Martian Life Perhaps More Likely

A new study using data from NASA's recent Phoenix Lander mission suggests that the soil on Mars may be friendlier to life than previously thought. Scientists had thought the soil contained a harsh oxidizing component which would tend to break up essential stuff like DNA molecules, but the Phoenix data argues the soil on Mars is no more hostile to life than the soil at some places on Earth.

Phoenix also confirmed water ice exists under the Martian surface, and recent orbital images suggest that water might seasonally flow on the surface, at least in some specific sites, even now. Taken all together, the case for life on Mars-- in the past, and even in the present-- seems to be strengthening.