NASA finds new evidence of liquid water on Mars
LOS ANGELES: NASA scientists have discovered new evidence that briny water flows on Mars during its warmest months, raising chances that life could exist on the Red Planet, the space agency said on Thursday.
NASA first found signs of water on Mars more than a decade ago, but earlier indications were that any existing water would be frozen and concentrated at the poles.
Recently analyzed images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite show dark, finger-like features that extend down some slopes and crater walls on the planet during its late spring through summer, fading in the Martian winter.
“This is the best evidence we have to date of a liquid water occurring today on Mars,” said Philip Christensen, a geophysicist at Arizona State University, Tempe, in a NASA panel announcing the findings in Washington.
NASA scientists believe that if there is liquid water on Mars, it would be highly salty and lie beneath the surface. That would explain why it would not freeze in the planet’s frigid surface temperatures, which can fall to around 200 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (minus 128 degrees Celsius), or evaporate in its low air pressure.
“It is more like a syrup, maybe, in how it flows,” said Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona, Tucson, principal investigator in charge of a special camera on the Mars orbiter called a High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment.
He also is the lead author of a report on evidence of water flows published on Thursday in the journal Science.
BETTER THAN ICE
The scientists on NASA’s panel stressed that liquid water is more likely to sustain life than ice, underscoring the importance of the latest discovery.
Past NASA discoveries revealed evidence of ancient shorelines and riverbanks on Mars. And analysis of gullies on the Red Planet five years ago turned up fresh mineral deposits that suggested recent water flows, but provided no categorical proof of that, scientists said.
The latest discovery is more difficult to explain away as evidence of anything but contemporary water flows, said Michael Meyer, Mars exploration program lead scientist at NASA.
Another possibility to account for the periodic darkening in the areas under examination is dust moving along the surface of the planet, McEwen said. But dust avalanches would occur at more random intervals, rather than on a seasonal basis, he said.
Scientists on the panel said the latest imaging evidence of flowing water also suggests the existence of liquid water closer to the planet’s equator than previously found.
Any liquid water would likely lie beneath the surface because the atmosphere on Mars is so thin that liquid water above ground would quickly evaporate, scientists said.
Some organisms on Earth thrive underground with little access to sunlight, and the same thing could be occurring on Mars, said Lisa Pratt, biogeochemist at Indiana University, Bloomington, and a participant on the NASA panel discussing the results on Thursday.
Pratt said further research is needed at the seven sites where recurring evidence of flowing water was found.
“It is our first chance to see an environment on Mars that might allow for the expression of an active biological process, if there is present-day life on Mars,” she said. AGENCIES
college world series 2010
May 31, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
Auburn, seeded first in its regional, will play host to Clemson, Southern Miss and Jacksonville State beginning Friday at Plainsman Park.
The NCAA College World Series field of 64 was announced on Monday.
The Tigers, winners of the SEC Western Division, will face Jacksonville State while Clemson will play Southern Miss. Game times will be announced later.
Meanwhile, Alabama will go on the road to Atlanta and the Georgia Tech regional. Alabama, the second seed, will face third-seeded Elon in the first game. Top-seeded Georgia Tech and Mercer will follow in the second game.
The Yellow Jackets are one of eight seeds in the national tournament (8). The top seed is Arizona State followed by Texas, Florida, Coastal Carolina, Virginia, UCLA, and Louisville.
Eight SEC teams made the tournament including Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, South Carolina and Florida. Over in the other side of the 2010 College World Series bracket we have No. 10 seeded Arizona against No. 15 Tennessee in a 4 p.m. PST match on June 3rd. That game will then be followed by No. 6 Georgia vs. No. 3 Washington at 6:30 p.m. PST. The winners face off at 6 p.m. PST on Friday, June 4th, and the losers play at 11 a.m. on Saturday June 5th.
This could be a very interesting double elimination tournament, and there are a number of great teams left in the 2010 College World Series that could potentially win the whole thing. Washington might be the favorite, but you can never count out UCLA, or that high-powered offense coming out of Florida.
PGA Championship tv schedule
PGA Championship tv schedule, DirecTV and pga.com are offering addition channels of live coverage: “Marquee Group Follow” (undoubtedly Tiger Woods’ and Phil Mickelson’s groups), “Par 3? (isolated on 4, 8, 13 and 17) and “Inside the Ropes”.
PGA Championship tv schedule
11 a.m.-2 p.m.: “Live from the PGA Championship,” Golf Channel
2-8 p.m.: First-round coverage, TNT
8-10 p.m.: “Live from the PGA Championship,” Golf Channel
12:35-1:05 a.m.: First-round highlights, CBS-6
Friday
11 a.m.-2 p.m.: “Live from the PGA Championship,” Golf Channel
2-8 p.m.: Second-round coverage, TNT
8-10 p.m.: “Live from the PGA Championship,” Golf Channel
12:35-1:05 a.m.: Second-round highlights, CBS-6
Saturday
9-11 a.m.: “Live from the PGA Championship,” Golf Channel
11 a.m.-2 p.m.: Third-round coverage, TNT
2-7 p.m.: Third-round coverage, CBS-6
7-9 p.m.: “Live from the PGA Championship,” Golf Channel
Sunday
9-11 a.m.: “Live from the PGA Championship,” Golf Channel
11 a.m.-2 p.m.: Third-round coverage, TNT
2-7 p.m.: Final-round coverage, CBS-6
7-9 p.m.: “Live from the PGA Championship,” Golf Channel
Watch the 2009 PGA Championship Live Online on :
http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/2009/multimedia/video/live_coverage.cfm
Karen Sypher Pics, Pitino Sypher
Karen Sypher Pics, Karen Sypher pics are being frantically searched on the internet.
Karen Sypher is in the news for accusing college basketball coach Rick Pitino of assault, rape, and for offering her money to have an abortion.
Pitino claims the sex with Sypher was consensual and has countered that Karen is guilty of extortion.
Sypher asked for money in return for silence, Pitino obviously wasn’t having any of it since the matter is now all over the news. Pitino’s wife has remained silent on the issue, and his employer, the University of Louisville, is standing behind him.
Rick Pitino is a leading basketball coach. Since 2001 he has been the head coach at the University of Louisville. He has also served as head coach at Boston University, Providence College and the University of Kentucky, leading that program to the NCAA championship in 1996. He has coached on the professional level for the NBA’s New York Knicks and Boston Celtics with mixed results.
Pitino holds the distinction of being the only men’s coach in NCAA history to lead three different schools (Providence, Kentucky, and Louisville) to the Final Four. In addition, Pitino has achieved a measure of success as an author and a motivational speaker.
Pitino, an Italian American is considered by many to be one of the first coaches to promote fully taking advantage of the 3-point shot, first adopted by the NCAA in 1987. By exploiting the 3-point shot, his teams at Kentucky in the early 1990s were known as Pitino’s Bombinos, as a significant portion of the offensive points came from the 3-point shot. Even now, Pitino’s teams are known for the 3-point threat and all of his teams rank towards the top in 3-point attempts per season.
Many of Pitino’s players and assistant coaches have gone on to become successful collegiate coaches. In total, 21 former Pitino players and coaches have become Division I head coaches, including Florida’s Billy Donovan, Minnesota’s Tubby Smith, Arizona State’s Herb Sendek, and Cincinnati’s Mick Cronin.
