NASA's car-sized Perseverance rover parachuted down to a region of Mars called the Jezero Crater,Farmer’s Wife: Handle with Care! Part 1: Angel Advent a place planetary scientists suspect once teemed with water. Now, two years later, the space agency's scientists may have spotted evidence of a once "rollicking river."
The telltale formation, shown in the image below, shows curving rocks — which indicates past vigorous water flow — made of larger, coarse sediments.
"Those indicate a high-energy river that’s truckin’ and carrying a lot of debris. The more powerful the flow of water, the more easily it’s able to move larger pieces of material," Libby Ives, a researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement. "It’s been a delight to look at rocks on another planet and see processes that are so familiar," Ives added.
Scientists previously saw these curved shapes from space. The six-wheeled Perseverance rover — a laser-zapping laboratory on wheels — allowed them to look much closer.
Curved rock formations indicating evidence of vigorous past river flow on Mars. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU / MSSS This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
The mosaic picture shows a Martian area composed of 203 images joined together. The curves might be from a shifting river bank, or perhaps sandbars whittled down by billions of years of wind-driven sand-blasting. A question that looms large is what this powerful waterway was like back when Mars was a warmer, bluer planet.
"Scientists are now debating what kind of powerfully flowing water formed those curves: a river like the Mississippi, which winds snakelike across the landscape, or a braided river like Nebraska’s Platte, which forms small islands of sediment called sandbars," NASA wrote.
Generally, there's clear evidence, etched into the Mars desert, of a past, water-rich world. This includes dried-up lakes, dried streams, and even ancient waves.
Want more scienceand tech news delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newslettertoday.
Yet there remains zero evidence of Martian life. Indeed, NASA's rovers have detected organic materials on Mars, which essentially means molecules like carbon that can compose life as we know it, but there's nothing suggesting primitive microbes ever lived on the surface (though the subsurface remains unexplored).
A primary mission of the Perseverance rover is to seek out hints of life, if it ever existed, however difficult the task might be. A good place to look is in an area that once harbored water — and perhaps a deep, vigorous river.
NYT mini crossword answers for May 12, 2025
Cyber Monday Anker Soundcore deals: headphones, earbuds, speakers
Staff Picks: Portraiture, Patriarchy, Public Works
The Capacity to Be Alone by Anna Moschovakis
Best portable power station deal: Save $179.01 on the EcoFlow River 2 Max
Best early Cyber Monday Roomba deals 2023
Redux: V. S. Naipaul by The Paris Review
V. S. Naipaul, the Man Versus the Work
Fyre Festival and Trump’s Language
The Capacity to Be Alone by Anna Moschovakis
What cracked the Milky Way's giant cosmic bone? Scientists think they know.
Cyber Monday Anker Soundcore deals: headphones, earbuds, speakers
TikTok introduces TikTok Sans, the app's new font
30+ Cyber Monday gaming keyboard deals 2023
Every MCU movie villain ranked, from "Iron Man" to "Thunderbolts*"
V. S. Naipaul, the Man Versus the Work
Pray Like Aretha Franklin by Michael Robbins
Tom Clark (1941–2018) by Larry Bensky
Skype is finally shutting down
35+ headphone deals from Amazon's Cyber Monday sale
The search for Michael Scott’s Hawaiian shirt from 'The Office'How to watch the Texas vs. TCU football without cable: kickoff time, streaming deals, and more“And I’d Do It Again”: Aimée Crocker and the Art of the HeiressWant a Metaphor for Life? Look to the Struggles of the SwitchReimagining Elena Ferrante’s “My Brilliant Friend” As a BuildingMajor ChatGPT outage due to DDoS attackPhotos from Our 2017 Spring RevelGetting Out Alive: Rethinking the End of “Goodbye, Columbus”Best Bose deal: The Bose Smart Soundbar is under $560 at AmazoniPhone 16: These 3 exclusive AI features rumored for iOS 18'Scavengers Reign's alien ecosystems: Everything you need to knowAnelise Chen: Delighting in the Mollusks of Art HistoryStaff Picks: ‘Modern Love’, Lee Krasner, C.E. MorganAndy Cohen talks Elon Musk, Twitter drama, and Wordle scoresBefore Fiction Dealt with FeelingsThe Victorian Fantasy of the North Pole Was the Opposite of OursBooze in the USSR: Soviet AntiAnelise Chen: A Mollusk’s Guide to “Clamming Down”“And I’d Do It Again”: Aimée Crocker and the Art of the HeiressBest deals of the day Nov. 17: Google Pixel Buds A NASA posts image of an ancient galaxy crowd in the deep, deep cosmos Super cute baby koala and mother just hanging out, looking like stuffed toys Cards Against Humanity are digging a giant hole for no good reason Syrian girl thanks J.K. Rowling for her 'Harry Potter' books Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition violated children's privacy law, say advocacy groups Trump had a surprisingly simple reaction to Fidel Castro's death Please do not give your pets alcohol these holidays, or like ever Protests in South Korea just keep getting bigger Waymo defends laser sensors after Elon Musk drags them Chrome browser to stop websites abusing the back button People keep dropping their AirPods onto subway tracks Incognito Mode is coming to Google Maps The novel that predicted the sinking of the Titanic, 14 years before it happened 19 pictures that reveal the odd world of British daytime TV Mark Hamill claims the royal baby name was his idea and he's got the photo to prove it 'Detective Pikachu' scratches a lingering childhood itch Unusual brunch suggestion is causing widespread rage in Britain 'Tuca & Bertie's' wild animation makes its story that much stronger Online shoppers gobbled up $1.9 billion in bargains on Thanksgiving Google's Live Captions could be revolutionary (one day)
2.1505s , 10131.96875 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【Farmer’s Wife: Handle with Care! Part 1: Angel Advent】,Steady Information Network