DARK streaks running across the surface of Mars are evidence of flowing salty
water — a requirement for alien life.
Boffins confirmed it is the strongest indication yet that there could be life
on the Red Planet.
Despite its -50°C climate, salts can absorb water from the atmosphere and
lower its freezing point, making it possible for liquid water to exist.
Evidence was found in incredible new photos of tide marks on Mars — left
behind by salty water.
The streaks contain “hydrated salts” just like those left behind by briny
water when it evaporates on Earth.
The amount of salt in the water will determine if it can support life — low
levels, like the water on Earth, are optimal.
Writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, the Nasa boffins said: “Our findings
strongly support the hypothesis that recurring slope lineae form as a result
of contemporary water activity on Mars.
“Water is essential to life as we know it. The presence of liquid water on
Mars today has astrobiological, geologic and hydrologic implications and may
affect future human exploration.”
Nasa scientist Alfred McEwen said he thinks the water could be coming from the
atmosphere.
He said: “Where the water comes from remains a mystery.
“It has to come from either the atmosphere or the ground, or both, via shallow
ground ice, but there are problems with both ideas… I’m favouring the idea
that it comes from the atmosphere.”
The research is based on images taken from the American space agency Nasa’s
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.