Bacteria Could Aid Search for Creatures On Other Planets

The research into the life-giving potential of these "living fossils" is based on small microbes in Australia, but the results could help us identify fossil evidence of life on other planets, in particular Mars, said Erica Suosaari, a science fellow for Bush Heritage Australia, a non-profit conservation and land management organization. "Looking for evidence of life in the rocks is like finding a needle in the haystack," wrote Suosaari in an e-mail.