TED2017
Armando Azua-Bustos: The most Martian place on Earth
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How can you study Mars without a spaceship? Head to the most Martian place on Earth -- the Atacama Desert in Chile. Astrobiologist Armando Azua-Bustos grew up in this vast, arid landscape and now studies the rare life forms that have adapted to survive there, some in areas with no reported rainfall for the past 400 years. Explore the possibility of finding life elsewhere in the universe without leaving the planet with this quick, funny talk.
Armando Azua-Bustos - Astrobiologist
TED Fellow Armando Azua-Bustos studies how microbial life has adapted to survive in the Atacama Desert, the driest place on Earth. Full bio
TED Fellow Armando Azua-Bustos studies how microbial life has adapted to survive in the Atacama Desert, the driest place on Earth. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
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This is a picture of a sunset on Mars
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taken by NASA's Curiosity rover in 2013.
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Mars is a very cold planet,
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flooded with high levels of UV radiation
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and extremely dry.
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In fact, Mars is considered
to be too dry for life as we know it.
to be too dry for life as we know it.
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I'm an astrobiologist.
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I try to understand
the origin of life on Earth
the origin of life on Earth
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and the possibilities of finding life
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elsewhere in the universe.
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People sometimes ask me,
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how can you be an astrobiologist
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if you don't have your own spaceship?
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Well, what I do is that I study life
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in those environments on Earth
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that most closely resemble
other interesting places in the universe.
other interesting places in the universe.
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All life on Earth requires water,
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so in my case I focus
on the intimate relationship
on the intimate relationship
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between water and life
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in order to understand
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if we could find life
in a planet as dry as Mars.
in a planet as dry as Mars.
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But since I do not have
the 2.5 billion dollars
the 2.5 billion dollars
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to send my own robot to Mars,
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I study the most Martian place on Earth,
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the Atacama Desert.
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Located in northern Chile,
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it is the oldest
and driest desert on Earth.
and driest desert on Earth.
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To give you an idea of how dry it is,
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consider here in Vancouver it rains
over 1,000 millimeters of rain every year.
over 1,000 millimeters of rain every year.
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In the Atacama, there are places
with no reported rains
with no reported rains
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in the last 400 years.
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How do I know this?
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Well, because I was born
and raised in the Atacama --
and raised in the Atacama --
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(Laughter)
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So I had a unique advantage
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when I started studying this desert.
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So let me tell you guys
a few fantastic examples
a few fantastic examples
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he has found
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on how life has adapted
to live with almost no water at all.
to live with almost no water at all.
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One of my first findings
was in the entrance of a cave
was in the entrance of a cave
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facing the Pacific Ocean.
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In this place, we reported
a new type of microalgae
a new type of microalgae
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that grew only on top of the spiderwebs
that covered the cave entrance.
that covered the cave entrance.
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Have you ever seen a spiderweb
early in the morning?
early in the morning?
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It's covered with dew,
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so this microalgae learned
that in order to carry photosynthesis
that in order to carry photosynthesis
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in the coast of the driest
desert on Earth,
desert on Earth,
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they could use the spiderwebs.
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So here they may access
the water from the fogs
the water from the fogs
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that regularly cover
these areas in the morning.
these areas in the morning.
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In another cave, we found
a different type of microalgae.
a different type of microalgae.
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This one is able to use ocean mist
as a source of water,
as a source of water,
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and strikingly lives
in the very bottom of a cave,
in the very bottom of a cave,
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so it has adapted to live
with less than 0.1 percent
with less than 0.1 percent
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of the amount of light
that regular plants need.
that regular plants need.
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These type of findings
suggest to me that on Mars,
suggest to me that on Mars,
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we may find even
photosynthetic life inside caves.
photosynthetic life inside caves.
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And by the way, that's me.
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(Laughter)
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Now, for almost 15 years
this region of Yungay, discovered by NASA,
this region of Yungay, discovered by NASA,
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was thought to be
the driest place of this desert,
the driest place of this desert,
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but I knew that it was not.
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How? You already know the answer.
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Because I was born
and raised in this desert.
and raised in this desert.
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So I remembered that I
usually see fogs in Yungay,
usually see fogs in Yungay,
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so after setting sensors
in a number of places,
in a number of places,
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where I remember
never seeing fogs or clouds,
never seeing fogs or clouds,
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I reported four other sites
much drier than Yungay,
much drier than Yungay,
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with this one, María Elena South,
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being the truly driest place on Earth,
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as dry as Mars,
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and amazingly, just a 15-minute ride
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from the small mining town
where I was born.
where I was born.
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Now, in this search, we were trying
to actually find the dry limit
to actually find the dry limit
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for life on Earth,
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a place so dry that nothing
was able to survive in it.
was able to survive in it.
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But even here, well hidden underground,
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we found a number
of different microorganisms,
of different microorganisms,
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which suggested to me
that similarly dry places, like Mars,
that similarly dry places, like Mars,
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may be in inhabited.
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We even have some preliminary evidences
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that these microorganisms
may still be active
may still be active
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in the desiccated state,
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like walking mummies all around us,
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and that they may be using
UV radiation as a source of energy.
UV radiation as a source of energy.
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If confirmed, this would have
a huge impact on our definition of life,
a huge impact on our definition of life,
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on how we look for life
elsewhere in the universe.
elsewhere in the universe.
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Due to its clear skies, by 2020,
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60 percent of the biggest
telescopes on Earth
telescopes on Earth
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will be located in the Atacama,
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and while everyone else
will be looking among the stars
will be looking among the stars
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to answer the question, "Are we alone?"
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I will be looking down to the ground
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searching for this same answer
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in my own backyard.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Armando Azua-Bustos - AstrobiologistTED Fellow Armando Azua-Bustos studies how microbial life has adapted to survive in the Atacama Desert, the driest place on Earth.
Why you should listen
Astrobiologist Armando Azua-Bustos is the CEO of Atacama Biotech, where he's working to find and characterize species that are able to survive in the extreme conditions imposed by the Atacama Desert in Chile.
In the past few years, a range of different lifeforms have been discovered in the Atacama, showing fascinating adaptations to extremely low water availability, high UV radiation, high salinity and other environmental stresses. For these same reasons, the desert is considered as a good analog model of the planet Mars.
Azua-Bustos is a TED Fellow. He earned a PhD in molecular genetics and microbiology as well as an MSc in biological sciences and an MSc in biochemistry.
Armando Azua-Bustos | Speaker | TED.com