麻豆影院

Mars may have been home to an ocean and microbial life, according to CU scientists聽Brian Hynek聽补苍诲听Gaetano Di Achille. The LASP researchers studied the elevations of several dried-up river deltas on Mars and found that 17 of 52 of the deltas lie at similar elevations. Similarly, Earth鈥檚 deltas lie at the same elevation and reflect the current sea level.

Hynek explains the ocean would have existed 3.5 to 3.7 billion years ago and lasted several million years 鈥� the time it would have taken for deltas to form.

鈥淚f Mars had oceans for even a couple hundred million years, it gives me hope that we鈥檒l find evidence of past microbial life on Mars,鈥� he told聽National Geographic.

In other space news, three of CU鈥檚 biomedical payload devices traveled on NASA鈥檚聽Atlantis聽shuttle in May. One device will hopefully help scientists determine why slimy, troublesome microorganisms called biofilms flourish in space. Biofilms can negatively impact the spacecraft and astronaut health. The space crew carried out experiments and returned to Earth with samples.