While there is water frozen at the Martian poles and evidence of vapour in the atmosphere, this is the first time liquid water has been found on the planet.

The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

By measuring how fast seismic waves travel, scientists have worked out what material they are most likely to be moving through.

“These are actually the same techniques we use to prospect for water on Earth, or to look for oil and gas,” explained Prof Michael Manga, from the University of California, Berkeley, who was involved in the research.

The analysis revealed reservoirs of water at depths of about six to 12 miles (10 to 20km) in the Martian crust.

    • @[email protected]
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      1929 days ago

      This is how we foot the bill to settle mars. Nestle.

      If it’s stripping a far away land of its natural resources, it’s gotta be Nestle.

        • @Noodle07
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          128 days ago

          They almost won the war against the earth subterranean civilization already but nobody cares about it

    • @[email protected]
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      2729 days ago

      They did also say in the article that the rover could only measure straight down from its position, so maybe not all of the water is so deep.

      • NaibofTabr
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        1629 days ago

        Hmm, that’s a good point. If we found one aquifer there might well be others, and they could be at any depth.

        Of course the problem is, we’ll need to place this kind of seismic sensor around the whole planet…

        • @[email protected]
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          729 days ago

          I’m no astroseismologist but I feel like I’ve heard of sensors like this being on satellites like to investigate glaciers etc. though maybe 10km of rock isn’t so easily penetrated.

      • @[email protected]
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        28 days ago

        Right, and that’s part of the problem with drilling. Rock does weird things at those temperatures.

        Mars has less geological activity than Earth–which is like saying Xenon is less reactive than Sodium–but I imagine it does still get hot down there. Earth gets a lot of its internal heat from the decay of heavy radioactive elements, and I imagine Mars has some of the same.

        Wait, it’s liquid water. There’s a lot of pressure, though, which would raise the boiling point, but it can’t be that hot, right?

    • @Kbobabob
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      1028 days ago

      I just want to say thank you for actually having someone to say other than some stupid joke to try to get fake Internet points.

  • worldwidewave
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    1129 days ago

    The analysis revealed reservoirs of water at depths of about six to 12 miles (10 to 20km) in the Martian crust.

    Hollow Earthers were so close, only one planet off! Turns out it was waterlogged Mars after all.

  • @[email protected]
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    28 days ago

    Everyone talking about extraction seems to be missing one important thing: liquid water invites the possibility of life.

  • Flying Squid
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    28 days ago

    Edit: I guess some people aren’t Doctor Who fans.

  • Media Bias Fact CheckerB
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    -229 days ago
    BBC News - News Source Context (Click to view Full Report)

    Information for BBC News:

    MBFC: Left-Center - Credibility: High - Factual Reporting: High - United Kingdom
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    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) - News Source Context (Click to view Full Report)

    Information for Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS):

    MBFC: Pro-Science - Credibility: High - Factual Reporting: Very High - United States of America
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    https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2409983121
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxl849j77ko

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