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Scientists Map Ancient Mars River Basins For First Time, Offering New Clues In Search For Past Life
This research was published on November 24 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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ESA Reveals City-Size ‘Cosmic Butterfly’ Crater on Mars Containing Signs of Ancient Water
ESA has captured a city-sized butterfly-shaped crater on Mars with smooth wings likely formed by melted underground ice. Studying this rare structure helps scientists understand asteroid impacts, Mars’ surface ice, and the planet’s ancient watery past while offering insight into how unusual crater formations develop on the Red Planet.
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AI-Assisted Study Finds No Evidence of Liquid Water in Mars’ Seasonal Dark Streaks
A large-scale AI analysis of more than two million Mars orbiter images shows that the planet’s dark slope streaks form through seasonal dust avalanches, not flowing briny water. The results settle a long-running debate, revealing that wind-driven dust activity shapes Mars’ surface and offering new insights into the planet’s climate past and e...
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Exploding Dry Ice May Explain Mars’ Puzzling Dune Patterns, Study Finds
Scientists recreated Martian gullies in a lab and found they were carved by exploding CO₂ ice blocks, not flowing water. The discovery explains how these trenches form naturally and offers new insight into Mars’ ever-changing landscape
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NASA’s Perseverance Rover Spots Helmet-Like Rock on Mars, Sparks Geology Debate
NASA’s Perseverance rover has photographed a helmet-shaped rock on Mars. Nicknamed “Horneflya,” the unusual spherule-covered formation intrigues scientists exploring how water, volcanic activity, or chemical processes shaped the Martian surface. Captured by Mastcam-Z, the discovery adds to Perseverance’s catalogue of strange formations and ...
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ESA’s Mars Express Discovers Deep Valleys and Frozen Features Hinting at Mars’ Icy Past
In July 2025, the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter captured a high-resolution image of Acheron Fossae, a region marked by deep chasms and ridges on Mars’s surface. These features, created by ancient crustal stretching, split the terrain into raised horsts and sunken grabens. Valley floors reveal smooth surfaces carved by slow-moving...
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NASA’s Curiosity Rover Spots Ancient Coral-Like Rock on Mars
On July 24, 2025, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured an image of a small, coral-shaped rock in Gale Crater using its ChemCam Remote Micro Imager. The light-colored, 1-inch (2.5 cm) formation likely formed billions of years ago when mineral-rich water seeped into tiny fractures in the rock, leaving behind hardened mineral veins after evaporation...
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Glaciers On Mars Are Mostly Water Ice, Study Finds
Scientists used the SHAllow RADar (SHARAD) instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to study the glaciers.
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AI Reveals Mars’s Mysterious Slope Streaks Likely Formed by Dust, Not Water Activity
An AI-based study has found that Mars’s mysterious dark slope streaks are likely formed by dust and wind, not flowing water as long believed. Based on an analysis of over 86,000 satellite images, the findings challenge past theories and may help scientists focus future Mars missions on more promising areas in the search for ancient life.
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NASA’s Perseverance Explores Mars' Oldest Rocks in Krokodillen Region
NASA’s Perseverance rover has reached Krokodillen, a 73-acre plateau near Jezero Crater's rim believed to host some of Mars’ oldest rocks. Preliminary data shows signs of clays, carbonates, and olivine minerals, suggesting ancient water activity. Currently examining a site named Copper Cove, the rover is using a new sampling strategy that allow...
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New Study Uses AI to Reveal Dry Origins of Mars’ Mysterious Slope Streaks
A new study by researchers at Brown University and the University of Bern used machine learning to analyze 86,000 high-resolution images of Mars. Their findings suggest that recurring slope lineae (RSLs)—dark streaks once thought to indicate liquid water—are actually caused by dry processes like wind and dust movement. With over 500,000 feature...
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Water on Ancient Mars? New Study Challenges the Cold Planet Theory
Scientists have uncovered compelling evidence suggesting that early Mars was surprisingly wet, featuring extensive networks of lakes and river basins shaped by rainfall and snowfall. This challenges long-held views of a predominantly cold and icy ancient Mars. Despite current climate models struggling to explain sustained liquid water on the Red Pl...
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NASA’s Perseverance Rover Discovers a Large Number of Unique Rock Samples on Jezero Crater’s Rim
NASA's Perseverance rover is exploring the Martian rim of Jezero Crater, a crater filled with rocky outcrops. The mission has cored five rocks, performed up-close analysis of seven rocks, and analysed another 83 from afar using a laser. The diversity of rocks found has exceeded expectations, with tons of fragmented once-molten rocks and formerly un...
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New Study Challenges Claims of Vast Underground Water on Mars
Mars’ water history remains a mystery as new research questions the claim that vast amounts of water are stored beneath its surface. A study led by Bruce Jakosky argues that previous estimates of Mars’ mid-crust being saturated with liquid water may be inaccurate. The findings challenge earlier interpretations of seismic data from NASA’s InSi...
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New Research Reveals Mars’ Red Colour Linked to Ancient Water Presence
A recent study suggests that Mars’ red hue originates from ferrihydrite, an iron oxide that forms in water-rich environments. Scientists recreated Martian dust in labs and found that the mineral remained stable despite the planet’s dry conditions. Data from orbiting spacecraft and rovers confirm this discovery, reshaping theories about Mars’ ...
