This SEM micrograph (12,000x magnification) shows Haloferax volcanii after 160 days of anaerobic incubation with 100 mM nitrate under low-pressure Martian conditions (24 mbar); high-magnification imaging shows predominantly spherical cells located outside, immediately beneath, and embedded within an extensive biofilm matrix; thin appendage-like structures and associations among adjacent cells are also visible. Scale bar – 1 µm. Image credit: Robinson et al., doi: 10.1128/aem.01749-26.
A new experiment reveals that Earth’s microbes can grow in harsh conditions similar to what may exist just below the surface of Mars, suggesting new directions in the search for potential cellular life on the red planet.
The microbes grew over months in just a fraction of Earth’s normal atmospheric ...
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