Wet Mars: New Evidence

"Landforms on Mars Add to Evidence for Recent Water"
Space.com (June 29, 2009)

"The weather on Mars was much balmier in the recent past than scientists have previously thought, according to a new interpretation of the formation of certain landforms on the surface.

"The finding could have implications for the possibility of finding signs of life on Mars.

"Matthew Balme, of The Open University in the United Kingdom, studied detailed images of equatorial landforms...."

That "recent past" is 2,000,000 or more years ago. Which, in geological terms, really is recent. Mars and Earth have been around for upwards of 4,000,000,000 years - so we're talking about 1/2000 or so of the time Mars has been around. On that scale, two million years really is "recent."

The landforms resemble what we see on Earth where there's permafrost - and some of them overlap features in an outflow channel.

Scientists thought these were volcanic landforms until very detailed images from the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) package on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Now, after a 'closer' look, this Martian terrain most closely resembles the results of freeze-thaw cycles here on Earth.

Water, enough of it to push soil around, on Mars within the last few million years suggests that there might be Martians after all. Microscopic ones: but living creatures on Mars.

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Other posts, about "Mars, Mostly."

Related posts, at

• "A Serious Search for Other Worlds, Life, and - Maybe - Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence"

Photo Map: 99 Percent of Earth

"New map shows 99 percent of Earth's terrain"
CNN (July 1, 2009)

"NASA and Japan improved our world view this week, or at least our view of the world."

"The American space agency and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry have released a new digital topographic map of Earth that accurately portrays more of our planet than ever before."

"The new map consists of 1.3 million images taken by NASA's Terra satellite that have been pieced together...."

The new map is, essentially, a huge composite photo of Earth's surface. Aside from the 'gee whiz' factor, this map should be useful for people who want or need detailed information about a location.

For example, I've used satellite imagery from Google Maps to plan a trip to another town: Conventional maps are fine for getting from town to town, but they don't show details like where the parking lots are.

Never Heard of the Packing Noodle? There's a Reason

"Packing It In: Why the Foam Noodle Couldn't Cut It in the Protection Racket"
Wired, June 22, 2009

"...Even though the Noodle was a vast improvement over the peanut, 'they didn't sell well,' says Carter Swift, a brand manager at 3M. 'They were just too different.' The Noodles came fitted together in compact, shrink-wrapped blocks. Retailers loved them because they took up such little shelf space. But consumers didn't understand that the blocks broke apart into hundreds of Noodles. In June, Burchard's brilliant idea was discontinued, and once again we're left with only God (and a few lesser earthly products) to protect our precious cargo."

Generally, I quote from the beginning of an article or post, by way of an introduction.

This time it seemed appropriate to show you the end. This Wired article starts by describing a near-disaster involving Michelangelo's La Pietà (which involves a familiar packing material), and takes you through the development - and ultimate failure - of a remarkable invention.