Researchers claim that recently analyzed data from a Chinese investigator on Mars supports the body of evidence showing the planet originally had a massive ocean.

Zhurong is the name of the rover, or exploring vehicle. In 2021, it made its surface landing on Mars. Utopia Planitia is the region where the rover has been functioning. The American space organization NASA says that this region is a sizable plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars.

The scientists integrated information from Zhurong’s equipment with observations from spacecraft and satellites circling Mars. Geological elements that suggested an ancient ocean coastline were found in Utopia Planitia, according to the team’s studies.

Several characteristics, according to the experts, suggested that there was a sizable ocean on Mars billions of years ago. The troughs and channels found on the surface could have been created by water flowing across Mars.

Mud volcanoes, which most likely erupted in regions where there had been water or ice, may have produced them, according to earlier studies that looked at data on comparable surface features.

According to the researchers, the data indicates that both shallow and deep ocean conditions were probably present in the region. The results of a recent study were published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The study was primarily written by Bo Wu. At Hong Kong Polytechnic University, he works as a planetary scientist. According to Wu, “We estimate the flooding of the Utopia Planitia on Mars was approximately 3.68 billion years ago. The ocean surface was likely frozen in a geologically short period.”

On Mars, the hunt for water is closely related to the hunt for potential life. The planet might have once hosted microbial life if there is evidence of a former ocean.

Previous research indicates that Mars formerly had a sizable northern ocean. In 2022, one such study was published. Satellite photos of the Martian surface served as the basis for that study. Detailed maps of the planet’s northern hemisphere were created by combining the pictures. Analyzing the maps revealed indications of coastlines that were previously part of a vast ocean.

Evidence from a different study that was published in August suggested that Mars might have a sizable ocean located far below the surface. NASA’s InSight Lander served as the basis for that proof.

In May 2021, the Zhurong rover from China started gathering data. It ceased operations almost a year later, with mission planners stating that dust and sand probably had an impact on the power system. The rover nevertheless outlived its three-month mission.

According to the researchers, the data indicates that the ocean appears to have vanished approximately 3.42 billion years ago.

According to research co-writer Sergey Krasilnikov, the water that most likely filled the Martian ocean was “heavily silted.” At Hong Kong Polytechnic University, he works as a planetary scientist. Water-borne silt is a mixture of clay and sand that eventually settles on land.

Krasilnikov went on to say that the planet “…probably had a thick, warm atmosphere” when the Martian ocean would have been active.” “Microbial life was much more likely at that time,” he stated.

The latest discoveries do “provide further evidence to support the theory of a Martian ocean,” according to Wu of Hong Kong Polytechnic.

The study does “not claim that our findings definitively prove” that there was an ocean on Mars, he told the French news agency AFP. According to him, such evidence would probably necessitate a further trip to return items from Mars to Earth for additional analysis.

At sundown, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a payload so secret that no details of the mission have been revealed, and the original designation has been changed.

While SpaceX refers to the mission as “TD7,” all regulatory documents and U.S. government organizations, including the Federal Aviation Administration and the Space Force, refer to the payload as “Optus-X.” During SpaceX’s broadcast, the commentator pointed out that it was a communications satellite.

On Sunday, November 17, at 5:28 p.m. EST (2228 UTC), the spacecraft lifted out from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

At sundown, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a payload so secret that no details of the mission have been revealed, and the original designation has been changed.

While SpaceX refers to the mission as “TD7,” all regulatory documents and U.S. government organizations, including the Federal Aviation Administration and the Space Force, refer to the payload as “Optus-X.” During SpaceX’s broadcast, the commentator pointed out that it was a communications satellite.

On Sunday, November 17, at 5:28 p.m. EST (2228 UTC), the spacecraft lifted out from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

A blue laser was used to illuminate the ruby cube from the side while a high-power green laser was focused through it for the experiment. In order to produce a matched region in the illuminating light and a darker area that looks as a shadow of the green laser beam, the green laser increases the optical absorption of the blue illuminating laser beam.

Is it possible for light to cast a shadow? Researchers have discovered that, in some circumstances, a laser beam can behave like an opaque object and cast a shadow, which may sound like a philosophical conundrum. The finding casts doubt on the conventional wisdom regarding shadows and creates new opportunities for devices that could manipulate another laser beam with a laser beam.

“Laser light casting a shadow was previously thought impossible since light usually passes through other light without interacting,” said Raphael A. Abrahao, the leader of the study team from Brookhaven National Laboratory, formerly at the University of Ottawa. “Our demonstration of a very counter-intuitive optical effect invites us to reconsider our notion of shadow.”

In Optica, scientists explain how they demonstrated that a laser beam could block light and produce a visible shadow because of a nonlinear optical process using a ruby crystal and particular laser wavelengths. Light can affect another optical field when it interacts with a material in an intensity-dependent manner.

“Our understanding of shadows has developed hand-in-hand with our understanding of light and optics,” Abrahao stated. “This new finding could prove useful in various applications such as optical switching, devices in which light controls the presence of another light, or technologies that require precise control of light transmission, like high-power lasers.”

The new study is a part of a broader investigation of nonlinear optical processes and the interaction of two light beams under specific conditions.

Some experimental drawings created with 3D visualization software portray the shadow of a laser beam because they interpret it as a cylinder without taking into account the physics of a laser beam. This idea was first raised during a lunch chat. Could this be done in a lab? asked some of the scientists.

“What started as a funny discussion over lunch led to a conversation on the physics of lasers and the nonlinear optical response of materials,” Abrahao remarked. “From there, we decided to conduct an experiment to demonstrate the shadow of a laser beam.”

The researchers accomplished this by shining a blue laser sideways on a cube of regular ruby crystal and passing a high-power green laser through it. The material’s reaction to the blue wavelength is locally altered when the green laser enters the ruby. Whereas the blue laser behaves like illumination, the green laser behaves like a regular object.

On a screen, the interaction of the two light sources produced a shadow that could be seen as a dark spot where the blue light was blocked by the green laser. Because it was visible to the unaided eye, followed the outlines of the surface it fell on, and followed the location and form of the laser beam, which functioned as an object, it satisfied all the requirements for a shadow.

The ruby’s optical nonlinear absorption is what causes the laser shadow effect. The green laser produces a corresponding region in the illuminating light with reduced optical intensity by increasing the blue illuminating laser beam’s optical absorption. As a result, the green laser beam appears as a shadow in a darker area.