Analysing landscapes in the UAE has helped scientists in Abu Dhabi conclude that water flowed beneath the surface of Mars billions of years ago.
The findings from researchers at New York University Abu Dhabi suggest that the Red Planet could have provided a suitable environment for life longer than had previously been thought.
Using information from Nasa's Curiosity rover, scientists made comparisons between the Gale crater on Mars and sites in UAE deserts with rocks made from hardened windblown sand.
The researchers made multiple visits to Liwa, Hatta and Al Wathba to understand how the rocks may have formed. They also set up laboratory experiments to study the processes.
Over time, ancient sand dunes in the Gale crater are thought to have turned into rock after contact with water billions of years ago.
The work was led by Dimitra Atri, the principal investigator of NYUAD's Space Exploration Laboratory, and Vignesh Krishnamoorthy, a research assistant.
“Our findings show that Mars didn’t simply go from wet to dry,” Dr Atri said. “Even after its lakes and rivers disappeared, small amounts of water continued to move underground, creating protected environments that could have supported microscopic life.”
The waters of Mars
Dunes formed in completely dry areas, but water from mountains on Mars is thought to have once seeped into some of these dunes through tiny cracks, soaking the sand from below, eventually turning the dunes into rocks. This left behind minerals such as gypsum, which is also found in deserts on Earth.
Traces of organic material may have been left behind and preserved in the minerals. The university said these minerals could be the focus of future missions looking for evidence of whether Mars ever played host to life.
Dr Atri said it was "like a dream come true" to be able to visit landscapes in the UAE that are similar to those found on Mars.
"I pick up my car and in one to two hours I can be on Mars," he said.
Structures called concretions, which are solid structures that may form within sediments, have been observed on Mars, and the scientists have subsequently found similar structures in the UAE.
"We have follow-up papers coming out, still in the pipeline, where we'll study these concretions and connect them to Mars," Dr Atri said.
Dr Atri said that separate European and Chinese missions to Mars in 2028 would analyse material from below the surface and could indicate whether microorganisms are present on the Red Planet.
The new research has been released in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Planets in a paper titled 'Aeolian Sediment Lithification From Late-Stage Aqueous Activity in the Gale Crater: Implications for Habitability on Mars'.
Dr Atri has previously said that life may exist on Mars even in its present dry state, given that some organisms can survive in very harsh, dry conditions on Earth.
Some researchers have also suggested that life could exist far below the surface of the Red Planet, again by drawing comparison with Earth, where microorganisms can be found living many miles below the surface.
Does history offer clues?
Water was abundant on Mars during the planet's early days, with experts having detected signs that streams, rivers and shorelines existed.
The atmosphere then was much thicker, trapping heat from the Sun and making the Red Planet – which is about 4.6 billion years old – much warmer than it is now.
There would have been a magnetic field created by molten metals in the core of the planet, but internal cooling about four billion years ago caused this magnetic field to weaken.
Over several hundred million years, with no magnetic field present any longer, the solar wind, a term for the flow of charged particles from the Sun, eliminated most of the atmosphere. It made Mars the cold and dry planet it is today, although there is still frozen water present under the surface.
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is about half as big as Earth, with a radius of 2,106 miles, according to Nasa.
It has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, both of which are potato-shaped: their mass is not large enough for gravity to make them spherical, Nasa has explained.
The latest research was carried out at NYUAD’s Centre for Astrophysics and Space Science and was supported by the NYUAD Research Institute.
The research group of Pance Naumov, a professor of chemistry at NYUAD, collaborated in the research work, as did James Weston, who is part of NYUAD’s core technology platform. Marieh Bassam Al Handawi, a postdoctoral associated in Prof Naumov’s laboratory, is another co-author of the new paper.
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
The biog
Name: Fareed Lafta
Age: 40
From: Baghdad, Iraq
Mission: Promote world peace
Favourite poet: Al Mutanabbi
Role models: His parents
Results:
Men's 100m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 15 sec; 2. Rheed McCracken (AUS) 15.40; 3. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 15.75. Men's 400m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 50.56; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 50.94; 3. Henry Manni (FIN) 52.24.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare
Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.
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Summer special
Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
If you go
The Flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Johannesburg from Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively. Economy return tickets cost from Dh2,650, including taxes.
The trip
Worldwide Motorhoming Holidays (worldwidemotorhomingholidays.co.uk) operates fly-drive motorhome holidays in eight destinations, including South Africa. Its 14-day Kruger and the Battlefields itinerary starts from Dh17,500, including campgrounds, excursions, unit hire and flights. Bobo Campers has a range of RVs for hire, including the 4-berth Discoverer 4 from Dh600 per day.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Profile of Tamatem
Date started: March 2013
Founder: Hussam Hammo
Based: Amman, Jordan
Employees: 55
Funding: $6m
Funders: Wamda Capital, Modern Electronics (part of Al Falaisah Group) and North Base Media
Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 2
Rashford 28', Martial 72'
Watford 1
Doucoure 90'
Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
J%20Street%20Polling%20Results
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
The years Ramadan fell in May
Brief scores:
Newcastle United 1
Perez 23'
Wolverhampton Rovers 2
Jota 17', Doherty 90' 4
Red cards: Yedlin 57'
Man of the Match: Diogo Jota (Wolves)
Match info
Karnataka Tuskers 110-3
J Charles 35, M Pretorius 1-19, Z Khan 0-16
Deccan Gladiators 111-5 in 8.3 overs
K Pollard 45*, S Zadran 2-18
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
PFA Team of the Year: David de Gea, Kyle Walker, Jan Vertonghen, Nicolas Otamendi, Marcos Alonso, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Christian Eriksen, Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, Sergio Aguero
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Norway v Spain, Saturday, 10.45pm, UAE
