NASA Phoenix Mars Lander Confirms Frozen Water

Scientists relishing confirmation of water ice near the surface beside NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander anticipate even bigger discoveries from the robotic mission in the weeks ahead.
"It is with great pride and a lot of joy that I announce today that we have found proof that this hard bright material is really water ice and not some other substance," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson, during a Friday news briefing to announce the confirmation of water ice.
"The truth we're looking for is not just looking at ice. It is in finding out the minerals, chemicals and hopefully the organic materials associated with these discoveries," said Smith.

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Earth Will Survive After All, Physicists Say

It looks like it won't destroy us after all. The Large Hadron Collider, scheduled to go into operation this fall outside Geneva, is no threat to the Earth or the universe, according to a new safety review.
“There is no basis for any concerns about the consequences of new particles or forms of matter that could possibly be produced by the LHC,” five physicists who comprised the safety assessment group wrote in their report.

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Three Super-Earths Orbit One Star

Three new super-Earths have been spotted around the same star in a remarkable new discovery by planet-hunters announced today.
The new worlds - all less than ten times the Earth's mass - are orbiting a star 42 light-years away in the constellation of Pictor, the painter's easel.
Most planets detected in alien solar systems have been so-called "hot Jupiters" because they are much more massive. The three new planets are 4.2, 6.7, and 9.4 times the mass of the Earth and orbit their parent sun in 4.3, 9.6, and 20.4 days, respectively.
The star, labelled HD 40307, is similar to the Sun but slightly smaller. It is only visible in the southern hemisphere and never rises above the UK's horizon. News of the discovery was broken today at an international conference of astronomers at Nantes, France.

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Stan Winston Has Died

One of the greatest names in special effects, Stan Winston has died at age 62. There are probably three names I can think of when it comes to true special effects: Ray Harryhausen, Rick Baker, and Stan Winston.

Known particularly for his robotic and animatronic special effects on films from The Terminator to Iron Man, Stan has been one of the main 'go-to' effects masters for the last 20 years. Much of his work was done before the days of CGI, when you actually had to make a solid, tangible creation for almost anything you saw on screen.

He was a winner of numerous awards including 3 Oscars and 2 Emmys. He was the creative force behind the creature effects on such films as Gargoyles (a 1972 TV movie that scared the crap out of me as a kid), Starman, Aliens, The Monster Squad, and the Terminator series and more.

Steven Spielberg, who worked with Winston on several films, said in a statement "Stan was a fearless and courageous artist/inventor and for many projects, I rode his cutting edge from teddy bears to aliens to dinosaurs. My world would not have been the same without Stan. What I will miss most is his easy laugh every time he said to me, 'Nothing is impossible.'"

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Astronomers Argue Pluto IS A Planet!

Disgruntled scientists renewed their vows this week to call Pluto a planet despite an international governing body's latest ruling to reclassify the tiny world.

On Wednesday, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) declared that Pluto will henceforth be known as a "plutoid," a new class of objects that has two members (the other being Eris, a small body beyond Pluto). The IAU, considered in charge of naming celestial objects, has been around since 1919. It demoted Pluto to "dwarf planet" status in 2006.

The latest decision was announced by email to the press, and it took researchers by surprise. Even IAU members and astronomers who discovered Eris and other objects that might eventually be called plutoids were not consulted or informed.

That's left many scientists peeved that the IAU developed the new term and its definition behind closed doors. They accuse the IAU of being secretive, out of touch and of failing to consider basic physical characteristics that researchers use to define planets.

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'No Facebook? I Quit!'

What would make you quit your job? Lack of insurance or other benefits? A lengthy and expensive commute? Limited advancement opportunities? No Facebook access? Wait, what?
Ann All over at ItBusinessEdge posted about a recent survey that found an incredible 39% of 18-to-24-year-olds would consider leaving their jobs if their employer prevented them from accessing Facebook. 21 percent would just be “annoyed” by it.

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Although not connected to this specific survey, this reminds me of the 60 Minutes segment a few weeks ago about the entry of the 'Millenials' into the workplace. There is a complete disconnect between older employers and the young adults entering the workplace who have never held a summer job and have never faced criticism growing up. Watch the segment here, it's pretty interesting.

Clumpy Martain Soil Chokes Phoenix

Reuters- Dirt that the Phoenix Mars Lander scooped recently from the planet's surface may be too clumpy to be analyzed by the machine's onboard system, NASA reported on Saturday.
A robotic arm retrieved a cup-sized sample of Martian dirt on Friday and placed it on the lander's Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA, which was scheduled to spend about a week determining the soil's water and mineral content.
The TEGA features a screened opening that prevents large particles from clogging it. Only those thinner than 1 mm (0.04 of an inch) can pass through, and an infrared beam verifies whether they have entered the instrument. The beam has not yet confirmed any activity and researchers are not sure why, NASA said in a statement.
Scientists suspect the soil may be clumped together too tightly, NASA said.
Photo:REUTERS/NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University/Handout
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