A Natural History of Mars

While Earth’s natural history has been playing out over the last few billion years, another epic planetary saga has also been unfolding right next door.

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Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios

Super special thanks to the following Patreon patrons for helping make Eons possible:
Jimmy Luo, Aaditya Mehta, Jen Smith, Melanie Truscott, Michael Roy, John H. Austin, Jr., Kate Huhmann, Alex Hackman, Amanda Ward, Stephen Patterson, Karen Farrell, Trevor Long, Ric, Roberto Adrian Ramirez Flores, Jason Rostoker, Jonathan Rust, Mary Tevington, Bart & Elke van Iersel - De Jong, William Craig II, Irene Wood, Derek Helling, WilCatRhClPPh33, Mark Talbott-Williams, Duane Westhoff, Hillary Ryde-Collins, Swad Swadlo, Yu Mei, Jayme Coyle, Albert Folsom, Oscar Amoros Huguet, Patrick Wells, Heathe Kyle Yeakley, Dan Caffee, Stephanie Tan, Nick Ryhajlo, Sean Dennis, Ben Cooper, Matt Parker, Jerrit Erickson, MissyElliottSmith, Stefan Weber, Merri Snaidman, Gabriel Cortez, Marcus Lejon, Betsy Radley, Philip Slingerland, John Vanek, Eric Vonk, Jon Monteiro, James Bording, Miles Chaston, Michael McClellan, Jeff Graham, Daisuke Goto, Gregory Kintz, Chandler Bass, Tsee Lee, Robert Hill.

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[AphidKirby]

The idea of life happening TWICE in a single solar system is incredibly exciting, even if the time wasn't right to both live at the same time

[gradypicinich]

It always blows my mind how Mars doesn't have water anymore, yet it is the primary source of Mars candy bars. The universe is a mysterious and magical place 🥰

[michael_k]

"We've only just recently begun to figure out some answers, thanks in large part to our curiosity and perseverance." I see what you did there. 😉

[francoislacombe]

7:03 Small detail. The Sun close to the martian horizon, as depicted here, looks blue, not yellow as it does on Earth. That's because of the different atmosphere and types of dust particles suspended in that atmosphere that scatters red light more efficiently on Mars. It's also why the martian sky usually has a definite salmon pink color to it.

[andromedatonks]

As a planetary scientist and long-time Eons fan, I cannot tell you how excited I am to see this episode 🤩 Thank you!!!!

[LindenHS-Hillcraft]

Am I the only one who is always on the verge of tears learning about space?
Like its so amazingly overwhelming and wonderful how huge this universe is and how small we really are... and how science has shown us so much truth to our place as a sentient species capable of understanding what we are seeing.

[jacobjames]

I’ve always been fascinated by Mars, I really hope Perseverance can find ancient microbial life so we know we’re not alone. 👽

[burnerdaughter]

Wow. I had no idea how the possibility of actual life on another planet would affect me till now. It's both beautiful and, in the event that it may have died out eons ago, incredibly bittersweet. I almost wanna cry.

[sorrenblitz]

There is a theory floating around that we actually did find not just evidence of life but actual living microbes on Mars during the Viking Lander missions, and we accidentally killed it. The basics of it is this one scientist had the thought that its possible martian life adapted to metabolize hydrogen peroxide, and the viking soil samples did show the evidence that that couldve been the case but since the way the soil was being analyzed was to get heated in pure water that scientist asserts that we actually accidentally killed the possible life in that soil sample.

[yeyecannotdrift]

Recent study based on observing marsquakes and seismic waves suggests that the outer core of Mars consists elements such as sulfur, oxygen, carbon and hydrogen but few iron. And its inner iron core is probably smaller than expected.

[andrewmichaelson]

There is an interesting possibility that terrestrial and Martian life are related. With the Late Heavy Bombardment, or earlier, our planets could exchange pieces of each other with microbes to travel on.

[chriswatt]

fun fact: using the words opportunity and insight to describe what machines allow us to do on Mars means more than meets the eye. In addition to the well publicized rover Opportunity, a piece if seismographic equipment put on Mars, a distinct mission from Opportunity, was called Insight

[theaussiebackflipboy]

The scary thing I picked up from this is that, theoretically, Earth could lose its magnetosphere at some stage in the same way as Mars but it will take longer because of the planets size.

[BallisticDamages]

My guess is if mars ever had life, it almost certainly still does. Now it might be purely microbial and kilometers below the surface, but I'd bet anything that something would remain.

[MaddoxLightning]

P.S. these shows have been so lovely, for years. It is my hope shows like Eons receive funding for years more to come. You all teach in a delightful way.

[michaelpettinger]

"...thanks in large part to our Curiosity and Perseverance..."

We see what you did there...

[ericharkleroad]

All the puns about the rovers etc were Terra-ble! I loved them.

[rJaune]

Your videos are always A+. But, I'll give you an A++ for mentioning so many of the rovers. Haha

[Scarlet_Soul]

Roughly translated for any Martians. Ack Ack Ack Ack Ack, Ack Ack Ack.

[HeisenbergFam]

Trip to Mars to truly get a breath of fresh air away from Earth's GTA parody world does sound like an experience of a lifetime