What the heck is THAT? Oh, that’s just a one-ton, nuclear-powered robot dominating Mars with its million watt l-a-s-e-r.

via discoverynews

Building Block for Life Found in Mars Meteorite

Scientists have found a potential building block for life in a Martian meteorite recovered from Antarctica.

Parts of the rock contain rich concentrations of boron, which biochemists suspect played a key role in the development of ribonucleic acid, or RNA.

“I had read how important boron could have been in the origins of life, stabilizing a part of RNA,” biologist James Stephenson, with the NASA Astrobiology Institute at the University of Hawaii told Discovery News.

RNA is a biological molecule, which scientists believe was the stepping stone for life on Earth. It, like deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, which evolved later, can store and transmit information to cells.

RNA is comprised of three basic components: phosphate, a ribose, which is a five-carbon sugar, and a nucleobase. Both phosphates and nucleobases have been found in meteorites previously. Ribose has never been found beyond Earth.

“Of the three parts that make RNA, the ribose is the tricky part. We haven’t been able to explain how it could form naturally,” Stephenson said.

In 2004, chemist Steven Benner, with the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Gainesville, Fla., proposed that ribose’s secret helper was boron.

“If one thinks that life originated with RNA that formed pre-biotically, we know of no other way of getting ribose in adequate amounts other than to use borate,” Benner wrote in an email to Discovery News.

“It’s the unique size of the boron which is able to stabilize the ribose ring structure. No other element has been shown to have that effect,” Stephenson added.

After reading Benner’s paper, Stephenson asked a geologist colleague if any of the Mars meteorites recovered on Earth had been analyzed for boron. They hadn’t, so Stephenson arranged a study.

The team hit the boron lottery in the final hours of their assigned time on a highly specialized ion microprobe at the University of Hawaii.

“We had four days on this very expensive machine and the first 3.5 days we hadn’t found any reasonable amounts of boron. We tried different meteorites and we tried different places in this Mars meteorite. It was only in the last hours that suddenly the boron concentrations jumped up from 2- to 3 parts per million up to 200 parts per million,” Stephenson said.

“It was a surprise for all of us. We were basically thinking of giving up. We’d been working like 15-hour days on this machine and not finding anything and we were ready to pack up and leave when we got this result, so then we carried on through the night,” he said.

The scientists next plan to test if an Earth clay with the same amount and configuration of boron found in the meteorite can actually stabilize ribose.

The research is published in PLOS One.

via rhamphotheca

New discovery of an articulated bovid skelton dating to 3.1 million years ago from Camp dels Ninots, Girona, Spain

“Traces of vegetables, fish and small vertebrates that will facilitate paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the environment surrounding this ancient lake have also been recovered.

Negotiations have begun for the site to be declared a National Cultural Heritage site given its uniqueness and singularness.

A talk will be given on Thursday, 13 June, 2013 at Casino Municipal de Caldas Malavella by the co-directors of the excavation, Bruno Gómez and Gerard Campeny”.

• translated from Catalan/not authored by me

“The excavation campaign by IPHES (Catalan Institute of Human Palaeoecology and Social Evolution) ran from ​​2 May to 31 May at Camp dels Ninots in Caldes de Malavella, Girona. Excavators discovered a new bovid skeleton in anatomical position (i.e., the original skeletal structure is intact) dating to 3.1 million years ago, the fourteenth of which that has been found in this area. Along with this finding, fossilised imprints of vegetal material, fish and small vertebrates have been recovered that will facilitate paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the area surrounding this ancient lake, which is located in the crater of a volcano. Meanwhile, negotiations have begun for the site to be declared a National Cultural Heritage site (BCIN), given its uniqueness and singularness…

Nearly 30 researchers from various universities and research centres both in Spain and abroad took part in the excavation. They come from disciplines as diverse as geology, biology, palaeontology, archaeology and restoration. The research project of Camp dels Ninots is directed by George Augustine Gomez and Bruno Gerard Campeny, members of IPHES. 

This time, the excavation has concentrated on two areas of the volcano: one to the north, called Cateura sector, and the other to the south, known as Ca n’Argilera. At both sites, which are separated by about 600 metres,  researchers worked simultaneously, recovering abundant paleontological and palaeobotanical material .

The first of bovid from Sector Cateura

The new bovid skeleton of the species Tigneresi aleph, was located in Cateura sector and is the first to be recovered in Cateura. ”The fact that it was found more than 600 metres away from the previous campaigns demonstrates the density of the palaeontological remains scattered across the surface of the crater of the volcano,” observed Bruno Gómez and Gerard Campeny.

