Red Planet Perplexity

"How Mars Turned Red: Surprising New Theory"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20090921/sc_space/howmarsturnedredsurprisingnewtheory

According to this article, the Red Planet may have acquired its characteristic color much more recently that previously theorized. Not only this, all previous theories about how exactly Mars became red have been swept off the drawing board after evidence retrieved from Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Oppurtunity suggested otherwise. As the original theory stands, the dust on Mars was a product of liquid water that rusted Mars' rocks billions of years ago; however, minerals found in the samples from Mars contain substances that would have been destroyed by such water. Instead, "A simple grinding down of rocks from erosion could produce a red mineral that stains the dust on Mars, the new thinking goes". This elimates the need for liquid water in the theory, unlike previously hypothesized.

What does this mean for the world today? Who knows. Certainly not much. In fact, we humans can barely handle the news of one planet, let alone two, and this piece of information really has no bearing on our day to day lives. Despite all of that, I find it incredibly interesting. There is that mystery of the unknown, that oh-so-intriguing sense of adventure and curiosity that naturally accompanies news about space such as this. Who knows if some similar process will sweep our earth millions of years from now, changing the world as we know it forever?