Dark streaks on Mars are evidence of liquid water on the red planet, NASA said in a groundbreaking announcement Monday, fueling further speculation that if life ever existed on Mars, it could persist to today. Satellite images captured the telltale signs of downhill flowing water on what appear to be slopes associated with salt deposits — salt being key, as it would keep water from freezing or turning to vapor in Mars' air.
"There pretty much has to have been liquid water recently present to produce the hydrated salt," Alfred S. McEwen, the principal investigator of images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, told The New York Times.
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