It is an entire skeleton and in anatomical position and belongs to an individual adult. Furthermore, along with thirteen skeletons of the same species recovered from earlier excavations, it “will provide important information for understanding the evolution of both these cattle and their social dynamics,” the archaeologists stressed.

Amphibians, reptiles and fish attract the interest of specialists from all over

Along with the remains of large vertebrates recovered during the excavation this year, hundreds of small vertebrate remains, including amphibians, reptiles and fish have also been found. Of these remains, the most abundant in Camps dels Ninots are probably the numerous skeletons both articulated and disarticulated that have been recovered of fish. Most of these fish are lake carp in the order of Cypriniformes, of which three have been identified to a taxon. This includs a specimen in perfect condition, which shows that the sediments of this site are excellent for the preservation of such fossils. These remains have drawn the attention of researchers from the Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Palaeoecology from the Institute of Geology in Prague, who have traveled to Caldes de Malavella to study them in situ” (read more in Catalan).

(Source: IPHES)

via theolduvaigorge

(via lostbeasts)

Valles Marineris of Mars compared to the United States (x)

via wigmund

I love observing others’ reactions when speaking about this….

Stay Curious! Carl Sagan, Robert Zubrin | The Case For Mars

Iron in Egyptian relics came from space

Humans and iron have a mysterious history. Modern smelting technology has made iron ubiquitous, in the form of steel. But there’s no evidence that ancient cultures knew how to purify, and pound otherwise unusable iron ore (relatively common on Earth) into shapable iron metal.

If that’s the case, then how do we explain the 5,000-year-old relic in the photo above? Meteorites! About 6% of meteorites that hit Earth contain iron.

This ancient Egyptian bead is known as the Gerzeh bead. It was found, along with eight others, in a tomb dating to 3,300 BC. Recent X-ray and electron microscope analysis done by the University of Manchester and The Open University have traced its origins to a falling meteorite, thanks to its particular mix of iron and nickel. Such meteoric iron artifacts have also been found in Iran and China.

Can’t make iron? Get it from space! 

Interestingly, the word “iron” is thought by some to derive from the Proto-Germanic word isarnan, meaning “holy metal”, which may itself derive from an Etruscan word meaning “gods”. It seems that mankind’s earliest experiences with iron originated in the heavens, and they named it accordingly.

Can you imagine what they would have thought if they found this thing? (that’s the Willamette Meteorite):

(more at Nature News)

via jtotheizzoe

And if you’re wondering….yes, the meteor above (Willamette Meteorite) is the one Stephen Colbert licked during his interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson at the American Museum of Natural History. I’ve seen and touched that cosmic rubble many times myself.

“Diamonds are forever…
…only in the absence of oxygen.”

- Antoine Lavoisier

Measuring the hazards of global aftershock

The entire world becomes an aftershock zone after a massive magnitude (M) 7 or larger earthquake—but what hazard does this pose around the planet? Researchers are working to extend their earthquake risk estimates over a global scale, as they become better at forecasting the impact of aftershocks at a local and regional level.

There is little doubt that surface waves from a large, M≥7 earthquake can distort fault zones and volcanic centers as they pass through the Earth’s crust, and these waves could trigger seismic activity. According to the Tom Parsons, seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, global surveys suggest that there is a significant rate increase in global seismic activity during and in the 45 minutes after a M≥7 quake across all kinds of geologic settings. But it is difficult to find strong evidence that surface waves from these events immediately trigger M>5 earthquakes, and these events may be relatively rare. Nevertheless, seismologists would like to be able to predict the frequency of large triggered quakes in this global aftershock zone and associated hazard.

Studies of hundreds of M≥7 mainshock earthquake effects in 21 different regions around the world has provided some initial insights into how likely a damaging global aftershock might be. Initial results show that remote triggering has occurred at least once in about half of the regions studied during the past 30 years. Larger (M>5) global aftershocks appear to be delayed by several hours as compared with their lower magnitude counterparts. Parsons suggests that local seismic networks can monitor the rate of seismic activity immediately after a global mainshock quake, with the idea that a vigorous uptick in activity could signal a possible large aftershock.

Parsons presented his research at the annual meeting of the Seismological Society of America, which is an international scientific society devoted to the advancement of seismology and the understanding of earthquakes for the benefit of society. It publishes the prestigious peer-reviewed journal BSSA – the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America – and the bimonthly Seismological Research Letters, which serves as a general forum for informal communication among seismologists and those interested in seismology and related disciplines.

via abcstarstuff

Science and Space Posters by Ron Guyatt

Part of a series for spacevidcast.com to help inspire and spread the Good Word of Science! Prints available at etsy.

