(Photo Source: CRIENGLISH.com/AFP/NASA)

    Beijing, Sept. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- The European Space Agency(ESA) says it has found concentrations of water vapour and the gas methane in the same places on Mars, which strengthen speculation that the Red Planet could be a haven for microbial life.

    The agency says data obtained by the ESA probe Mars Express and the US spacecraft Mars Odyssey show that in some equatorial locations, low-atmosphere levels of water vapour and methane significantly overlap, China Radio International reported Tuesday.

    The concentrations also coincide with an ice layer a few tens of centimeters below the surface.

    Scientists say these curiosities point to "a common underground source," such as volcanic or hydrothermal activity or, perhaps, bacterial life, which may exist in the water below the ice table.

    In the latter case, the bacteria would produce methane as a natural living process. The gas would be released to the surface and thence to the atmosphere.     

    (CRIENGLISH.com)