Latest news with #ClaireMondro
MTV Lebanon
18-02-2025
- Science
- MTV Lebanon
Groundbreaking Discovery on Mars Could Be Proof of Life
New evidence of rippling water on Mars could change our understanding of the planet's history. Planetary astronomers and geologists studying Mars have known for decades that water was once present on the planet. The Red Planet is now known as a dusty and cold world, but billions of years ago water flowed on the planet's surface. Its atmosphere thinned over time, causing water to evaporate. Scientists believe this was likely due to the planet losing its magnetic field which left it vulnerable to solar radiation, causing the planet's water to evaporate into space. The new discovery adds further context to the ongoing debate about the form Martian water took and how long it lasted. Some models suggest that any liquid water on the Martian surface would have been covered by sheets of ice before it vanished into the atmosphere. However, the new findings suggest a different scenario that is very exciting as the search for alien life continues. Pictures taken by NASA's Curiosity rover show patterns known as wave ripples. They're small structures that resemble ridges that form along the shores of lakebeds, suggesting that liquid water must have flowed across the planet's surface at some point in its history. The ripples were found in two separate lakebeds in Gale Crater, which Curiosity has been exploring since August 2012. Both dry lakebeds likely formed around 3.7 billion years ago, suggesting that the Martian atmosphere was both dense and warm enough to support liquid water for much longer than previously thought. Why is this so exciting? Because life as we know it needs water to thrive and evolve and its therefore a key component in searching for evidence of ancient life on Mars. If living organisms were ever present on Mars, the new findings indicate they had a longer window in which they could have evolved. The study's first author, sedimentologist at CalTech, Claire Mondro, said: "Extending the length of time that liquid water was present extends the possibilities for microbial habitability later into Mars's history.' Mondro added: 'The shape of the ripples could only have been formed under water that was open to the atmosphere and acted upon by wind.' The study was published in the journal Science Advances. Scientists recently discovered more about the origins of Marsquakes and NASA's Curiosity rover snapped pictures of iridescent twilight clouds in the Martian sky.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA rover discovers liquid water 'ripples' carved into Mars rock — and it could rewrite the Red Planet's history
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Scientists have discovered evidence that liquid water was once exposed to the air in ancient, shallow lakes on Mars. The finding is evidence that not all water on the Red Planet was covered in ice, as some Martian climate models suggest. Planetary geologists and astronomers studying Mars have known for decades that water was once likely present on the planet, after NASA's Mariner 9 mission captured images of dry gullies in the 1970s. But there has been ongoing debate about what form that water took and how long it lasted. Some models predict that any liquid water on Mars' surface must have been covered by sheets of ice before it disappeared. However, the new findings, which were published Jan. 15 in the journal Science Advances,, tell a different story. The patterns, which were photographed by NASA's Curiosity rover, are known as wave ripples — minute ridge-like structures that form along the shores of lakebeds. This means that exposed liquid water must have flowed across Mars' surface at some point in its history. The ripples were present in two separate lakebeds in Gale Crater, which Curiosity has been exploring since Aug. 2012. "The shape of the ripples could only have been formed under water that was open to the atmosphere and acted upon by wind," study first author Claire Mondro, a sedimentologist at CalTech, said in a statement. Related: 32 things on Mars that look like they shouldn't be there The researchers also analyzed the height and spacing of the ripple waves to determine the size of the lake that formed them. The structures are approximately 0.2 inches (6 millimeters) tall and about 1.6 to 2 inches (4 to 5 centimeters) apart, indicating they were left by small waves. Based on these dimensions, the researchers believe the Martian lake must have been less than 2 meters (6.5 feet) deep. RELATED STORIES —New NASA images reveal giant hole in Curiosity rover's wheel after 12 years of 'abuse' on Mars —Giant 'kidney beans' spotted in Mars satellite images could point to signs of water and life —Space photo of the week: Dry ice 'geysers' erupt on Mars as spring hits the Red Planet Both dry lakebeds appear to have formed around 3.7 billion years ago, indicating that Mars had an atmosphere dense and warm enough to support liquid water for longer than previously thought — which could have intriguing implications. "Extending the length of time that liquid water was present extends the possibilities for microbial habitability later into Mars's history," Mondro said. In other words: living organisms may have had a longer window in which they could have evolved on the Red Planet. Most of Mars' atmosphere and surface water were later stripped away over billions of years. Scientists believe this occurred because the planet lost its magnetic field, leaving it vulnerable to solar radiation. As the powerful solar wind bombarded the Martian atmosphere, most of the planet's carbon dioxide and water evaporated into space, leaving behind the frigid desert we know today.
Yahoo
26-01-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA rover spots proof that Mars hosted more than just lakes
The car-sized Curiosity rover has spotted evidence of once quite hospitable environs on Mars. As shown in the imagery below, the NASA robot investigated dried-up lake beds and captured views of ripple formations on their ancient shorelines. Like on Earth, these ripples were almost certainly formed by small waves on open-air (not ice-covered) lakes, planetary scientists say. It provides evidence that Mars was warm, wet, and habitable at a time some research suggests the planet started cooling and transforming into an extremely dry and frigid desert. These ripples formed some 3.7 billion years ago. (For reference, the earliest known fossils on Earth formed some 3.5 billion years ago.) "Extending the length of time that liquid water was present extends the possibilities for microbial habitability later into Mars's history," Claire Mondro, a Caltech postdoc who researches the planet's past and led the new study, said in a statement. The research was recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances. SEE ALSO: NASA scientist viewed first Voyager images. What he saw gave him chills. Mars today is 1,000 times drier than the driest desert on Earth. Though no evidence of primitive Martian life has yet been found, it's grown clear that the planet hosted watery environs conducive for such microbes to potentially form. In this case, the evidence of shoreline rippling underscores that these shallow lakes — at least some 200 to 500 meters (650 to 1640 feet) across — were open-air bodies of water, meaning they weren't blanketed in ice cover, as we see on winter lakes or ponds on Earth. This points to hospitable environs. "The shape of the ripples could only have been formed under water that was open to the atmosphere and acted upon by wind," Mondro explained. The views below show these ancient ripples, formed in ancient soil and now preserved as Martian rock. They're small, each at some six millimeters (about a quarter inch) high. Preserved ripples on Mars' surface. Credit: Mondro et al. Science Advances, January 2025 More ripples observed by NASA's Curiosity rover. Credit: Mondro et al. Science Advances, January 2025 Though Mars once harbored bounties of water, the Red Planet gradually lost its insulating atmosphere, in part to effects of solar radiation and a weakened magnetic field. Ultimately Mars' once thick atmosphere diminished, and bounties of water escaped. Without this insulating blanket, the planet dried out. Yet for millions of years, Mars at least had the opportunity for life to flourish in lakes, or the moist clays of river deltas. NASA hopes to robotically return pristine Mars rock samples home in the 2030s; the space agency thinks they could potentially show evidence of past surface life. But even if Martian life never dwelled on the surface, it's possible that life thrived, or even thrives, deep beneath the ground, shielded from the extremes of the callous desert and pummeling radiation.
