Liquid Water on Mars: Lakes Might Not Be Liquid After All

It’s a huge step back in our search for alien life.

Transcript

00:00For years, planetary scientists and astronomers have been pretty sure that under the southern

00:08ice cap on the Martian surface lies large reserves of liquid water.

00:12That's because, Science Alert reports, when radar signals were fired at the area back

00:15in 2018, they hit something extremely radar reflective just under a mile below the surface

00:20of the planet.

00:21And when more radar signals were fired at other areas, the results were the same, leading

00:25experts to believe this was probably a vast network of underwater lakes.

00:29But now those hopes may be evaporating.

00:31Experts say the region is far too cold for water to stay in liquid form, with some geophysicists

00:36adding that the water would need either a local heat source or be extremely salty.

00:40And since Mars is no longer volcanically active, and the surface doesn't point to salty minerals

00:44being in high supply, that's unlikely.

00:46So what was the radar reflective substance?

00:49According to computer simulations, probably just frozen clay.

00:52Frozen water will no doubt be useful for humans living on the red planet.

00:55However, it is much less likely to harbor living organisms, meaning the trail in the search

01:00for life on Mars just went cold.