Looking for Life

The effort to understand conditions on Mars leads researchers to some of the most extreme environments on Earth, including Chile's Atacama Desert. Although no plants or animals live in the desert's super-dry core, microscopic organisms exist beneath a crusty varnish on some rocks, which may be like some rocks on Mars. Studying the Atacama rocks will help scientists design experiments to look for microscopic life in Mars rocks. [Kim Kuhlman]