Several scientific news agencies have published findings that have recently come to light from Europe’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) spacecraft, which detected signs of hydrogen chloride gas leaking from fissures near Alba Mons, the largest Martian volcano in terms of surface area [2.2 million square miles—comparable to the size of India] (Olympus Mons is the largest in terms of height—about 2.5 times the height of Mt. Everest), reported Live Science.

Although more research is required to confirm the findings, scientists are already excited because this indicates that the area around Alba Mons may have a similar environment to hydrothermal vents on Earth, which some believe is where life may have originated on Earth, and which still supports many forms of life today.

The study, which was published in ScienceAdvances on November 4, suggests that magma may still be moving beneath Mars, meaning the planet is not entirely geologically dead. That’s exciting because active geology provides heat, energy, and chemically rich environments that can support life. On Earth, some of the oldest ecosystems thrive around hydrothermal vents, which many scientists believe may have hosted the first life. The new research suggests similar hydrothermal systems could exist beneath the Martian surface today. Like early Earth, ancient Mars likely experienced interactions between water and volcanism, creating warm, nutrient-rich environments. Such settings are especially important because microbial life can survive without sunlight by drawing energy from chemical reactions involving gases and minerals released by magma, reported Live Science.

However, this hypothesis about the origins of life may be to biology what the ‘Big Bang’ theory is to physics, which is currently being challenged by new discoveries made by the James Webb Space Telescope and those anticipated by the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Could life really be generated by the accretion of more and more bits of inorganic matter?