By: Bailey Zimmerly

There are many people who think that there was once life on Mars or on other planets of our universe. Since ice caps have been found on Mars there is evidence that the ice was at one time water. This means life could be possible, but is it probable? Well why not? Do you really think that the Earth is the only planet that has life on it? You would think that in one of the billions of galaxies, in one of the zillions of solar systems, there is a planet, just like our own that has other life, maybe even similar to our humans. These are some of the many, many questions that astronomers ask themselves every day.

Well, we pretty much know nothing about life on other planets. We do however know that there could be water on planets like Mars. Mars contains many polar icecaps that could have been water at one point in time. With the existence of water, means that there could have been life on planets like Mars.

One instance in which there was evidence of life on Mars was in August of 1996. NASA announced that there was a discovery of a fossil had been found in Antarctica that was from Mars. This fossil was thought to have broke off of Mars around 15 million years ago, orbit the sun, and then 13,000 years ago crashed down on our Earth. This fossil had provided evidence that there was once primate life on Mars. This may be a stretch, but it does provide evidence of life on Mars.

There was not much evidence of life on other planets until recently. Many claims of Earth-like planets have arose, but none were accurate until planet GJ 1214b. This planet is two and half times bigger than Earth, but the temperature is just slightly warmer than Earth. However, the temperature of the planet is too hot to support water and therefore life. Then scientists discovered something very interesting., the density of the planet is very low. With this high atmospheric pressure and relatively low density mean liquid water could actually exist on this planet.

Since life is possible on this planet, there is great interest in the planet. Even though many people say that there is no way that there is life on this planet, a scientist named Charbonneau would disagree. He said, "I think it would be foolish to say categorically that [GJ 1214b] doesn't have life. I don’t think anyone will know anytime soon if there is life on this distant planet. A MIT planet theorist Sara Seager said, "It's going to be a big year for planets.“ By this she meant that many planets will be discovered and will be said to be Earth-like.

There are many cases in which planet life is possible. I think that the universe is so immense that it would be almost impossible to think that we are the only living beings in this universe. There are trillions of galaxies and even more trillions of solar systems within each galaxy. In each solar system there is many planets, so at least of few of those planets have to have the exact or similar conditions to that of Earth. Life on other planets is very possible, but will be very hard to prove without better, more advanced technology.

" Google Image Result for http://ahrcanum.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/face-aliens-on-mars-3.jpg." Google Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2010. <http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ahrcanum.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/face-aliens-on-mars-3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ahrcanum.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/norway-lights-make-ufo-believers-alien-dna-in-humans/&usg=__sypOuJ5IZ0ih9P_z7IByU8AfRtg=&h=385&w=450&sz=39&hl=en&start=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=OVOAxLCpfpd2qM:&tbnh=109&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Daliens%2Bon%2Bmars%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us%26um%3D1>.

" Google Image Result for http://students.umf.maine.edu/~reevesac/Images/mars.jpg." Google Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2010. <http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://students.umf.maine.edu/~reevesac/Images/mars.jpg&imgrefurl=http://students.umf.maine.edu/~reevesac/SpacePics.html&usg=__9cuz7eHJofqF4EdT6YFu1K2B6E8=&h=648&w=648&sz=114&hl=en&start=3&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=WtMW9AMWkbXfhM:&tbnh=137&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmars%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us%26um%3D1>.

" Google Image Result for http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/00671/mars-polar-cap_671539n.jpg." Google Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2010. <http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/00671/mars-polar-cap_671539n.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1966406/Pictures-of-the-day-16-May-2008.html&usg=__TC5q8AirpMKP9jb6uy_n3MJYMmQ=&h=508&w=508&sz=40&hl=en&start=5&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=pq9d4_RXwM3O1M:&tbnh=131&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmars%2Bpolar%2Bice%2Bcaps%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1>.

" Google Image Result for http://standeyo.com/NEWS/07_Space/07_Space_pics/070302.Mars.melting.jpg." Google Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2010. <http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://standeyo.com/NEWS/07_Space/07_Space_pics/070302.Mars.melting.jpg&imgrefurl=http://standeyo.com/NEWS/07_Space/070302.Mars.melting.html&usg=__ciyn2D8Kt_5GWMd8eqhlCECyd2s=&h=346&w=461&sz=33&hl=en&start=4&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=8G7xdllzayoyQM:&tbnh=96&tbnw=128&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmars%2Bpolar%2Bice%2Bcaps%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1>.

" Google Image Result for http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Planet_GJ_1214_b.png." Google Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2010. <http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Planet_GJ_1214_b.png&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Planet_GJ_1214_b.png&usg=__G3UEQVgFNl9YAflQvsq-gHXoI3c=&h=730&w=1280&sz=210&hl=en&start=2&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=cOmZUeAzj_2HdM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dplanet%2Bgj%2B1214b%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1>.

" Google Image Result for http://www.english-blog.com/images/My%20Opinion.gif." Google Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2010. <http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.english-blog.com/images/My%2520Opinion.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.english-blog.com/archives/english_teaching/esl/&usg=__-w-UyyhQmFkmtQ0ybi3qk_BEN4c=&h=336&w=223&sz=13&hl=en&start=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=UiKlguyHpGm-TM:&tbnh=119&tbnw=79&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmy%2Bopinion%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us%26um%3D1>.

"Life on Mars: Possible Evidence." SEDS. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2010. <http://seds.org/~spider/spider/Mars/mmetlife.html>.

"Super-Earth: Newly Discovered Planet May Have Water - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2010. <http://www.time.com/time/health