'Life on Mars' may not be possible with new findings on soil, claims research

New Delhi : A research has now claimed that Life on Mars may remain in dreams only due to the red planet's inhabitable conditions, the worst of all factor being the soil of Mars.

The research claims that the soil on Mars may be toxic to bacteria which means that if any microorganisms would ever have existed on Mars, by now, they would have died.

As per research conducted by the United Kingdom Centre for Astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh, the Martian soil is rich in salt known as perchlorate which is made up of one chlorine and four oxygen atoms.

Researchers earlier believed that presence of salt on the soil may have led to the preservation of water, making a hopeful condition to bring life back on the planet. But later, it was discovered that perchlorate found on the surface of Mars is actually dangerous for any kind of life that exists on Earth.

It has been learned that the bacteria induced in the element tend to die 11 times faster than the natural death. Interestingly, Bacilus subtilis bacteria was able to sustain.

Now what makes the research more complicated is that researchers will have to first find the difference between the perchlorate present on Earth and the ones present on Mars.