Fungi on Mars? Researchers claim signs of life on red planet
- Analysis of photos taken on the fourth rock from the sun reveals forms that seem to emerge from the soil and expand
- But critics dismiss the findings, saying conditions are too extreme and changes on the surface can be explained
But other researchers said the evidence was speculative and far from enough to support the conclusion.
In a paper accepted for publication in the journal Advances in Microbiology, the 11 researchers from various countries and institutions said an analysis of photos taken by previous Mars missions showed “white amorphous specimens within a crevice change shape and location then disappear” within three days.
There were also signs of thousands of black spider-like forms that grew up to 300 metres in the spring and disappeared by winter.
They said the pattern was “repeated each spring and ... may represent massive colonies of black fungi, mould, lichens, algae, methanogens and sulphur-reducing species. Black fungi-bacteria-like specimens also appeared atop the rovers.”
“Growth, movement, and changes in shape and location constitute behaviour and support the hypothesis there is life on Mars,” said the authors, who include scientists from the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in the United States and Aston University in Britain.