609067 external_news 1532729464 1532730804 Scientists appear to have identified a 12-mile-wide salty lake underneath a massive glacier. The research opens up the possibility that microbial life may live in this liquid place on Mars. Jennifer Glass, an astrobiologist at Georgia Tech's School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, comments on the finding. Mars is rich in perchlorate, a salt often used in propellants on Earth. This might be toxic to humans, but some microbes thrive on it, like Earth's marine microbes thrive on carbon dioxide. "People might think that’s nasty stuff," said Glass, who wasn't involved in the research. "That's not true. Microbes can breathe perchlorate — a lot of life can breathe perchlorate."

 

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