New study suggests scientists were wrong about dark streaks on Mars
Since the 1970s, scientists have studied dark streaks seen on Mars' cliff sides and crater walls. The streaks tend to be hundreds of meters long. Some can last for a long time, while others are more short-lived. Those more short-lived slope streaks, called recurring slope lineae, or RSLS, tend to recur in the same areas from year to year, according to a news release announcing the study.
Some scientists believe the streaks are proof of flowing water on the planet and could suggest the Red Planet is home to habitable environments. Others believe the streaks are caused by dry processes, like rock falls or wind gusts, and said the streaks only appear like liquid remnants because scientists are studying orbital images.
Adomas Valantinas, a postdoctoral researcher at Brown University, and Valentin Bickel, a researcher at Switzerland's University of Bern, used machine learning to study the streaks. The process cataloged more than 86,00 high-resolution satellite images of the slope streaks and RSLs. That created a first-of-its-kind global Martian map showing more than half a million such features.
Slope streaks extend across Mars' Arabia Terra, as captured by the European Space Agency's Trace Gas Orbiter.
NASA
"Once we had this global map, we could compare it to databases and catalogs of other things like temperature, wind speed, hydration, rock slide activity and other factors." Bickel said. "Then we could look for correlations over hundreds of thousands of cases to better understand the conditions under which these features form."
The analysis, published in Nature on Monday, found that the slope streaks were not "generally associated with factors that suggest a liquid or frost origin," according to the news release. Such factors would include a specific orientation of slopes, high humidity or surface temperature fluctuations.
What the study did find was that the slopes were more likely to form in places that had above-average wind speeds and dust deposition, likely pointing to a dry origin. The slope streaks were more often found near recent-impact craters and could be caused when shockwaves shake surface dust. RSLs are more common in areas with frequent rockfalls or dust devils.
"Our study reviewed these features but found no evidence of water. Our model favors dry formation processes," Valantinas said.
The results of the study cast doubt on claims that slope streaks could be signs of habitable regions. That means that researchers could send rovers or other spacecraft to explore the areas without contaminating the sites.
"That's the advantage of this big data approach," Valantinas said. "It helps us to rule out some hypotheses from orbit before we send spacecraft to explore."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
20 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Trump moves to shut down NASA missions that measure carbon dioxide and plant health
The Trump administration is moving to shut down two NASA missions that monitor a potent greenhouse gas and plant health, potentially shutting off an important source of data for scientists, policymakers and farmers. President Donald Trump's budget request for fiscal year 2026 includes no money for the Orbiting Carbon Observatories, which can precisely show where carbon dioxide is being emitted and absorbed and how well crops are growing.
CNN
20 minutes ago
- CNN
NASA's Butch Wilmore retires from astronaut corps after spending 9 unexpected months in space
Astronaut Butch Wilmore is retiring from NASA less than five months after he returned from a troubled test mission that left him aboard the International Space Station far longer than expected, the space agency announced Wednesday. Wilmore, along with NASA astronaut Suni Williams, piloted the first crewed flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft last year. The mission gained worldwide attention when the spacecraft experience several serious issues en route to the space station, including thruster outages and gas leaks. Williams and Wilmore had been expected to stay about eight days in orbit. But NASA and Boeing spent weeks attempting to pinpoint what went wrong with their vehicle and assessing whether Starliner was safe to carry the astronauts home. The space agency ultimately decided returning the duo to Earth aboard Starliner was too risky a proposition. NASA announced last August that Williams and Wilmore would join the next International Space Station crew rotation along with two other astronauts on SpaceX's Crew-9 mission and remain aboard the orbiting laboratory for several additional months. Williams and Wilmore ultimately returned home in March — more than nine months after they left Earth. Such a duration of stay in orbit is not uncommon, as astronauts routinely live on the space station for six months or longer when they serve on staff rotation missions. Both astronauts have maintained the position that they were fully prepared for their extended stay in space, saying they each understood the risks and uncertainty associated with test flying a spacecraft for the first time. Williams and Wilmore also repeatedly sought to quash narratives that they were 'abandoned,' 'stuck' or 'stranded' in space. 'That's been the narrative from day one: stranded, abandoned, stuck — and I get it, we both get it,' Wilmore told CNN's Anderson Cooper in February. 'Help us change the narrative, let's change it to: prepared and committed despite what you've been hearing. That's what we prefer.' Wilmore's 'commitment to NASA's mission and dedication to human space exploration is truly exemplary,' said Steve Koerner, the acting head of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, where astronauts train, in a statement Wednesday. 'His lasting legacy of fortitude,' Koerner added, 'will continue to impact and inspire the Johnson workforce, future explorers, and the nation for generations.' Wilmore's departure from NASA follows the example set by Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, the two astronauts who piloted the first crewed test flight of SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule in 2020. That mission marked the last for both Behken and Hurley, who have each since retired. Wilmore, a Naval officer and test pilot who served in 21 combat missions, joined NASA's astronaut corps in 2000. He flew on three missions during his 25 years of service, including a mission on the space shuttle Atlantis and a trip to the space station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Notably, upon his return to Earth on a SpaceX capsule in March, Wilmore said that he would theoretically fly aboard one of Boeing's Starliner capsules again if given the opportunity. 'We're going to rectify all the issues that we encountered. We're going to fix them, we're going to make it work,' Wilmore said during a March 31 news conference. 'And with that, I'd get on in a heartbeat.' Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.
