Mars would have been too hot to support life forms

The Curiosity spacecraft is currently scouring Mars for evidence that once there was water flowing over - and under - the surface of the Red Planet, which could also point to the possibility that life forms may have survived. there in the past.

Thus, one of the traces that researchers are especially interested in studying is the clay formations produced from what they believe was a water-rich magma. However, according to a report published by SLASH GEAR, a group of scientists has come up with a new theory that suggests that this material would have been too hot to sustain microbial life forms.

According to the researchers, the clay would have formed after the cooling of the magma, which would then mark temperatures around 1, 500 ° C. Such heat would not be compatible with a suitable habitat for microbial life development, in contrast to other theories that water present on Mars would have interacted with other surface materials or been warmed by the planet's core to create ideal conditions for the emergence of life. .

Sources: SLASH GEAR, Nature and NASA