Mars Photos Appear to Show Dry Hot Springs

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- The long and frustrating search for signs of past or present life on Mars took a hopeful turn this month when scientists said they had spotted what they believe are remains of two hot springs -- the kind of warm, protected environments where many scientists think primitive life can thrive.

The researchers said water is not flowing now at the sites, but photographs suggest that it may well have bubbled out of the ground in the relatively recent past -- in planetary terms -- meaning tens of millions, rather than billions, of years ago.

"This is the first time that features that are so close in all of their shapes and details to springs on Earth have been reported and identified on Mars," said Carlton Allen of NASA's Johnson Space Center, who is studying the planet to find interesting landing places for future missions. "This puts the story of water on the Martian surface in a totally different context."

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-Ryan