Extraterrestrial life has been speculated on for more than a couple thousand of years. The Greeks in the 5th century have believed in the concept of "panspermia" - a concept grounded on theory that life in the Solar System have a common origin. Modern scientists have since researched thoroughly on the possibility of intelligent creatures in Earth's near neighbors and amongst their most viable candidates is the red planet, Mars.
In the 19th century, the concept of Martian canals was commonly acknowledged as possible evidence for life in Mars. These canals were ultimately proven to be mere optical illusions. Fortunately for staunch alien conspiracists and scientists alike, there seems to be new evidence of life on the Red Planet.
Almost eight years ago NASA's Spirit Rover discovered a peculiar landscape in Mars' Gusev Crater. The 'cauliflower-like' feature is made up of a glassy mineral called opaline silica. the discovery remained in the back burner for a few years. However scientists from Arizona State University have recently announced that the land formation might be the long-awaited proof of extraterrestrial life.
Geologist, Steven Ruff and geobiologist, Jack Farmer have recently announced their discovery of land formations on Earth similar to those in Mars. According to the scientists, the Atacama Desert in Chile is home to the same distinctive cauliflower-like protrusions on the red planet. Both scientists were adamant that just as the Atacama Desert formations were sculpted by microbes, the landscape near the Gusev Crater in Mars is a the handiwork of living organisms as well.
NASA has recently released a statement commenting on Ruff and Farmer's recent claims to extraterrestrial life.
"Only when something that we have identified as a potential biosignature is proven to have been produced only by life, and not by any abiotic means, can we make the claim that definitive evidence for life has been found" explained Sherry Cady a member of the NASA Astrobiology Institute.
