LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Scientists estimate that at two million years ago, the Taylor Glacier sealed beneath it a small body of water which contained an ancient community of microbes. Trapped below a thick layer of ice, the microbes have remained there forever afterwards, isolated inside a natural time capsule.

Evolving independently of the rest of the world, these microbes exist in a place with no light or free oxygen and little heat -- the definition of "primordial ooze."

The trapped lake underneath has a very high salinity and is rich in iron, which gives the waterfall its red color. A fissure in the glacier allows the sub-glacial lake to flow out, forming the falls without contaminating the ecosystem within.

The Blood Falls ecosystem demonstrates that life is still possible in the most extreme conditions on Earth. Scientists discount whether or not the phenomenon proves life could exist on other planets with similar environments and similar bodies of frozen water -- Mars and Jupiter's moon Europa being a foremost example - as it would have to arise from a completely different chain of events.

Indeed, scientists of the NASA Astrobiology Institute speculate that these worlds could contain subglacial liquid water environments favorable to hosting elementary forms of life, which would be better protected at depth from ultraviolet and cosmic radiation than on the surface.

Even if it doesn't confirm extraterrestrial life, this planet's Blood Falls is still a wonder to behold.