[X] My Assistant

[TheAnt]

Cartography work carried out by USGS have revealed further proof of ancient lake beds and signs of Mars-quakes in the Valles marineris region.

A shorter pressrelease from JPL.

[ectoterrestrial]

Neat but ambiguous. The claim of finding a liquid at the coldest and most insulated place on Mars deserves some healthy skepticism.

All radar can tell us is about changes in index of refraction for that frequency.

On Mars, this gets more interesting as the undigested iron on the surface of the planet contributes to the index of refraction.

This reflection could be the interface between clean ice and dirty ice (or icy dirt).

A 1 meter thickness is an inference from the physics. The vertical resolution is much lower.

[marsbug]

Neat but ambiguous. The claim of finding a liquid at the coldest and most insulated place on Mars deserves some healthy skepticism.

All radar can tell us is about changes in index of refraction for that frequency.

On Mars, this gets more interesting as the undigested iron on the surface of the planet contributes to the index of refraction.

This reflection could be the interface between clean ice and dirty ice (or icy dirt).

A 1 meter thickness is an inference from the physics. The vertical resolution is much lower.

True, but in fairness the investigators do mention that and other possible intepretations in the original work, and state only that, given the currently available evidence, a liquid water layer is their favoured explanation - they don't claim this is 'case proved', merely 'evidence in support of'. There's no question that this needs a lot more exploration, and the putative 'lake' is just one (provocative!) explanation at this point. Non-expert journalism, and a need to get clicks on headlines so money is made. wages are paid, and food is bought, has a lot to answer for. That said, even Emily Lakdewalla on the Planetary Society (who is usually quite groundingly skeptical) seems guardedly optimistic that this might really be liquid martian H2O. I think part of the reason is that basal melt on Mars has been predicted for a while.