Big news in the Solar System today: we now have evidence of liquid water flowing on the surface of Mars. Until todays’s discovery, the only water on Mars we knew of was locked underground or in the polar ice caps, but liquid water, the building blocks of life as we know it, was nowhere to be found.

Now, scientists are reporting that with images captured with the Mars Reconnaissance Oribiter’s spectrometer they have pinpointed the chemical compounds contained within the recurring slope lineae (RSLs) that appear on the planet. All signs point to a salty water slurry that runs down the sides of slopes during Mars’ summer months.

The presence of water greatly increases our chances of finding life on the red planet, most likely microbial, as well as the likelihood of future generations colonizing our closest planetary neighbor. But whether we’re in for a The Martian-esque scenario or a Total Recall-type situation remains to be seen.

Join Jessica Chobot as we chat with Nerdist.com science editor Kyle Hill about this revolutionary discovery and what it might mean for the future of finding life on Mars and the possibility of bringing a manned mission to the red planet on today’s Nerdist News. Check out Kyle’s article for the full details on the new discovery.

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