Spectacular Mars Images Reveal Evidence of Ancient Lakes (via ScienceDaily)
Spectacular satellite images suggest that Mars was warm enough to sustain lakes three billion years ago, a period that was previously thought to be too cold and arid to sustain water on the surface, according to research published in the journal Geology.
Life on Mars Theory Boosted by New Methane Study (via SienceDaily, photo via BBC)
Scientists have ruled out the possibility that methane is delivered to Mars by meteorites, raising fresh hopes that the gas might be generated by life on the red planet, in research published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
Methane has a short lifetime of just a few hundred years on Mars because it is constantly being depleted by a chemical reaction in the planet’s atmosphere, caused by sunlight. Scientists analysing data from telescopic observations and unmanned space missions have discovered that methane on Mars is being constantly replenished by an unknown source and they are keen to uncover how the levels of methane are being topped up.
Researchers had thought that meteorites might be responsible for Martian methane levels because when the rocks enter the planet’s atmosphere they are subjected to intense heat, causing a chemical reaction that releases methane and other gases into the atmosphere.
However, the new study, by researchers from Imperial College London, shows that the volumes of methane that could be released by the meteorites entering Mars’s atmosphere are too low to maintain the current atmospheric levels of methane. Previous studies have also ruled out the possibility that the methane is delivered through volcanic activity.
This leaves only two plausible theories to explain the gas’s presence, according to the researchers behind the latest findings. Either there are microorganisms living in the Martian soil that are producing methane gas as a by-product of their metabolic processes, or methane is being produced as a by-product of reactions between volcanic rock and water….
‘Trash Can’ Nuclear Reactors Could Power Human Outpost On Moon Or Mars (via ScienceDaily)
NASA has made a series of critical strides toward the development of new nuclear reactors the size of a trash can that could power a human outpost on the moon or Mars. Three recent tests at different NASA centers and a national lab have successfully demonstrated key technologies required for compact fission-based nuclear power plants for human settlements on other worlds…..
Patterns In Mars Crater Floors Give Picture Of Drying Lakes (via ScienceDaily)
Briny Pools 'May Exist On Mars'
Pools of salty water might be able to exist just below the surface of Mars, planetary scientists believe.
Researchers previously thought water existed largely as ice or as vapour on Mars, because of the low temperatures and atmospheric pressure.
But Nasa’s Phoenix lander has shown the presence in Martian soil of perchlorate salts, which can keep water liquid at temperatures of minus 70C.
