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Science In Action: Water on Mars

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Marsis

26/07/2018 GMT

Water on Mars

BBC World Service - Science In Action, Water on Mars

Scientists have used radar technology to discover water beneath the surface of Mars

Scientists have used radar technology to discover water beneath the surface of Mars. Also dwindling ocean wilderness, fluorine detecting dementia, and a colour-changing star.

Scientists say they have discovered evidence of a 12 mile long body of water on Mars. Estimated to be at least a metre deep, the “lake” was found beneath the red planet’s southern polar ice cap by the agency’s radar probe, known as Marsis. While orbiting the planet on the European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft, Marsis used ground-penetrating radar to send signals deep into the surface - and there was only one possible conclusion from the data that was bounced back to it. The discovery hints that, with all the necessary ingredients present, there may be a possibility of finding life beneath Mars’s surface.

The last of the wild oceans
A study led by scientists from the University of Queensland has discovered that only 13% of the ocean worldwide has not been severely impacted by humans. The majority of these wilderness areas are not currently protected by law, and the researchers are highlighting an urgent need for action to protect what little remains.

Using fluorine to detect dementia 
University College London chemists are finding new ways to track degenerative diseases in the brain. They’ve used a radioactive form of fluorine which binds to areas of the brain that are diseased to illuminate those areas during scans, allowing them to track exactly how the disease develops.

The return of the red shift
S2, a star orbiting around a black hole at the centre of our galaxy, has shown to physicists that Einstein’s theories continue to hold up after all this time. By observing how the star changes colour during its orbit, members of the Max Planck Institute for Extra-Terrestrial Physics have been able to examine how light bends under the gravitational pull of a supermassive object.

Picture: Photo composite of Marsis in front of Mars. Credit: ESA/INAF. Graphic rendering by Davide Coero Borga - Media INAF


Presenter: ROLAND PEASE
Producer: ANIA LICHTAROWICZ

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