Claims of water on Mars have been made before, but a new discovery of potential liquid water on the Red Planet's surface last week is still making waves in the science world.
What differentiates the new find from previous discoveries is the fact that it's the strongest evidence yet for liquid water, as opposed to ice, and it's on the Martian surface, as opposed to miles underground where it would be difficult to verify its presence.
The research is based on observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which observed seasonal changes in slopes carved into the planet's surface that appear most likely to have been formed by flowing salty, briny water.
"In the last 15 years, we've certainly discovered that Mars has water," said one of the researchers, geophysicist Philip Christensen of Arizona State University in Tempe, during an Aug. 4 news conference announcing the find. "Much of that water is frozen. What makes these new observations so interesting is that they occur at much lower latitudes where temperatures are much warmer and where it's actually possible for liquid water to exist." [Photos: The Search for Water on Mars]
Scientists not involved with the project agree that the discovery could be big.
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