Artist: Tumblr / Website / Facebook

via ianbrooks

(via invaderxan)

by Txchnologist Staff

An International Space Station astronaut captured this image of a volcano’s steam plume on Gaua Island, also known as Santa Maria Island, on May 31, 2013. The island is part of the Vanuatu Archipelago, a group of volcanic islands in the Southern Pacific Ocean.

Gaua Island is the portion of a 10,000-foot-high stratovolcano that lies exposed above sea level, and the steam is being emitted by a cone called Mount Gharat. The dark blue-green waters of Lake Letas, formed within the caldera, are visible at image center. Most of the volcano is submerged beneath the Pacific Ocean. 

The photographer, part of the ISS Expedition 36 crew, took this image with a digital camera using a 400 mm lens. Click here to see a larger image. Photo courtesy NASA.

Major Glacier Calving Captured In Time-lapse Video

Researchers from Swansea University in the United Kingdom working near Greenland’s Helheim Glacier spotted a spectacular calving event on July 12, 2010. They captured the glacier dropping icebergs into the fjord in this time-lapse video.

via skeptv, original post via Live Science Videos.

Humans began contributing to environmental lead pollution as early as 8,000 years ago, according to a Univ. of Pittsburgh research report.

The Pitt research team detected the oldest-discovered remains of human-derived lead pollution in the world in the northernmost region of Michigan, suggesting metal pollution from mining and other human activities appeared far earlier in North America than in Europe, Asia, and South America. Their findings are highlighted on the cover of the latest issue of Environmental Science & Technology.

“Humanity’s environmental legacy spans thousands of years, back to times traditionally associated with hunter-gatherers. Our records indicate that the influence of early Native Americans on the environment can be detected using lake sediments,” says David Pompeani, lead author of the research paper and a PhD candidate in Pitt’s Department of Geology and Planetary Science. “These findings have important implications for interpreting both the archeological record and environmental history of the upper Great Lakes.”

The Univ. of Pittsburgh research team — which included, from Pitt’s Department of Geology and Planetary Science, Mark Abbott, associate professor of paleoclimatology, and Daniel Bain, assistant professor of catchment science, along with Pitt alumnus Byron Steinman (A&S ’11G) — examined Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula because it is the largest source of pure native copper in North America. Early surveys of the region in the 1800s identified prehistoric human mining activity in the form of such tools as hammerstones, ladders and pit mines.

The team from the Department of Geology and Planetary Science investigated the timing, location, and magnitude of ancient copper mining pollution. Sediments were collected in June 2010 from three lakes located near ancient mine pits. They analyzed the concentration of lead, titanium, magnesium, iron, and organic matter in the collected sediment cores — finding distinct decade- to century-scale increases in lead pollution preserved from thousands of years ago.

“These data suggest that measurable levels of lead were emitted by preagricultural societies mining copper on Keweenaw Peninsula starting as early as 8,000 years ago,” says Pompeani. “Collectively, these records have confirmed, for the first time, that prehistoric pollution from the Michigan Copper Districts can be detected in the sediments found in nearby lakes.”

By contrast, reconstructions of metal pollution from other parts of the world, such as Asia, Europe, and South America, only provide evidence for lead pollution during the last 3,000 years, says Pompeani.

“We’re hopeful that our work can be used in the future to better understand past environmental changes,” says Abbott.

The team is currently investigating places near other prehistoric copper mines surrounding Lake Superior.

13 jaw-dropping images of Martian terrain
While NASA’s Mars rover inches closer to finding evidence of ancient life on Mars, a $40 million high resolution camera called HiRISE is capturing beautiful, abstract satellite photos from 15,000 miles above the ochre surface.

via mothernaturenetwork

Blue Iceland by Erez Marom

via seafarers

The Metallic Snow-Capped Mountains of Venus

Mountaintops on Venus are snowcapped, just like on Earth. Oh, except that Venusian snow is made from lead sulfide. The huge temperatures on the planet’s surface causes pyrite minerals to evaporate into a metallic mist, which is carried up to higher altitudes and deposited on mountain tops as heavy metal snow.

The mountaintops of Venus must look beautiful…

via invaderxan

In lieu of World Oceans Day, here’s a book my son picked up at a yard sale (for $.25, mind you) all about the ocean. The publication date on this (i check them all) is 2009 and it’s a visually impressive book packed with diverse topics and factoids.

This is not your average pop-up book, and you can view or purchase it HERE via Amazon or just keep it in mind the next time you venture into your local bookstore or paperback exchange.