Devin Portner                                                                                     10/2/15

Earth Science                                                                                       Current Event #1

Chang, Kenneth. "Mars Shows Signs of Having Flowing Water, Possible Niches for Life,

NASA Says." The New York Times. The New York Times, 28 Sept. 2015. Web. 02 Oct. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/29/science/space/mars-life-liquid-water.html>.

Mars Shows Signs of Having Flowing Water, Possible Niches for Life, NASA Says

Recently, scientists have found liquid water flowing on the surface of Mars, which may suggest that there is some sort of life.  Nobody has ever been able to prove that life exists beyond Earth, but now, scientists are well on their way to finding other living organisms.  It is expected that in 2020, scientists will send a probe to specifically search for life on the empty planet, which will most likely be a high priority at the time.  Billions of years ago, Mars had large bodies of water including rivers and even oceans.  Nowadays, the planet is dusty and there are only a few small sections of moist soil.  Perchlorates, a type of salt identified had to have liquid water to form, which proves that there is water on Mars.  Within the frozen solid ice caps, there have been hints of melting water but there is not enough evidence to consider the idea that there is water on Mars a proven fact.  In photographs from an orbiter from 2011, Dr. McEwen and his colleagues discovered vertical lines along canyons, mountains and craters where the streaks faded as temperatures dropped and grew darker and longer during the summer. Water may be the reason these changes occur in the lines.  As stated in the article, these differences in the lines are “similar to the way concrete darkens when wet and returns to its original color when dry.”  These lines have been named the recurring slope lineae, or R.S.L.s.  During the period of the R.S.L. where the line fades, the levels of salt at the locations help indicate that there is some sort of liquid water.  Although we have some evidence to prove scientist’s theories that there is water on Mars, we don’t know where it is coming from.  One suggestion is that Mars is sucking in moisture, which means the lower part of the atmosphere may have a higher humidity that we originally thoughts.  Some believe that even though there may be liquid on Mars, that does not technically mean there is life because the water may be too salty for living organisms to survive there. Many scientists have conflicting views as to whether or not this theory is true.  We have to wait until 2020 to launch the probe because scientists are worries that Earth will contaminate Mars with its organisms so there has to be a sterilizing process beforehand which takes a lot of time and money to do.  Scientists also have to figure out where it can be habitable and not melt too fast in order for it to gather a substantial amount of information.  One rover is already on Mars exploring the Gale Crater and there is a possibility of a detour but that would have to be discussed and debated first.

Proof from a rover that there is water and life on Mars would greatly affect humans today.  If life is found in the future, that means that Mars is habitable and possibly suitable for other life forms as well.  New species might be discovered and evidence may be gathered on how water is present on Mars.  Discoveries about Mars may help us to find new things out about Earth and our atmosphere as well.  For example, one theory that is yet to be proven is that we think the atmosphere is at a higher temperature than it is actually at.  If we gather evidence on how water is collected on the planet, we might gather evidence on the temperature of our atmosphere as well.  It would be a huge discovery if life were found on Mars because it would be the first planet in our solar system as well as in the universe we have found life on and it would give people hope that there is more life out there and other habitable places.

Overall, this article was informative about the possible new discovery of water and life on Mars.  I liked how the author laid out the article, first giving previous characteristics about Mars, then current findings, and finally possibilities for the future however there were a few factors I would change.  One way I think this article could have been improved is by giving more background information on Mars.  I would like to know more about what it was like millions of years ago, how it lost its water, etc. Another way Chang could have improved the article is by giving more information about what kinds of life scientists might expect to find and how long the data will take to collect once the robot is actually sent if it happens to go and how it will be sent.  In general, this article gave a lot of information on the new findings and future ideas for the newfound water and possible life on Mars.