Scientists find signs of salty, liquid water on Mars

Mars may have water after all thanks to its super salty soil, according to research published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Using data collected by NASA's Curiosity rover, researchers concluded that salt in Mars' soil lowers the freezing point of water just enough to allow small amounts of liquid to condense below the planet's surface at night; in the morning, as temperatures rise, it evaporates. However, the finding does not mean Mars is capable of sustaining life.
"The water activity and temperatures are so low in Mars that they are beyond the limits of cell reproduction and metabolism," Javier Martin-Torres, a lead author of the study, told Discovery News.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
-
Why some people remember dreams and others don't
Under The Radar Age, attitude and weather all play a part in dream recall
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The Week contest: Hotel seal
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
New FBI Director Kash Patel could profit heavily from foreign interests
The Explainer Patel holds more than $1 million in Chinese fashion company Shein
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Pharaoh's tomb discovered for first time in 100 years
Speed Read This is the first burial chamber of a pharaoh unearthed since Tutankhamun in 1922
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Scientists report optimal method to boil an egg
Speed Read It takes two temperatures of water to achieve and no fancy gadgets
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Europe records big leap in renewable energy
Speed Read Solar power overtook coal for the first time
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Blue Origin conducts 1st test flight of massive rocket
Speed Read The Jeff Bezos-founded space company conducted a mostly successful test flight of its 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US won its war on 'murder hornets,' officials say
Speed Read The announcement comes five years after the hornets were first spotted in the US
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Dark energy data suggest Einstein was right
Speed Read Albert Einstein's 1915 theory of general relativity has been proven correct, according to data collected by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New DNA tests of Pompeii dead upend popular stories
Speed Read An analysis of skeletal remains reveals that some Mount Vesuvius victims have been wrongly identified
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
NASA's Europa Clipper blasts off, seeking an ocean
Speed Read The ship is headed toward Jupiter on a yearslong journey
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published