Greek and British scientists have detected signs of water in a 1.3-billion-year-old Martian meteorite causing a debate on the possibilities of the existence of life on Mars in the past or even the present. The meteorite in question is known as Nakhla, and fell to earth in June of 1911, leaving 40 fragments that were recovered from Egypt at the time.

The Nakhla meteorite scattered by the impact when it fell to Earth in Egypt in 1911

Greek scientists of the National Technical University of Athens, led by Elias Chatzitheodoridis, found an unusual feature in the rock that was an egg-shaped structure made of iron-rich clay and containing a variety of minerals. They found that the rock once held water that was heated and boiled away, possibly as the result of an asteroid impact.

Scanning electron microscope image of the Nakhla meteorite resembles a ‘fossilized biological cell’

“We have been able to show the setting is there to provide life,” said University of Manchester’s Professor Ian Lyon, who led the British side of the study. “It’s not too cold, it’s not too harsh. Life as we know it, in the form of bacteria, for example, could be there, although we haven’t found it yet.”It’s about piecing together the case for life on Mars – it may have existed and in some form could exist still.”

The findings, published in the latest edition of the journal Astrobiology state the procedure used by the scientists in using high resolution imaging to reveal the atomic layers of materials inside the meteorite.