, but nothing has bore fruit yet. However, some new research seems to state that we may be closer to cracking this mystery of a lifetime.
The new Nasa research suggests that conditions for photosynthesis may exist below the dusty ice at Mars’ mid-latitudes regions. For the uninitiated, mid-latitudes of Mars are essentially areas between 30 degrees and 60 degrees latitude in both hemispheres. These regions are believed to contain a lot of water ice in the subsurface, preserved under lithic materials that can be thick by several meters.
Photosynthesis is essentially a process that lets plants, algae, and some bacteria convert sunlight into carbon dioxide, and water into oxygen and glucose. Photosynthesis is responsible for generating much of Earth’s atmospheric oxygen. The research proposes that an adequately thick layer of ics on Mars may work as a shield against the Sun’s hash radiation at the same time allowing enough light for photosynthesis leading to the creation of ‘radiative habitable zones’.