Friday, May 15, 2009

Mars: 'Recent' Rivers on the Red Planet

"Rivers Might Have Flowed Recently on Mars "
Space.com (May 14, 2009)

"Mars is bone dry today. But long, long ago it was wetter and likely had rivers, most scientists agree.

"A new study finds some serious valleys carved by rivers within the last billion years -- much sooner than most similar findings. That's good news for biologists, as water is a key to life as we know it, and the more recently there was liquid water on Mars, the greater the chances for life to have arisen and endured...."

Not everybody thinks of "recently" and "within the last billion years" as meaning the same thing - but on a planetary time scale, something that happened less than 1,000,000,000 years ago is, in some senses, practically current events.

The recently cut river channels aren't the big features of 3,500,000,000 or so years ago: but they indicate that Mars had water, in significant quantity, much more recently than we thought a few years ago.

Life may or may not exist on Mars - but it isn't quite as much of a long shot now, as we thought before these findings.

Other posts, about "Mars, Mostly."

2 comments:

SHIMI said...

hi
blog walking
nice to be here

Brian H. Gill said...

SHIMI,

Thanks!

Unique, innovative candles

Visit us online:
Spiral Light CandleFind a Retailer
Spiral Light Candle online store

Pinterest: From the Man Behind the Lemming

Top 10 Most-Viewed Posts

Today's News! Some of it, anyway

Actually, some of yesterday's news may be here. Or maybe last week's.
The software and science stuff might still be interesting, though. Or not.
The Lemming thinks it's interesting: Your experience may vary.
("Following" list moved here, after Blogger changed formats)

Who Follows the Lemming?

WebSTAT

Family Blogs - Blog Catalog Blog Directory