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2004年，美国宇航局的“机遇号”探测器在火星土壤中发现有水流过火星表面的迹象，这一发现激发了人类对于这颗红色星球曾有原始生命体存在的希望。

In 2004, NASA's Opportunity rover found evidence in Martian soils that water had once flowed across the surface there, buoying hopes that the red planet may once have supported primitive life.

但一项最新研究却给这个梦想泼了盆冷水，还撒了把盐，让人们对这个希望持保留意见。

But a new study throws some cold water, and a big pinch of salt, on those hopes.

哈 佛大学博士后研究员、研究小组成员尼古拉斯•J•托斯卡说：“液态水是地球上所有物种赖以生存的必需物质，所以我们曾认为水是支持火星上生命体存在的最基 本元素。但要真实评估火星的宜居程度，还需考虑火星液态水的特性。在地球上，并不是所有的水都能支持生命存在，水的温度、酸度和盐分在很大程度上决定了陆 地生物的生存期限。”

 
"Liquid water is required by all species on Earth and we've assumed that water is the very least that would be necessary for life on Mars," said study team member Nicholas J. Tosca, a Harvard University postdoctoral researcher. "However, to really assess Mars' habitability we need to consider the properties of its water. Not all of Earth's waters are able to support life, and the limits of terrestrial life are sharply defined by water's temperature, acidity and salinity."