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Strange Features on Mars Look Like a Forest of Distant Trees

There is no doubt in the minds of many scientists that Mars once had liquid water. The question is, what other exciting things did water allow the planet to develop? Did it have vegetation? Was it a place where creatures, no matter how tiny and non-sentient, existed at one point?
Dark streaks on Mars look like some ancient forest 6 photos
Photo: NASA/JPL/UArizona
Holmes region on MarsHolmes region on MarsHolmes region on MarsHolmes region on MarsDark streaks on Mars look like some ancient forest
We know from the planet we live on that water is essential to life, no matter its form. It is not only essential in maintaining and ensuring the survival of life after it developed, but also in it coming to be in the first place.

So, common sense would tell you that if it had water, and life did exist, Mars must have had some kind of vegetation as well. Yet the consensus (not based on solid proof) is that no, there never was any grass, and there never were any trees on the planet.

Back in 2017, in the wake of Andy Weir’s The Martian, NASA set out to answer the question of whether plants can grow with Martian soil by developing “a replication of Mars soil, to better understand how it can be used for plant growth and other purposes,” but no update on how that’s going has been made since.

Until we learn more, the main photo of this pic shows an orbital view of how a Martian forest might have looked like. It pictures an area near the Holmes Crater, as photographed back in 2018 from an altitude of 247 km (153 miles) by the HiRISE camera.

Despite what your eyes and brain might tell you, those are however not trees, but dark streaks “extending east of minor crater rims within and around Holmes Crater. “

The streaks are seasonal fans, which would be subsurface dust brought to the surface through various means, like landslides and possibly even wind.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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