Volcanoes on Mars could be active, raising possibility Mars was recently habitable. New observations reveal that Mars could still be volcanically active, raising the possibility for habitable conditions in the near surface of Mars in recent history. Ongoing research investigates the possibility that the most recent volcanic activity on Mars, which occurred about 50,000 years ago, might have been triggered by a nearby asteroid impact that happened around the same time. Source 8n.
Mars habitability limited by its small size, isotope study suggests. Researchers measured the potassium isotope compositions of Martian meteorites in order to estimate the presence, distribution, and abundance of volatile elements and compounds, including water, on Mars, finding that Mars has lost more potassium than Earth but retained more potassium than the moon or the asteroid 4-Vesta; the results suggest that rocky planets with larger mass retain more volatile elements during planetary formation and that Mars and Mars-sized exoplanets fall below a size threshold necessary to retain enough water to enable habitability and plate tectonics. Source 2o.