Chinese Scientists Discover Plant Syntrichia caninervis That Could Survive On Mars

Scientists have been busy exploring the possibility of life on Mars for decades. Now Chinese scientists have claimed to have made a major discovery in this direction. Scientists have discovered a plant that can survive even in the harsh conditions of Mars! However, scientists have only expressed this possibility so far. This plant is found in Antarctica and the Mojave Desert. This is a type of desert moss, about which scientists have expressed the possibility that it could be the key to the growth of life on the Red Planet.

The Guardian According to a report, the scientific name of this desert moss is Syntrichia caninervis. Scientists have said about it that it can tolerate infinite heat, infinite cold, and radiation. The team of researchers has said that their study lays the foundation for establishing a colony in space which will contain naturally selected plants, which will be able to survive even in the challenging conditions there.

Regarding Syntrichia caninervis, the study says that its environmental resilience proves it to be above all those microorganisms which can keep themselves alive even in extremely stressful environments. Scientists are saying that this is a pioneer plant that can lay the foundation for the discharge of human habitation from the Earth into space. This study has been published in a journal called The Innovation.

Researchers reported in the article about Syntricia caninervis that this desert moss was not only able to survive in such an environment, but it also recovered itself from extreme lack of water. That means it can recover itself even from high level dehydration. The plant was exposed to gamma rays at minus 196 degrees Celsius for 30 days. It was kept at minus 80 degrees Celsius for 5 years. Nevertheless it continued to develop itself normally.

Apart from this, the team prepared a pressure field for it like that of Mars, the same temperature was passed over it, it was kept in gases and ultraviolet radiation. When it was seen after seven days, it was still alive. Scientists seem confident that this plant can definitely survive in the challenging environment of Mars. However, more intensive research is yet to be done in this field, but in the form of Syntrichia caninervis, scientists have found a plant that can lay the foundation of life outside the Earth in space.