2014-02-11 – As winter wears on without a let-up temperature-wise, we begin to get a sense of what life might be like on Mars.

There temperatures are always too cold for liquid water to flow at the surface. Recently, however, NASA scientist have been looking at pictures taken from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that show darkening patters moving down slopes in “warmer weather.” These lines of darkness have been given the name “recurring slope lineae.” They say “lineae” instead of “lines” to show that they are scientists, and they refer to these lines as RSL.

To explain the existence of liquid water on Mars, Georgia Tech graduate student Lujendra Ojha and professor James Wray went looking for a substance that might act as an antifreeze on Mars. And sure enough, they found an iron-based compound, possible ferric sulfate, exists in areas where RSLs appear. This substance could explain the melt water.

The mayor of Atlanta is launching an investigation to find out why NASA was supplying ferric sulfate to Mars and couldn’t spare some for his city to combat the recent ice storm that shut down his city.

* * *

In other news, investigative reporters from the Chicago Ribune have discovered that the International Olympic Committee approved the Sochi Winter Olympics on the mistaken belief that Sochi stands for the South Side of Chicago. One anonymous IOC official even went so far as to say, “we even arranged for the snow.” Nochi residents were up in arms at the shocking revelation.

That also explains why Chicago’s bid for the 2016 summer games was rejected.