Is Mars' soil too dry to sustain life?

Life as we know it needs water to thrive. Even so, we see life persist in the driest environments on Earth. But how dry is too dry? At what point is an environment too extreme for even microorganisms, the smallest and often ...

Detecting life in the ultra-dry Atacama Desert

Few places are as hostile to life as Chile's Atacama Desert. It's the driest non-polar desert on Earth, and only the hardiest microbes survive there. Its rocky landscape has lain undisturbed for eons, exposed to extreme temperatures ...

Chile desert combed for clues to life on Mars

Chile's Atacama desert may seem to contain little besides red-grey rocks and sand—but scientists are busy searching here for clues to life in a place it much resembles: Mars.

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