"The holy grail of space exploration is to find extraterrestrial life. An important precursor to that is finding liquid water—and that's exactly what NASA [Monday] announced scientists have discovered on Mars.

The findings, which are described in the journal Nature Geoscience, offer an explanation for peculiar, long streaks that sometimes appear on sloping Martian terrain. The dark features, which can reach 5 meters wide and more than 100 meters long, were first noticed in 2010. By analyzing their reflected light signature, a team of eight scientists has concluded that the streaks consist of mineral salts that easily absorb moisture—and that flowing water is the likeliest explanation for their appearance.

The Red Planet has been known for years to have ice, and its surface bears the topographical scars of ancient water flow. This latest research, though, is the first to provide compelling evidence for the ongoing existence of flowing water on Mars."

Eric Roston reports for Bloomberg September 28, 2015. [2]