Top boffins from Essex University have made an astonishing discovery which could mean there really is life on Mars.

Scientists have found a new group of microbes living in extreme conditions deep in the Mediterranean Sea.

Researchers say finding tiny bugs in such a hostile environment means life-forms could exist on other planets.

The miracle microbes survive miles down in oxygen-starved water where pressures are a staggering 400 times greater than the surface.

The chemical soup contains ten times more salt than seawater. Crucially it is rich in magnesium similar to conditions on Mars.

Experts - including eight Essex scientists - have been carrying out tests off Sicily's east coast for three years.

Dr Terry McGenity, the Essex team's leader, said: "We were really surprised because all previous reports suggested life can't usually exist in that environment."

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Published Friday, January 14, 2005

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