-
Scientists Map Ancient Mars River Basins For First Time, Offering New Clues In Search For Past Life
This research was published on November 24 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
-
ESA Reveals City-Size ‘Cosmic Butterfly’ Crater on Mars Containing Signs of Ancient Water
ESA has captured a city-sized butterfly-shaped crater on Mars with smooth wings likely formed by melted underground ice. Studying this rare structure helps scientists understand asteroid impacts, Mars’ surface ice, and the planet’s ancient watery past while offering insight into how unusual crater formations develop on the Red Planet.
-
AI-Assisted Study Finds No Evidence of Liquid Water in Mars’ Seasonal Dark Streaks
A large-scale AI analysis of more than two million Mars orbiter images shows that the planet’s dark slope streaks form through seasonal dust avalanches, not flowing briny water. The results settle a long-running debate, revealing that wind-driven dust activity shapes Mars’ surface and offering new insights into the planet’s climate past and e...
-
Exploding Dry Ice May Explain Mars’ Puzzling Dune Patterns, Study Finds
Scientists recreated Martian gullies in a lab and found they were carved by exploding CO₂ ice blocks, not flowing water. The discovery explains how these trenches form naturally and offers new insight into Mars’ ever-changing landscape
-
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Spots Helmet-Like Rock on Mars, Sparks Geology Debate
NASA’s Perseverance rover has photographed a helmet-shaped rock on Mars. Nicknamed “Horneflya,” the unusual spherule-covered formation intrigues scientists exploring how water, volcanic activity, or chemical processes shaped the Martian surface. Captured by Mastcam-Z, the discovery adds to Perseverance’s catalogue of strange formations and ...
-
ESA’s Mars Express Discovers Deep Valleys and Frozen Features Hinting at Mars’ Icy Past
In July 2025, the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter captured a high-resolution image of Acheron Fossae, a region marked by deep chasms and ridges on Mars’s surface. These features, created by ancient crustal stretching, split the terrain into raised horsts and sunken grabens. Valley floors reveal smooth surfaces carved by slow-moving...
-
NASA’s Curiosity Rover Spots Ancient Coral-Like Rock on Mars
On July 24, 2025, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured an image of a small, coral-shaped rock in Gale Crater using its ChemCam Remote Micro Imager. The light-colored, 1-inch (2.5 cm) formation likely formed billions of years ago when mineral-rich water seeped into tiny fractures in the rock, leaving behind hardened mineral veins after evaporation...
-
Glaciers On Mars Are Mostly Water Ice, Study Finds
Scientists used the SHAllow RADar (SHARAD) instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to study the glaciers.
-
AI Reveals Mars’s Mysterious Slope Streaks Likely Formed by Dust, Not Water Activity
An AI-based study has found that Mars’s mysterious dark slope streaks are likely formed by dust and wind, not flowing water as long believed. Based on an analysis of over 86,000 satellite images, the findings challenge past theories and may help scientists focus future Mars missions on more promising areas in the search for ancient life.
-
NASA’s Perseverance Explores Mars' Oldest Rocks in Krokodillen Region
NASA’s Perseverance rover has reached Krokodillen, a 73-acre plateau near Jezero Crater's rim believed to host some of Mars’ oldest rocks. Preliminary data shows signs of clays, carbonates, and olivine minerals, suggesting ancient water activity. Currently examining a site named Copper Cove, the rover is using a new sampling strategy that allow...
-
New Study Uses AI to Reveal Dry Origins of Mars’ Mysterious Slope Streaks
A new study by researchers at Brown University and the University of Bern used machine learning to analyze 86,000 high-resolution images of Mars. Their findings suggest that recurring slope lineae (RSLs)—dark streaks once thought to indicate liquid water—are actually caused by dry processes like wind and dust movement. With over 500,000 feature...
-
Water on Ancient Mars? New Study Challenges the Cold Planet Theory
Scientists have uncovered compelling evidence suggesting that early Mars was surprisingly wet, featuring extensive networks of lakes and river basins shaped by rainfall and snowfall. This challenges long-held views of a predominantly cold and icy ancient Mars. Despite current climate models struggling to explain sustained liquid water on the Red Pl...
-
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Discovers a Large Number of Unique Rock Samples on Jezero Crater’s Rim
NASA's Perseverance rover is exploring the Martian rim of Jezero Crater, a crater filled with rocky outcrops. The mission has cored five rocks, performed up-close analysis of seven rocks, and analysed another 83 from afar using a laser. The diversity of rocks found has exceeded expectations, with tons of fragmented once-molten rocks and formerly un...
-
New Study Challenges Claims of Vast Underground Water on Mars
Mars’ water history remains a mystery as new research questions the claim that vast amounts of water are stored beneath its surface. A study led by Bruce Jakosky argues that previous estimates of Mars’ mid-crust being saturated with liquid water may be inaccurate. The findings challenge earlier interpretations of seismic data from NASA’s InSi...
-
New Research Reveals Mars’ Red Colour Linked to Ancient Water Presence
A recent study suggests that Mars’ red hue originates from ferrihydrite, an iron oxide that forms in water-rich environments. Scientists recreated Martian dust in labs and found that the mineral remained stable despite the planet’s dry conditions. Data from orbiting spacecraft and rovers confirm this discovery, reshaping theories about Mars’ ...
