Aug. 4
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Giant ice towers that formed next to steaming volcanic vents in the freezing atmosphere of Mars may be the best place to look for life on the red planet, an Australian geologist said on Monday.
Nick Hoffman of the University of Melbourne said the latest images taken by the Mars Odyssey orbiter had revealed curious hotspots in the Hellas Basin that could be similar to ice towers in Antarctica, where microbial life forms live on chemical energy.
These hotspots, he told Reuters, could prove a better place to find signs of life than gullies that some speculate may have been gouged by running water.
"I don't personally believe that that (finding life) is a credible possibility, but nonetheless, if you are going to find life on Mars, this is probably the place it will be," he said.
Hoffman has worked on potential Mars ice towers with Professor Phil Kyle of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in the United States.
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