Lichens can survive almost anything, and some might survive Mars

Life on Mars could survive — so long as you're one of these strange, hybrid lifeforms

Researchers bombarded lichens with a year's worth of Martian radiation in just 5 hours — and they survived, hinting that the extremophiles could potentially live on the Red Planet.

Lichens can survive almost anything, and some might survive Mars

The symbiotic organisms appear to be able to avoid some radiation damage.

Lichens can survive almost anything, and some might survive Mars - WorldNL Magazine

Whether anything ever lived on Mars is unknown. And the present environment, with harsh temperatures, intense radiation, and a sparse atmosphere, isn’t exactly propitious for life. Despite the red planet’s brutality, lichens that inhabit some of the harshest environments on Earth could possibly survive there. Lichens are symbionts, or two organisms that are in a cooperative relationship. There is a fungal component (most are about 90 percent fun…