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From: jttmab	6/27/2007 9:24:41 AM
	of 149

Life on Mars? Scientists say pictures are first evidence of flowing water · Nasa photographs show streaks of surface liquid · Researchers hail 'highly significant' discovery Ian Sample, science correspondent Thursday December 7, 2006 The Guardian Scientists have discovered tantalising evidence of water gushing down gullies on Mars, dramatically boosting the chances that regions of the planet might still be capable of harbouring life. Pictures taken from Nasa's Mars Global Surveyor, which has been orbiting the planet for 10 years, reveal distinctive streaks of what is believed to be water, bursting out of crater walls and flowing around boulders and other rocky debris strewn across the surface. Researchers have previously found evidence that ancient lakes once dotted the Martian landscape, and vast quantities of water ice are known to be locked up in sheets of permafrost at the planet's frigid poles. But this is the first evidence that liquid water, crucial to nurture life, might still be found on the planet today. Nasa scientists compared pictures of the Martian landscape taken between 1999 and 2006 and looked for signs of recent changes on the surface. They identified two craters where light streaks suggested water had erupted from the walls and poured down the slopes, leaving mineral deposits for hundreds of metres. The first crater was in a region on the planet's southern hemisphere called Terra Sirenum. Images of the crater taken in April 2005 revealed an apparent burst of water from the north-west wall of the crater that were not visible in an image taken in December 2001. The second crater was also in the southern hemisphere in a region called Centauri Montes. Here, images taken in February 2004 suggest a liquid flowed down the crater's north wall and left deposits that were not seen when the crater was previously photographed in August 1999. Because of the extremely thin atmosphere on Mars, any water that did erupt from the ground would quickly boil and evaporate, despite surface temperatures ranging from -8C to below -100C. ... guardian.co.uk

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