'In the novel experiments, Conan the Bacterium survived astronomical amounts of radiation in the freezing, arid environment.'
While a few of the organisms were able to handle the gamma rays scientists shot at them, it wasthat was, per their reckoning, "particularly well-suited" to the extreme cold and dry of Mars.
Conan the Bacterium would, the researchers noted, not survive very long at all when bathed in the ultraviolet light the Sun shines on Mars' surface — but when buried just 10 centimeters, it could survive 1.5 million years; buried 10 meters below, that figure increases to 280 million years. Daly and the Northwestern team are now urging future Mars missions that bring back and study samples to test for— and also to make sure that they do so safely out of fear of alien contamination on Earth.