2023-10-27 07:00:00
Could mice discovered on the peaks of the Andes survive on the surface of the planet Mars? Tristan Bergen 27/10/2023 09:00 5 min
A team of researchers recently discovered mummified remains of mice on the summit of the Puna de Atacama volcanoes in Chile and Argentina, the environment on Earth which is closer to that of the planet Mars. A discovery that calls into question our beliefs about the survival capabilities of this type of mammal.
Researchers thought the survival of mammals was impossible under these conditions.
The peaks of the Puna de Atacama volcanoes between Chile and Argentina are among the highest in the world with conditions not conducive to lifee. Lack of oxygen, extreme temperatures and weather conditions or even the risk of volcanic eruptions, there are many parameters which cause these sectors to observe very few living beings, whether animals or plants.
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Generally, flora and fauna appear around watering holes located around 4 000m, the conditions being significantly more lenient at these altitudes so that life can truly develop there. Above, these are too extreme so that a complex life form such as mammals can truly survive there, At least that’s what the scientists thought.
However, during a recent expedition consisting of climbing more than twenty peaks including 18 at an altitude above 6000m, biologists from the University of Nebraska have made a completely unexpected discovery. They actually discovered 13 mice mummified at more than 6000m altitude some of which are accompanied by the skeletal remains of other congeners.
Researchers were able to find 13 leaf-eared mummified mice from several Andean volcano summits. Read to learn more. #Science #STEM #ArtificialIntelligence #Astrophysics #ClimateChange
— ScienceTimes (@ScienceTimesCom) October 24, 2023
The first was discovered on the summit of the Salín volcano in Argentina, quickly followed by 7 others nearby. Of the 21 summits covered so far, the researchers managed to identify 13 mice in total, some a few decades old and others over 350 years old. It would be a species with leaf ears, the Phylottis of cowsyet known to thrive at much lower altitudes in the region.
Could these mice survive on Mars?
This unexpected discovery quickly led scientists to ask more in-depth questions about these mice, particularly in relation to their ability to survive in this type of environment. Indeed, the very inhospitable environment in which they were discovered is very close to that present on the surface of Mars.
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This is particularly linked to the thin atmosphere, low oxygen and freezing temperatures reigning over these peaks of the Andes, which to date make them the terrestrial environment most similar to that of our neighboring planet. Several expeditions have also been undertaken there to train certain candidates from the PoSSUM commercial astronaut program and a candidate from the MARS ONE project hasux conditions present on the red planet so that they can leave for Mars in the next ten years.
Wondering if these mice could actually survive on the red planet is therefore legitimate because they achieved it, at least temporarily, on Earth under very similar conditions. It would therefore be interesting to consider trying the experiment with a few specimens of this species in a future human expedition to Mars.
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Despite everything, scientists are still trying to understand how these mice managed to live in this barren and rocky world, dominated by ice and snow. How can they withstand temperatures that never exceed 0°C and where the oxygen level is well below normal? DThe work is still in progress by the researchers who made this important discovery and answers will most certainly be provided in the coming months.
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#mice #capable #living #Mars