For the folks who belive mars can have life.

To simulate the conditions on mars, collect petri dishes and nurse the bacterium to grow. Or use any living organism maybe cockroaches. Get 10 pounds of dry ice. Place the dry ice in styrafoam cooler. Place your sample dishes on the dry ice. In the lid of the cooler place a florensent ultraviolet lamp small one maybe 12 inches long. Check for signs of life in 48 hours. most microbes would be dead.
Extremiphile microbes might survive be fun to test the toughest ecoli we have on earth.
By doing this you have duplicated the atmospherics on mars carbon dioxide and ample UV from the sun would sterilize anything. Mars high temperature in low 20s, maximun low over 230 degrees below zero. Dry ice is minus 235 degrees below zero. The temps at the poles keep a frozen CO2 ice cap forever. There is water flows more like brine flows that are seasonal but at the equator.

The key word there is "most" Thirty years ago most biologists would have claimed that "life" could not exist at the bottom of our oceans or deep in rocks over a mile below the surface. And it is true that "most" life forms can't live in those invironments, but some do. I don't have to stretch my imagination much to entertain the idea that some form of life is present on or in Mars after seeing where life can be found here on earth.
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Bob DeWoody

Mars once was warm and had an atmosphere. Life could have started back then. There is evidence that water one flowed and was abundant on Mars. This strongly suggests to me that life of some form was also abundant on Mars. The great discovery would be to dig down and find some fossil evidence of whatever life might have started there.

What is the temperature below the surface of Mars. Could there be caves where water-borne life still exists ?

If evidence of any form of life past or present is found on Mars then we can count on it being common all over the universe. But that still doesn't get us there.

I wonder if earth scientists will adopt the stringent hands off policy displayed in certain Sci Fi movies when even primitive life is discovered on other worlds.
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Bob DeWoody

There a higher probability or conditions for life forms in Titan than Mars. Titan has a rich nitrogen atmosphere, and hydrocarbons, amonia etc. Titan is a primordial Earth; Mars however has a thin atmosphere and vulnerable to cosmic rays, not the best enviroment for DNA based life form at the surface. I agree, maybe in a cave enviroment, life can be found. This might sound out of the realm of fantasy, but terraform would be the only way of making Mars habitable to surface life forms. Think of the movie " Total Recall "

It has been argued that Europa on the other hand is a good candidate for harboring primitive life forms. The tidal effects of it's orbit around Jupiter are presumed to generate enough heat below the frozen surface to make it's ocean of water friendly to life and the frozen surface would act as a shield from harmful radiation.
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Bob DeWoody

A good book to read would be, "Unmasking Europa", by Richard Greenberg.

Perhaps, exotic forms of, say jelly-fish, might exist to feed on micro-
organisims, beneath the ice. There's a lot of discoloration along the
ice fracture-lines. A relatively-simple unmanned spacecraft might be
able to just check them out, without having to drill through it all
(I believe, that idea was mentioned, in the book.).

Cheers,

jm
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Jim,

Do we know if the ice on Europa is water ice. Have we determined for sure that there is liquid under the ice ?. Tidal forces are probably causing the pressure ridges and cracks.

Pretty good evidence that it is water; but still some doubt.

Europa could harbor the conditions for life, deep ocean life forms; but Titan has a better atmospheric chemistry conditions than Europa, it is feasable for life forms be based on methane. Water might not be the only solvent for life, liquid methane could be a solvent and that fits with Titan's environment.

Probably the thing in common with other inteligent life in the cosmos is the bipedal ability. Nature applies probably the same rules throughout the universe when it comes to the development of life, except conditions near the event horizon of black holes and pulsars. Life would have no chance of surviving on planets close to such objects. The first exoplanets idenfied were fond to orbit a pulsar, life on such an environment is non existent.

It may be that Europa like our moon does not have a hot core and therefore no volcanic activity. Would tidal forces provide the necessary energy for life in these cases.

Probably the thing in common with other inteligent life in the cosmos is the bipedal ability. Nature applies probably the same rules throughout the universe when it comes to the development of life, except conditions near the event horizon of black holes and pulsars. Life would have no chance of surviving on planets close to such objects. The first exoplanets idenfied were fond to orbit a pulsar, life on such an environment is non existent.