Detecting signs of water flowing on Mars

Scientists say they have captured new images that show signs of water flowing on Mars and this may be the clearest evidence so far about the existence of water, a fundamental component of life, on ' Red planet '.

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These stripes are thought to be made by flowing mud.

The findings, published yesterday in the August 4 issue of Science, are published after a study conducted by Swiss and American scientists.

A series of images taken from Mars Exploration Satellite (MRO) of the US Aerospace Agency (NASA) shows many dark and long stripes on the surface of the Red planet. The stripes formed between the points rise and flow hundreds of meters down the slopes towards the flat area below. They appear on hillsides warmed by the summer sun, flowing around obstacles and occasionally splitting or coalescing, but when winter comes, darker stripes fade.

That shows that the stripes are made by flowing mud, scientists said.

Scientists also added that long streaks may be the most solid evidence of the existence of water on Mars.

Scientists have long believed that water could have flowed across Mars at some point in history, but so far only discovered signs of water frozen near the surface of the planet.

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