Scientists recently discovered remnants of freshwater plants and animals buried in the sediment of the desert's salt flats: the large stretches of dry, salty soil that pepper the Atacama Desert.

Chile’s desiccated Atacama Desert was once considered a dead zone, but it hides great riches that could help us tackle a major threat to human health. Staring out across the desolate landscape ...

The salt basins of the Atacama Desert in the high Andes are formidable places to call home. Located in a desert atop a high-altitude plateau in the middle Skip to main content Skip to footer site map ...

Life in the Atacama Desert has adapted to thrive in some of the driest conditions on Earth. Laguna de Tuyajto, a salt lake in Los Flamencos National Reserve, adds color to the desert landscape ...

Chile’s Atacama Desert is so dry that some spots see rain only once a decade. Salt turns the sandy soil inhospitable, and ultraviolet radiation scorches the surface. So little can survive there ...

Feb. 28 (UPI) --Scientists have identified unique, salt-resistant bacteria living beneath the surface of Chile's Atacama desert, the most Mars-like environment on Earth. Researchers used a robotic ...

The extractor ingests soil and regolith samples and mixes them with water. Then, ... Citation: Detecting life in the ultra-dry Atacama Desert (2017, April 21) ...

2004-02-01 04:00:00 PDT San Pedro de Atacama, Chile-- If I wanted to enter the crystal canyon, I was going to have to jump off the edge of a 300-foot-high dune. Jorge, our guide, threw himself ...

For a long time, the extremely dry soils of the Chilean Atacama Desert were considered completely lifeless. In one of its driest regions, a team of scientists around Lucas Horstmann and Dirk ...

A detector has proven itself by finding microbial life in the salty soil below Chile's Atacama Desert, scientists say. Mars is believed to harbor similar habitats, they say.

Reporting from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile — Only four people live in the village of Machuca, 13,000 feet up in the Chilean Andes, and all of them are related to Joel Colque. Colque, who grew up ...

Researchers have discovered a jaw-dropping ecosystem of crystal-clear lagoons and salt plains in Argentina's Puna de Atacama desert that could offer a window onto early life on Earth and Mars.