For years there has been an argument of whether or not we are alone in the universe. Many have said that there is life even in our own solar system, perhaps Mars.

On September 25, 2015, a scientist from Nepal, Lujendra Ojha and his crew had a break through in their studies of Mars when they found that their is indeed water on the red planet. The scientist found streaks in the surface that resemble what is running water that only appear in the spring and summer.

As we know, life simply cannot existence without the presence of water. But the recent discovery of the possibility of H2O leads people to believe that there could be life on our neighboring planet.

“I find it hard to believe that we are the only planet that has living and breathing creatures,” said junior Dane Vatter, “I believe the recent water discovery really does provide evidence that there is life on the Red Planet”.

The scientist who had discovered the water say they really do not know where it comes from, but that they have reason to believe that it could be from icy aquifers or from the Martian atmosphere.

In the early 1970’s, NASA sent several spacecraft up to Mars to search for possible signs of life. Instead, they found evidence that there was a dried up surface that used to be a large lake. In February of this year, NASA made another discovery that there very well could have been a large ocean that covered almost half of Mars’ northern hemisphere.

Junior Adam Keller said, “In my opinion, believing Earth is the only planet with life is a very ignorant way of thinking.”

Many people seem to forget that life is not only human, but also at cellular levels. Scientific evidence proves that the first life on Earth was the simplest form of bacteria at the smallest level possible.

When looking at the Earth, there are forms of life everywhere, especially in water.

“Bacteria and other organisms are found in every part of the world, most prominently in water,” said Keller.

But the problem with the water on Mars is that the water is either frozen, underground where we can’t find it, or it is too toxic for organisms to use it. Obviously we all know water  is essential for us to survive, so how is a creature supposed to survive on a planet where water is unavailable or toxic?

One may think that the organisms that could be living on the red planet are underground and have access to the water, or that the organisms that could be living on Mars may simply not need water to survive as humans do.

“Just because we happened to find life on Mars doesn’t mean that there is life there,” said Larkin. “The only evidence is streaks of water that have proven to be toxic so it doesn’t make sense why people believe life exist.”

Until hard evidence proves that there is in fact life on Mars, people are always going to doubt it and the result will be many disputes. It’s crazy to see how much the scientific studies have advanced to the point where they can prove the water, but they still have a long way to go if they want to prove that life on Mars is a definite fact.