A new theory out of Brown University challenges common ideas about clay on Mars, which is ubiquitous on the Red Planet. Rather than forming through muddy interactions with lakes and rivers, like clay ...

The search for life on Mars took a surprising downward turn yesterday. If life existed, it likely existed underground, reported Professor of Geological Sciences John Mustard in a study published in ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- Planetary scientists from Brown University have proposed a new scenario for the formation of ancient clay minerals on Mars that, if shown to be true, could ...

New research published in Nature Astronomy seeks to understand how surface clay was formed on Mars despite its cold climate. The climate on early Mars has presented an enigma for planetary scientists ...

David Rothery is author of Planet Mercury - from Pale Pink Dot to Dynamic World (Springer, 2015), Moons: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2015) and Planets: A Very Short ...

The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. Clay minerals cannot form unless there is water available—it is an essential ...

A clay-rich mesa in the Hellas basin of Mars. The blue color near the rim is aluminum bearing clays. The red-orange color below that is iron and magnesium bearing clays. The image captures an area ...