Scientists have suspected in recent years that Mars might be undergoing some sort of global warming. New data points to the possibility it is emerging from an ice age. NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter has been surveying the planet for nearly a full Martian year now, and it has spotted seasonal changes like the advance and retreat of polar ice. It’s also gathering data of a possible longer trend. There appears to be too much frozen water at low-latitude regions — away from the frigid poles — given the current climate of Mars. The situation is not in equilibrium, said William Feldman of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
December 1st, 2003
Scientists Speed Up Tree Growth in N.C.
Scientists say they have found a way to boost tree growth but so far there they haven’t found a practical use for the fast-growing plants. A tree species at N.C. State’s Upper Piedmont Research Station in Reidsville grew up to 20 feet in a single year, about double its usual rate. A typical tree in the area grows about 18 inches in a good year.
November 5th, 2003
Student’s space project succeeds St Albans Observer
A student from Welwyn Garden City whose experiment was destroyed when a rocket crashed last year has seen her second attempt return safely after two months in outer space. Ms Tamara Banerjee, 22, of Blakemere Road, is one of a team of four medical students researching how bacteria grow in zero gravity.
October 13th, 2003
Canadian, U.S. militaries develop modified plants to detect landmines The Canadian Press
The Canadian and the United States militaries are developing a new weapon in the war against landmines – genetically modified plants. Anthony Faust, a researcher with the landmine detection branch of the Department of National Defence, came up with the genetically modified plant idea after watching a TV newscast. “I caught the tail end of a clip that talked about sending genetically modified plants to Mars. These plants were going to be modified to be sensitive to heavy metals.
October 10th, 2003
Martian Creatures To ‘Come To Life’ In Nasa Student Challenge
As five spacecraft from countries around this world rapidly approach Mars, NASA educators are challenging students to learn about the ‘red planet’ and design creatures that could survive in the harsh Martian environment. On Oct. 13, NASA Quest at NASA Ames Research Center, located in California’s Silicon Valley, will launch the ‘Design-a-Martian Challenge.’ NASA Quest is an educational Web site dedicated to bringing the NASA experience to K-12 students. The seven-week challenge builds upon the growing excitement about the red planet, and provides students an opportunity to interact with NASA Mars experts and other students from around the world. “The Design-a-Martian Challenge is a great opportunity to have students actively participate in one of the greatest scientific endeavors in recent history,” said Donald James, education director at NASA Ames. “With the knowledge gained from the challenge, the students will be Mars experts within their families and classrooms when the twin Mars Exploration Rovers land on Mars at the beginning of 2004.”
August 23rd, 2003
All eyes on red planet Nature
Mars is sneaking up on us this week. On 27 August the red planet will be less than 56 million kilometres from Earth, the closest it’s been for 60,000 years. Stargazers on the ground will be able to marvel at the bronze orb in the southeastern skies. Scientists are more blas
August 3rd, 2003
How Cities Make Their Own Weather TIME
When Houston is hit by a sudden storm, the city may be partly to blame. Increasingly, urban centers don’t merely endure bad weather; they help create it. Researchers believe the phenomenon may be more common now than ever before. Scientists have known for 200 years that the temperature in a city can be higher than that in its environs
April 25th, 2003
Find gives hope for life on Mars New Zealand Herald
A lichen which may one day be used to plant life on Mars has been found growing inside rocks near the South Pole. Waikato University biologist Professor Allan Green told the NZ Antarctic Conference in Dunedin this week that an international team of scientists was amazed to find 15 species of lichens in a small rock outcrop on Mt Kyffin, 750km south of Scott Base. Eight species were found in the Taylor Valley, a “dry valley” west of Scott Base which has received virtually no rain for millions of years.
February 13th, 2003
Water ice on Mars’ poles, but not a drop to drink
Mars’ north and south poles are loaded with frozen water trapped under a crust of “dry ice” — frozen carbon dioxide — but this is not necessarily good news for any earthly visitor looking for a drink, scientists reported today. Apparent indications of surface water, including features that look like channels and river valleys, suggest the Red Planet might once have been warm and wet enough to sustain liquid water, and therefore to allow for the possibility of Earth-type life. But new findings reported in the current edition of the journal Science show that while there may be lots of water ice, there is nowhere near enough carbon dioxide to ever warm the planet up enough to make the water drinkable.
September 16th, 2002
Proposal: Removing Earth’s Radiation Belts
Here’s a cinch of an idea: How about a little Van Allen Belt tightening? By using highly charged orbiting space tethers, the Earth’s cocoon of menacing and deadly radiation belts might be easily and largely aced out. For one, satellites in the future could live longer not having to fend off the frenzy of energetic particles. Moreover, human-carrying spacecraft would be far safer zooming about in Earth orbit or speeding outward to distant destinations. The novel concept is called the High Voltage Orbiting Long Tether (HiVOLT) System – a proposal from Tethers Unlimited, Inc. of Lynnwood, Washington.