Associated Press
20 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Trump moves to shut down NASA missions that measure carbon dioxide and plant health
The Trump administration is moving to shut down two NASA missions that monitor a potent greenhouse gas and plant health, potentially shutting off an important source of data for scientists, policymakers and farmers. President Donald Trump's budget request for fiscal year 2026 includes no money for the Orbiting Carbon Observatories, which can precisely show where carbon dioxide is being emitted and absorbed and how well crops are growing. NASA said in an emailed statement Wednesday that the missions were 'beyond their prime mission' and being terminated 'to align with the President's agenda and budget priorities.' But the missions — a free-flying satellite launched in 2014 and an instrument attached to the International Space Station in 2019 that include technology used in the Hubble Space Telescope — still are more sensitive and accurate than any other systems in the world, operating or planned, and a 'national asset' that should be saved, said David Crisp, a retired NASA scientist who led their development. They helped scientists discover, for example, that the Amazon rain forest emits more carbon dioxide than it absorbs, while boreal forests in Canada, Russia and places where permafrost is melting absorb more than they emit, Crisp said. They also can detect the 'glow' of photosynthesis in plants, which helps monitor drought and predict food shortages that can lead to civil unrest and famine, he said. 'This is really critical,' Crisp said. 'We're learning so much about this rapidly changing planet.' The decision to end the missions is 'extremely shortsighted,' said Jonathan Overpeck, a climate scientist at the University of Michigan. 'The observations provided by these satellites ... (are) critical for managing growing climate change impacts around the planet, including in the U.S.,' he said. Looking to Congress Crisp and others hope Congress will vote to preserve funding for the missions, which are funded through the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. A bill in the House closely aligns with the president's request and would eliminate the missions, while a Senate version preserves them. But with Congress in recess, it is unclear whether a budget will be adopted before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. If it doesn't, Congress could adopt a resolution to continue current funding until a budget is passed, though some lawmakers fear the Trump administration could try to delay or withhold that money. Congressional Democrats warned acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy last month that it would be illegal to terminate missions or impound funds already appropriated by Congress. Experts said the administration's move to eliminate funding aligns with other actions to cut or bury climate science. 'The principle seems to be that if we stop measuring climate change it will just disappear from the American consciousness,' said University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann. Backup plan Crisp and others also are trying to put together a coalition of outside partners — including from Japan and Europe — that could fund and operate the instrument attached to the space station. NASA said it will accept outside proposals through Aug. 29. The free-flying satellite, though, is at risk of being brought down, meaning it would burn up in the atmosphere. National Public Radio first reported that NASA employees were making plans to end the missions. Crisp said advocates are hoping NASA also allows outside control of that satellite, which covers more of the globe, but there are legal hurdles to overcome because it would mean giving control of a U.S. satellite to a group that could include foreign partners. 'We're going out to billionaires. We're going out to foundations,' Crisp said. 'But ... it's a really, really bad idea to try and push it off onto private industry or private individuals or private donors. It just doesn't make sense.' ___ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
