Curiosity Finds Pure Sulfur on Mars
Yellow crystals of elemental sulfur were revealed after NASA’s Curiosity rover happened to drive over a rock and crack it open on May 30, 2024, according to the Curiosity team.…
Ancient Mars was Cool and Relatively Wet, New Study Suggests
In a new study, planetary scientists found strong similarities between soils found in Gale Crater on Mars and those of Canada’s Newfoundland, a cold subarctic climate. X-ray amorphous material comprises…
Mars Drives Deep-Ocean Circulation in Earth’s Oceans, Study Suggests
Geoscientists from Australia and France have used the geological record of Earth’s deep oceans to discover a connection between the orbits of our home planet and Mars. They’ve discovered a…
Ancient Mars May Have Had Hydrothermal Systems
The history of water on Mars is a puzzle that is of interest to planetary scientists as well as the general public. The Red Planet currently has water in the…
Comet Airburst Initiated Transition to Agriculture 12,800 Years Ago, Scientists Say
Around 12,800 years ago, Earth collided with fragments of a disintegrating comet, triggering Younger Dryas climate change; this event created environmental conditions at Abu Hureyra, Syria, that favored the earliest…
Early Mars Had a Sustained, Cyclic, Possibly Seasonal, Climate
New observations of mud cracks made by NASA’s Curiosity rover show that high-frequency, wet-dry cycling occurred in early Martian surface environments, indicating that the Red Planet may have once seen…
Martian Gullies Could Have Been Formed by On-And-Off Periods of Liquid Meltwater
Some steep slopes on Mars have gullies with morphologies suggesting that they were formed by a liquid. However, the planet’s current climate is not conducive to the melting of water…