Mars may have been inhabited by hydrogen-eating microorganisms in ancient times
In ancient times, the red planet could be inhabited by microorganisms, which subsequently disappeared, because they lowered the temperature on Mars to fatal indicators for themselves due to the absorption of hydrogen – as noted by French researchers, TASS reports
Scientists studied the state of the Martian crust and suggested that 4 billion years ago, microbes could exist on Mars that absorbed hydrogen and produced methane. They needed only a few centimetres of rock to protect themselves from powerful radiation. “Anywhere free of ice on Mars could have been swarming with these organisms,” said Boris Sauterey, one of the authors of the study.
Meanwhile, the absorption of hydrogen from the Martian atmosphere, scientists believe, resulted in a decrease in temperature on the planet by 200 degrees Celsius, leading to the death of all organisms that lived near the surface.
Earlier, researchers from the SETI Institute did not rule out that at first there could be water on Mars, and its atmosphere consisted mainly of hydrogen.
