

Are these pictures of water flowing on Mars, right now? - aditya
http://io9.com/are-these-pictures-of-water-flowing-on-mars-right-now-1520115138

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lutusp
Simple answer -- no. Water requires two things that the present surface of
Mars doesn't have -- a higher temperature, and a higher atmospheric pressure.

Water may burst out onto the surface from a subsurface pressurized area and
sublimate (become vapor) within seconds, but articles like this create a false
impression -- that there could be standing water at the surface of Mars in the
present. This is not possible.

Streaks such as are sometimes seen could be a very brief appearance of
brackish water in the process of sublimating, essentially boiling away within
seconds, but it's not water as we understand that term. I wish people who
write articles like this would first learn a little physics.

