Liquid Water Flowed On Mars, Boosting Hope For Finding Evidence Of Life

About three billion years ago, all of that liquid water was lost, and Mars became what we call a hyper-arid or polar desert.We show here that even after that and in the recent past, when Mars’ axis tilts to 35 degrees, it heats up sufficiently to melt snow and ice, bringing liquid water back until temperatures drop and it freezes again.PHOTO BY LORENZO DI COLA/GETTY IMAGES

Liquid water flowed on Mars just a few hundred thousand years ago, scientists say .

Thawing ice carved gullies into the landscape where environments could have been habitable – increasing hope of finding evidence of life.