A closer look

Mars isn't a completely bone-dry wasteland; it just hides its water in a highly toxic cocktail. The Martian soil is packed with perchlorates—nasty chemical salts that act as a hardcore planetary antifreeze. These salts pull water vapor straight out of the thin alien atmosphere, creating briny muds that stay strictly liquid even at a bone-chilling -94 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s an extreme chemical hack that might just harbor extremophile microbes.