Scientists have traced the tracks of Mars’ tears, and it turns out they really are liquid water flowing on the planet right next door. On Earth, where we find water, we find life, so …
Mars is generally a pretty cold place (-80 degrees F on average), and most of its water tends to take solid form, but the Martian summer can see temperatures of up to 70 degrees around the equator, which results in flowing, salty water seeping out of the planet’s surface. This Martian geological phenomenon has been known to scientists for some time, but they’ve just now determined that it’s officially liquid water causing the streaking effect and not some other event.
The concrete evidence of the discovery was published in a study today, and NASA has called a press conference for a major Mars science announcement at 11:30 AM EDT, which seems to be when they’ll officially talk about the findings—unless they’ve found something else interesting, too. You can watch the press conference live above while you daydream about looking for microbial life in Mars’ tears.
(via The Verge, image via NASA/Greg Shirah)
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