Life on Mars - Part 3

Martian Sunset taken from the Gusev crater,NASA's Mars Exploration Rover: Spirit

Living microbes that could be up to eight-hundred-thousand-years-old have been found in the permafrost of the poles - Siberia, Yukon and Antarctica.

That's right, microbes that are almost a million years old. Is that odd?

From Reuters:

When a cell dies, its DNA fragments into pieces but the samples the researchers studied were all very long strands -- evidence the cells were able to continuously repair genetic material and remain alive

The scientists don't know how the microbes do it, but that mechanism could be the key to anti-aging in humans, and life on Mars. The permafrost of Earth and Mars are similar; in fact, the Martian permafrost is cooler and more stable, making it a better home to this type of microbe.

Here's hoping that we find old, old life on Mars.