For decades the Alaskan permafrost has been offering up frozen specimens to any scientist willing to do the digging. Many of the finds are in near-perfect form, preserved in the frozen ground like meat in the freezer. But normally the specimens are dead.

Not so for a newly discovered micro-organism that may have inter-stellar implications. NASA scientist Richard Hoover announced Wednesday that a microbial life form, frozen at least 30,000 years ago, began swimming the moment it thawed. News of the miraculous re-animation was followed by the announcement by the European Space Agency that a probe had photographed what is believed to be a frozen sea near the equator of Mars. Taken together the two stories have reinvigorated hopes of finding life on the Red Planet.

NASA scientist Richard Hoover describes what went through his mind when a life form that is 30,000 years old started to swim before his eyes.

Guests:

Dr. Richard Hoover, Astrophysisict, Diatomist, Photomicroscopist, and x-ray optics specialist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.