Scientists Search for Aliens on Earth: Evidence for Life on Mars

Extraterrestrials may not just be little green men from space. Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are helping search for evidence of alien life in rocks on Earth.

The rocks, some of which date back 3.5 billion years, will help the scientists find crucial information about how life may have arisen elsewhere in the universe. In addition, their findings could help guide the search for life on Mars.

Most recently, NASA's Curiosity rover has drilled into the Martian surface for the first time ever. The samples that it takes could allow scientists to discover whether or not there was or is life on the Red Planet. Already, they've found evidence of water, which could help better support the possibility.

The current project with researchers of Wisconsin-Madison is being funded through NASA, which provided a $7 million, five-year grant to the scientists.  Now the team is learning more about Earth's history. The researchers have already discovered new details of microbial life that dates back 2 billion to 3 billion years--that's even before our planet's atmosphere contained oxygen. These microbes relied more on iron than sunlight for energy, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. These findings could have major implications for finding tiny, one-celled organisms on Mars.

The researchers aren't only studying rocks, though. They're also planning on sending microbes into Earth's orbit on the International Space Station to see exactly how they react to radiation and a space environment. This, in combination with their studies of Earth's geological history, will allow scientists to better interpret the data sent back from Mars by Curiosity.

This project helps support one of NASA's major goals of finding life or the potential for life on other planets. Whether or not they actually find it, though, remains up to speculation and Curiosity.