But the case for life on the red planet just got a little stronger with a new study that suggests salty waters thought to potentially exist near the surface could hold enough dissolved oxygen to support familiar forms of microbial life. In some special cases, there would even be enough of the element to harbor basic oxygen-loving animals like sponges.

This certainly doesn't mean there is life on Mars—scientists aren't even sure if liquid water flows on or near its surface. However, the surprising research, published today in Nature Geoscience, hints that perhaps the modern Mars environment is not quite as inhospitable as we once thought.

“That's the thing of habitability; we never thought that environment could have that much