Italian researchers say they have found a a subterranean lake near the south pole of Mars, leading to questions about whether it could host some sort of life.

The study published in the US Science magazine on Wednesday was conducted by a team led by Roberto Orosei from the National Institute of Astrophysics in Bologna.  Relying on radar information gathered by the Mars Express mission by the European Space Agency (ESA), Dr. Orosei's team charted a "very sharp change in its associated radar signal," allowing scientists to map the outlines of the lake.  

"The radar profile of this area is similar to that of lakes of liquid water found beneath the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets on Earth, suggesting that there is a subglacial lake at this location on Mars," read the report.

Even though the temperature at the lake's location is a very chilly -68 C Degrees, the researchers believe it's a liquid lake.  This would be possible if it has a large content of salt which significantly changes the freezing point.

Mars used to have rivers and oceans of liquid water billions of years ago, and still has water vapor in the thin atmosphere as well as ice crystals at the poles.