Briny Puddles Could Dot Mars, New Research Says

Experts have long thought that a particular kind of salt detected in Martian soil could pull water vapor from the the planet's thin atmosphere into the soil at night and then keep it from freezing despite the extreme cold.
Researchers aren't saying they've seen direct evidence of brine hiding out in the Martian night.
But they say the new study -- based on a full year of monitoring of temperature and humidity conditions by the Mars Curiosity rover in Gale Crater -- does seem to bear the theory out.
Researchers say Mars may once have had a sea as extensive as Earth's Atlantic Ocean.
The new study doesn't change the picture for life on Mars. The researchers say the temperatures they measured are too low and water too scarce "to support terrestrial organisms."