--- title: "Scientists Say There Could Be Life on Mercury" description: "According to a new study published last week, there's a minuscule chance that Mercury, our Sun's closest neighbor, has all it needs to host life." date: "2020-03-24" modified: "2020-03-24" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/life-on-mercury-water" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Exobiology" - "Space" tags: - "alien life" - "Mercury" - "the digest" --- # Scientists Say There Could Be Life on Mercury ![]() *\Image: NASA/Victor Tangermann\* ## Mercurious According to [a study]() published last week in the journal *Scientific Reports*, there's a minuscule chance that Mercury, our Sun's closest neighbor, has all it needs to host life. “It is possible that as long as there was water, the temperatures would be appropriate for the survival and possibly the origin of life,” co-author Jeffrey Kargel from the Planetary Science Institute [told *The New York* *Times*](). ## Bubbling Up In the study, the team of researchers suggest that the Mercury's chaotic surface isn't the result of earthquakes, as the prevailing theory holds. Instead, they argue, cracks in the surface are rather caused by volatiles — elements that can quickly switch from one state to another such as a liquid turning into a gas — bubbling up from below. Volatiles such as water could provide an environment friendly to life underground — the surface itself is far too hot, heating up to around 800 degrees Fahrenheit during the day. ## Not Completely Nuts The idea of life on Mercury is still a long shot, but the researchers are hopeful. "I thought \[co-author\] Alexis \[Rodriguez\] had lost it at some point," Kargel told the *Times*. "But the more I dug into the geologic evidence and the more I thought about the chemistry and physical conditions there, the more I realized that this idea — well it might be nuts, but it’s not completely nuts." **READ MORE:** [Life on the Planet Mercury? ‘It’s Not Completely Nuts’]() \[*The New York Times*\] **More on Mercury:** *[Mercury Is Every Planet in the Solar System’s Closest Neighbor]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()