Soil on Mars

The 1976 Mars Viking Landers didn't find any life on the red planet. But maybe they weren't looking right. Because at least one [researcher:observer] thinks that a tenth of a percent of the Martian soil tested by the Vikings could [actually:really] have had a biological origin. The Dutch researcher, Joop Houtkooper, [presented:Displayed] his ideas on August 24th at the meeting of the European Planetary Science Congress in Potsdam. One Viking test measured unexplained rises in oxygen and carbon dioxide when it was [incubating:speculating] some soil samples. Houtkooper [conjectures:tendrils] that the incredibly dry and cold surface of Mars might be home to living cells. Such cells, however, would need to be filled with a [mixture:fixture] of water and hydrogen peroxide, which could stay liquid in the harsh conditions.