Sustainability

Earth

Landscapes

Atacama desert in Chile like Mars

A group of scientists from different organizations discovered an area on the Earth that is similar to Mars surface. By studying this area, namely the Atacama desert in Chile, they may understand why the past missions on Mars have failed to detect any presence of life on the planet. Some experiments were made on microbes on the desert soil and even after 20 days’ incubation in a lab no bacteria growth was detected. The unique conditions of the Atacama desert represent a big opportunity for scientists that study and develop new technologies.