Mars on Earth: Scientists look to the Danakil Depression for clues to alien life

By Chris Giles, for CNN

Updated 1040 GMT (1840 HKT) July 7, 2017

In spring 2016, scientists studied the Danakil Depression, in Ethiopia, in an attempt to understand how life could exist on Mars.
Photos: Ethiopia's Danakil Depression is a window into another world
Danakil Depression – In spring 2016, scientists studied the Danakil Depression, in Ethiopia, in an attempt to understand how life could exist on Mars.
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"We identified the Danakil Depression as a very extreme environment where the conditions in which life could exist would be amazing," explains researcher Felipe Gómez Gómez.
Photos: Ethiopia's Danakil Depression is a window into another world
Danakil Depression – "We identified the Danakil Depression as a very extreme environment where the conditions in which life could exist would be amazing," explains researcher Felipe Gómez Gómez.
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His team, researchers from the University of Bologna and the International Research School of Planetary Science, traveled to Danakil to study extremophiles, resilient organisms that can exist in harsh conditions.
Photos: Ethiopia's Danakil Depression is a window into another world
Danakil Depression – His team, researchers from the University of Bologna and the International Research School of Planetary Science, traveled to Danakil to study extremophiles, resilient organisms that can exist in harsh conditions.
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This hypersaline lake, called Lake Afrera, can be seen in this image taken by the NASA Terra spacecraft.
Photos: Ethiopia's Danakil Depression is a window into another world
Danakil Depression – This hypersaline lake, called Lake Afrera, can be seen in this image taken by the NASA Terra spacecraft.
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It is one of the hottest and most inhospitable places on Earth, but Ethiopians continue a centuries-old industry of mining salt from the ground by hand.
Photos: Ethiopia's Danakil Depression is a window into another world
Danakil Depression – It is one of the hottest and most inhospitable places on Earth, but Ethiopians continue a centuries-old industry of mining salt from the ground by hand.
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An Afar man, the people who live in the Danakil region, leads a line of camels along the salt plains.