And what does this say about going to Mars, not to mention possible Colonization?

Can we say big time Terra-forming?

Probably won’t happen anytime soon.

writerdd, part of the question is defining “life” in a meaningful way. Any process we would recognize by our current definitions of the word rely on particular types of chemistry, in particular water. I think there are some conjectures about silicon as a replacement for carbon, but that’s pretty speculative. (I don’t know anything about cyanobacteria Chroococcidiopsis.) It is difficult to project our expectations in a way that extends beyond our current known forms that fit the criteria. We already have trouble with viruses and prions. Now you want to include something that can’t spell DNA, let alone have any?

Soap and water work fine, though you could always use some betadine if you want to be more thorough.

Um, what about the cyanobacteria Chroococcidiopsis found living in halite rock samples collected in the Atacama desert? (Astrobiology, vol 6, p415. and for the dimmer ones like me – New Scientist, vol 191, #2559 – 8/JUL/06)
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Well, I’m no expert in extra terrestrial life forms, but why do we always think that life on other planets will need the same environment as we have here? That’s pretty a narrow view of the possibilities for life, isn’t it?

Mars obviously can’t support Earth life, but does that mean all life in the universe requires an Earth-like environment?

If there ever was microbial life on Mars, I would think it likely that it is still there. Perhaps we need to send some folks up there with a PCR rig…heh.

The inveterate optimist in me points out that life might have arisen when Mars was more habitable, three-odd billion years ago. (Was peroxide always raining like anti-manna from Heaven upon the Martian landscape? Not being qualified in these matters, I can only argue from ignorance, but the NASA news piece suggested to me that the H2O2 production depends upon dust storms and other present-day properties of the Martian atmosphere. Was it always so?) Supposing that the chemistry of the time was active enough to produce fairly complex molecules but not voracious enough to destroy them all again, a bit of natural selection would go a long way.

That which don’t kill ya, make ya stronger — thinking at the species level over many generations! Evolution’s motto is not “ever higher” or “progress is our most important product”, but rather “life finds a way”. . . .