SETI Live: Has Mars Ever Been a Good Place for Life?

Recent research suggests that Mars was born wet, with a dense atmosphere allowing warm-to-hot oceans for millions of years. Modeling of Mars’ atmosphere succeeded in creating a potentially habitable planet. SETI Institute research scientist Kaveh Pahlevan believes the team has modeled an overlooked chapter in Mars’ earliest history in the time immediately after the planet formed. The primordial Martian atmosphere was quite different, 1000x denser that now and composed primarily of molecular hydrogen (H2). Because of a strong greenhouse effect, warm-to-hot water oceans appeared on the Martian surface and remained there until the molecular hydrogen got lost to space. Join Franck Marchis in conversation with Kaveh Pahlevan as they explore the implication that early Mars was a warm version of modern Titan and at least as promising a site for the origin of life as early Earth was, if not more promising. If you like science, support the SETI Institute! We’re a non-profit rese