'Blueberries' on Mars Have a Watery Past. But Scientists Are Still Baffled.
t was just a few months after NASA's Opportunity rover touched down on Mars in 2004 that it spotted a geological curiosity: tiny, iron-rich spheres scattered across the rock surface near the robot's landing site. Snack-loving scientists working with the mission dubbed these objects "blueberries," but the features were easier to name than to understand. Their recipe remains something of a puzzle.
Trying to sort out the origins of these blueberries has always involved studying similar-looking spherical formations here on Earth. New research takes its inspiration from these terrestrial analogs to offer a new idea of the chemistry that may have gone into whipping up these Martian blueberries. In turn, this research helps reveal what ancient Mars may have looked like.
Full Story:
https://www.space.com/42645-mars-blueberries-formation-mystery-earth-analogs.ht ml?utm_source=sdc-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20181206-sdc
https://tinyurl.com/yc9cscyh
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