Even on the present-day cold and dusty surface of Mars, liquid water may be sustaining a world of Martian microbes. Data churned out by NASA’s Mars Odyssey suggests that the nearby planet is waterfront property — at least in the form of below surface deposits of water ice. Odyssey scientists report that the soil very close to the surface over much of the planet contains large amounts of ice. Now a father and son science team argue that ice near Mars’ surface means liquid water in its “topsoil”, thereby strengthening the case for life on the red planet.