The red planet may have been capable of supporting life for a longer time period than scientists had previously thought. According to a new study, some of the lakes and streams on Mars formed just two to three billion years ago, an epoch by when, researchers believed, the planet had lost the majority of its atmosphere and therefore was too cold to host surface liquid water.
"We discovered valleys that carried water into lake basins that filled and overflowed, indicating there was a considerable amount of water on the landscape during this time," said Sharon Wilson, study leader. Additionally, one of the newly discovered Martian lakes was similar in size to California's huge Lake Tahoe, and it flowed over to "Heart Lake", a massive basin that held more water (670 cubic miles) than Lake Ontario (393 cubic miles) and Lake Erie (116 cubic miles) combined.
To read more, click here.