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By Chris Giles, CNN
Updated 5:29 AM ET, Fri July 7, 2017
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Photos: Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression is a window into another world
Danakil Depression – Last spring, scientists studied the Danakil Depression, in Ethiopia, in an attempt to understand how life could exist on Mars.
![danakil 2](http://i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170630120448-danakil-2-small-11.jpg)
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.
![danakil soldiers](http://i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170630122058-danakil-soldiers-small-11.jpg)
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.
![Colorful places Danakil Depression-632552438](http://i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170509103920-colorful-places-danakil-depression-632552438-small-11.jpg)
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.
![NASA Ethiopia](http://i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170330160050-nasa-ethiopia-small-11.jpg)
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.
![Colorful places Danakil Depression-632552274](http://i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170509103901-colorful-places-danakil-depression-632552274-small-11.jpg)
Photos: Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression is a window into another world
Danakil Depression – An Afar man, the people who live in the Danakil region, leads a line of camels along the salt plains.
![ethiopia travel camel danakil](http://i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170206172258-ethiopia-travel-camel-danakil-small-11.jpg)
Photos: Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression is a window into another world
Danakil Depression – “If you stay outside for too long you start to burn. At times you have to put a mask on and avoid breathing in the toxic air,” Gómez says.
![salt pan danakil](http://i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170202135731-salt-pan-danakil-small-11.jpg)
Photos: Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression is a window into another world
Danakil Depression – Temperatures average 34.5 degrees Celsius but have risen to over 50 degrees. Rocks are colored by minerals and algae.
![GettyImages-632552830](http://i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170202123037-gettyimages-632552830-small-11.jpg)
The Danakil Depression in northern Ethiopia is an extreme environment. The air is toxic with chloride from the volcanic springs and heat reaches temperatures upwards of 50 degrees Celsius.
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