{
  "id": 9386752,
  "title": "Team finds strange warm spot deep inside Mars",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/team-finds-strange-warm-spot-deep-inside-mars",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-23T17:44:40.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Futurity",
    "slug": "futurity",
    "url": "https://www.futurity.org/mars-interior-warm-spot-3345372/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Scientists have recently uncovered a perplexing warm spot deep within Mars' interior. Orbital satellites have offered valuable insights into the surfaces of celestial bodies like the Moon and Mars, revealing traces of water on the Moon and potentially habitable areas on Mars. However, delving into the mysteries beneath these surfaces has proven challenging. A technique called tidal tomography, devised by researchers at Brown University, is now allowing scientists to glean crucial information about the deep interiors of planets using existing satellites. A study in the journal Nature, led by Alexander Byrne from the University of Arizona, employed this method to reveal a massive heat anomaly in the mantle beneath Mars' southern hemisphere. This hot spot, which could be 200 to 400 degrees Celsius warmer than the rest of the planet, offers new insights into the Red Planet's evolutionary history. Two Brown University researchers, Harriet Lau and Nick Wagner, have made significant contributions to the development and application of tidal tomography. Lau, an earth, environmental, and planetary sciences professor, previously utilized the technique to uncover new details about Earth's interior. Wagner, a Brown postdoctoral researcher, has adapted the method for Mars, aiming to eventually apply it to the Moon as well. Wagner elaborates on the groundbreaking work: \"We've adapted tidal tomography, which was originally designed for studying Earth's interior, to analyze Mars' mantle. This technique uses subtle changes in satellite signals to detect variations in temperatures deep beneath the planet's surface.\"",
  "summary": "A new finding could help scientists to understand the Red Planet's evolution over the past 4 billion years.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}