NASA evidence points to liquid water on Mars

NASA scientists have detected new evidence suggesting water flows on Mars during its warmest months, raising the likelihood that life could exist on the red planet, the agency said on Thursday.NASA first found evidence of water on Mars more than a decade ago, but earlier indications were that currently existing water would be mostly frozen and concentrated at the poles.Recently analyzed images from the NASA Reconnaissance Orbiter show dark, finger-like features that appear to extend down the slope of a Martian crater during some parts of the Martian year and fade during other parts of the year. The scientists said the phenomena was akin the freezing and thawing of riverbeds on Earth.NASA scientists believe that if flowing, liquid water exists on Mars, it would be highly salty. That would explain why it would not freeze in the planets cold temperatures.Lisa Pratt, a bio-geochemist at Indiana University, who was also on the NASA panel, said the findings are significant because they suggest that organisms adapted to cope with seasonal changes in the environment could be living on Mars.