Their stand-ins included the bacteriaBacillus subtilisandPseudoalteromonas haloplanktis, as well as the archaeaHaloferax volcanii.

Motility is a small organisms ability to move independently.

By testing both groups, we can make life detection methods more reliable for space missions.

A Martian landscape.

A Martian landscape.NASA

They put the microbes in one chamber, L-serine in the other, and waited.

According to the study, this is normally difficult to achieve even with advanced microscopic techniques.

This method is easy, affordable, and doesnt require powerful computers to analyze the results, he added.

Chemotaxis Method

A new method to detect tiny extraterrestrial life, based on chemotaxis. 2025 Riekeles, Bruder, Adams, Santos and Schulze-Makuch CC BY 4.0 © 2025 Riekeles, Bruder, Adams, Santos and Schulze-Makuch CC BY 4.0

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