Mars: the planet that just keeps surprising us. We all knew it was rusty, but we might have misunderstood why. Scientists used to think its red color came from iron oxide formed in dry conditions. But new research suggests Mars might have been corroding wet—like that old bike you left outside before a rainy night. (Oops.) Instead of dry rust, Mars’ red comes from ferrihydrite, a kind of early-stage iron oxidation that needs water to form. So yeah, Mars wasn’t always a desert. (Read more)

In fact, Mars had some pretty epic beaches about 3 billion years ago. No, really. China’s Zhurong rover just found evidence of ancient shorelines in Utopia Planitia. Picture this: waves lapping against Martian sand, maybe even some alien microbes chilling in the shallows. (Okay, no confirmed space squids yet, but stay tuned.) More water for longer means more time for life to emerge! (Read more)

So where did all that water go? About 3.6 billion years ago, as its magnetic field started to fail, the water on Mars started to disappear. Turns out not all of it dissappeared. We know some of it went into regolith. It turns out, Mars’ regolith (fancy term for crushed rock) is thirsty. New models show that Martian soil can trap water vapor and preserve near-surface ice for a very long time – more than we previously thought. So, in a way, Mars is still holding onto some of its old ocean. (Read more)

And speaking of finding life—scientists have built a laser-powered tricorder (okay, technically a mass spectrometer) that can sniff out microbial fossils in sulfate minerals like gypsum. Why’s that exciting? Because when water dries up on Earth, it leaves behind mineral deposits perfect for fossil preservation. If Mars once had microbes, this gadget might be our best bet at finding them. Beam me up, science! (Read more)