• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Researchers think they've solved the mystery of dark markings found on Mars surface

Home> News> Science

Published 16:48 8 Jun 2025 GMT+1

Researchers think they've solved the mystery of dark markings found on Mars surface

It's different to what was previously believed

Jess Battison

Jess Battison

Researchers reckon they’ve solved one of the mysteries of Mars.

There’s long been conspiracy theories about the dark markings found the planet’s surface, with scientists having their own beliefs for the cause.

Having been first observed in images from NASA’s Viking mission in the 1970s, some had interpreted the eerie streaks as liquid flows and others believed they were triggered by the dry process.

Advert

The bizarre looking dark streaks almost look painted on from space and are known as Recurring Slope Lineae or RSLs. They tend to last for years or decades while others ‘come and go more quickly.'

But now a new study using AI casts doubt on the previous understanding as the researchers believe they didn’t come about as a result of water and rather were likely signs of wind and dust activity.

I mean, they're pretty eerie. (NASA)
I mean, they're pretty eerie. (NASA)

“A big focus of Mars research is understanding modern-day processes on Mars — including the possibility of liquid water on the surface,” Adomas Valantinas, a postdoctoral researcher at Brown University who co-authored the research, said.

“Our study reviewed these features but found no evidence of water. Our model favours dry formation processes.”

Advert

Published in Nature Communications in May, Valantinas, with co-author Valentin Bickel, turned to a machine learning algorithm to catalogue as many slope streaks as they could.

They were able to train the algorithm to create a first-of-its-kind global Martian map of slope streaks containing over 500,000 streak features.

“Once we had this global map, we could compare it to databases and catalogues of other things like temperature, wind speed, hydration, rock slide activity and other factors.” Bickel explained. “Then we could look for correlations over hundreds of thousands of cases to better understand the conditions under which these features form.”

This analysis then found that slope streaks and RSLs are ‘not generally associated with factors that suggest a liquid or frost origin.'

It's different to what was previously believed. (Digital Illustration/Getty Stock)
It's different to what was previously believed. (Digital Illustration/Getty Stock)

Advert

And instead, the researchers found that it’s more likely they form in places with above average wind speed and dust deposition, indicating a dry origin.

They concluded that the streaks most likely form ‘when layers of fine dust suddenly slide off steep slopes’ with specific triggers varying.

As the researchers say the results ‘cast new doubt on slope streaks and RSLs as habitable environments’, NASA says: “Interestingly, slope streaks occupy less than 0.1 percent of the Martian surface—but their impact is outsized. They are estimated to move enough dust each Martian year to rival several global dust storms, making them key players in the planet’s climate and dust cycle.”

Featured Image Credit: NASA

Topics: Mars, Space, Science, AI, NASA

Jess Battison
Jess Battison

Jess is a Senior Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include asking everyone in the office what they're having for tea, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021.

X

@jessbattison_

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

3 hours ago
4 hours ago
5 hours ago
6 hours ago
  • 3 hours ago

    How long it takes brain to return to normal dopamine levels after substance abuse

    Alcohol and drugs can do serious damage to your brain but how long does it take for the organ's dopamine levels to return to normal?

    News
  • 4 hours ago

    Aviation experts identify potential cause of Air India crash that crashed with 242 on board

    An investigation into the crash is currently underway

    News
  • 5 hours ago

    Medical report claims Brit mum whose 'heart went missing' after mysterious death died from food poisoning

    The mum-of-two died while on a family holiday in Turkey

    News
  • 6 hours ago

    Diddy's son could be thrown out of court over T-shirt he wore to trial

    People aren't meant to wear clothes with slogans on them in court

    News
  • Mysterious giant structures have been discovered beneath the surface of Mars
  • NASA helicopter captures eerie wreckage on surface of Mars
  • Dark holes on surface of Mars could finally crack secrets of the Red Planet
  • NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover begins new search for life in Red Planet's 'crocodile' region