Can Martian soil kill Earth microbes? Water bears reveal surprising clues
Scientists are using one of Earth’s toughest microscopic creatures to explore an important question for future space travel: Could the soil on Mars naturally...
Early Mars was warm and wet not icy
A recent study showed that Mars was warm and wet billions of years ago.
The finding contrasts with another theory that this era was mainly...
Mars’ “young” volcanoes tell a story of long, hidden activity
Volcanoes may look like simple mountains that erupted once and then fell silent, but in reality they are often the surface expression of complex...
How a single Martian storm triggered massive water loss
Mars’ water disappeared somewhere, but scientists have been disagreeing for years about where exactly it went.
Data from rovers like Perseverance and Curiosity, along with...
A strange Martian dust storm offers new clues to how Mars lost its water
Mars today is a cold, dry desert, but its surface tells a very different story.
Ancient river channels, lake basins, and minerals formed in water...
NASA rover finds 3.5-billion-year-old Martian shoreline in Jezero crater
Scientists exploring Mars have uncovered strong new evidence that the Red Planet once had wave-washed beaches and long-lasting water activity, making it an even...
Perseverance Rover discovers an ancient Martian beach, complete with waves
When the rover now named Perseverance landed in Jezero crater in early 2021, scientists already knew they had picked an interesting place to scope...
How tiny Mars helps set Earth’s ice ages
Mars is only about half the size of Earth and has just one-tenth of our planet’s mass.
Compared with giants like Jupiter, it seems far...
Thin ice may have kept ancient Martian lakes alive for decades
For years, scientists have faced a puzzling contradiction about Mars.
On one hand, the planet is covered with ancient lake beds, shorelines, and sediment layers...
How ancient Mars may have kept its lakes liquid
For years, scientists have puzzled over a contradiction on Mars.
The planet’s surface is covered with features that look unmistakably like ancient lake beds—shorelines, layered...