An article published in the journal “Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta” reports the evidence that on the planet Mars there were hydrothermal springs and an atmosphere much thicker than the current one until just over a billion years ago. A team of researchers led by planetary geologist Nicola Mari of the University of Glasgow studied 5 of the 20 Martian meteorites from the group of nakhlites identified on Earth, analyzing in particular sulfur isotopes finding traces of hydrothermal springs and a thick atmosphere of up to about 1.3 billion years ago. An environment capable of sustaining life forms similar to the the Earth’s still existed at that time, more than two billion later than previously thought.