Mars’ surface is dry and dusty. But researchers know there’s water there. It’s locked up in the polar ice caps, and occasionally it probably seeps to the surface as liquid. And at night, the Red Planet’s plummeting temperatures raise the humidity drastically, possibly to 80 or 100 percent.
For good or ill, Mars also has vast salt deposits made of calcium sulfate, iron sulfate and magnesium sulfate. And salts, which come in many varieties, are usually good at mixing with water to form brines, a salty liquid. In fact, in many cases, they are good at pulling water straight from the humid air to mix and form a brine.
Now, Mark Schneegurt, a biology professor at Wichita State University in Kansas, says that he’s managed to dry out and then revive bacteria under these salty conditions. The find means that despite Mars’ arid and salty environment, life might yet be ...
