(signs of) Life on Mars

The mars rover Spirit has uncovered a batch of pure silica on a plateau called "Home Plate" on the Martian surface. Researchers say that this silica may be the result of a fumarole-or hot spring that emits acidic steam. Similar springs on Earth are typically teeming with microbial life-which leads scientists to believe that this bed of silica may be the ancient graveyard of martian microbes. While not much is understood about the fossilization of microbes in a fumarolic environment, research is being done here on earth to determine if such fossils may be available on the surface of Mars.

via telegraph.co.uk