“If I want water, I’ll have to make it from scratch. Fortunately, I know the recipe: Take hydrogen. Add oxygen. Burn.” -Andy Weir
It wasn't merely one discovery that led to the announcement of liquid water on Mars, but a slew of pieces of evidence of a watery past, including dried-up riverbeds, sedimentary rock formations, martian spherules, frozen lakes and subsurface ice.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/USGS, Mars Opportunity Rover.
Couple that with the recurring slope lineae -- and the discovery that they grow and leave salt deposits behind -- and you've got a planet with not only liquid water, but possibly the potential for life right now on the surface.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona via Reuters.
Go read and view the whole story for Mostly Mute Monday.
In addition, thanks to our Patreon, the discovery of water on Mars will be the topic of our first Starts With A Bang podcast, with patrons getting access to it before anyone else! If you've got a question or sub-topic you'd like to see covered, leave it here and you just might be in luck!
- Log in to post comments
More like this
... and you’ve got a planet with not only liquid water, but possibly the potential for life right now on the surface.
Air pressure on earth is 100 times that of Mars', makes me wonder if life would explode over there? Some rocks, sand and crystals could hold tight but flexing organisms?
Agh stupid me ... of course in water and underground there would be sufficient pressure.