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Scientists Have Spotted the Signs of Flowing Water On Mars

New submitter universe520 writes: Using neat imaging technology that allows them to determine the chemical compound of a substance by looking at the light reflected from it, scientists have spotted the traces of flowing water on Mars. By looking at the dark streaks on some photos of Mars, Lujendra Ojha from Georgia Tech has found compounds that are made in liquid water—meaning that water may be trickling down those streaks when the climate is just right. From the linked Economist piece: Details remain to be worked out, including where the water in question originates. Possibly, it derives from subsurface ice. Or it might condense out of Mars’s thin, dry atmosphere. Wherever it does come from, though, the amounts in question are modest in the extreme. But even modest amounts of water are intriguing to biologists. If Martians evolved during their planet’s earlier, wetter phase, the continued presence of water means it is just about possible that a few especially hardy types have survived until the present day—clinging on in dwindling pockets of dampness in the way that some “extremophile” bacteria on Earth are able to live in cold, salty and arid environments.

4 of 260 comments (clear)

  1. Re:All the proof we need by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Funny

    Cruz/Palin 2016 - Restoring America from the Liberal War against common sense

    Nah.

    Cthulhu / Dagon 2016 - Why vote for the lesser evil?

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  2. Re:Hey NASA! Pics or it didn't happen... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    And then, I want to send a lander there to extract it, put it in little plastic bottles and sell it for $1+E08/liter: "Martian water. Sustainably sourced from a planet unspoiled for 4 billion years."

  3. Re:All the proof we need by cat_jesus · · Score: 5, Funny

    People who resort to hyperbole are worse than Hitler.

  4. Re:Let's face it... by Boronx · · Score: 3, Funny

    Then they will go to heaven.