NPR reports that one of the Curiosity’s on-board instruments has found something “really interesting”. That instrument is specifically the chemical lab that analyses the composition of the Martian surface."The exciting results are coming from an instrument in the rover called SAM. “We’re getting data from SAM as we sit here and speak, and the data looks really interesting. The science team is busily chewing away on it as it comes down."
SAM is a kind of miniature chemistry lab. Put a sample of Martian soil or rock or even air inside SAM, and it will tell you what the sample is made of. They recently put a soil sample in SAM, and the analysis shows something EARTHSHAKING. “This data is gonna be one for the history books. It’s looking really good."
Curiosity has already found evidence of a riverbed and some mystery metal particles its relatively short stint on Mars. NASA and the scientists from the Jet Propulsion Lab are doing their sums really carefully on this one, so they can’t tell us what it is until they’re absolutely sure.
NASA will hold a press conference about the results during the 2012 American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco from Dec. 3 to 7. Because it’s so potentially earth-shaking, the team remains cautious and is checking and double-checking their results. But while NASA is refusing to discuss the findings with anyone outside the team, especially reporters, other scientists are free to speculate.
“If it’s going in the history books, organic material is what I expect. It may be just a hint, but even a hint would be exciting.” rganic molecules are those that contain carbon and are potential indicators of life. Simple organic compounds wouldn’t be completely shocking, since these probably come from meteorites originating in the asteroid belt and probably are around on present-day Mars. But they would indicate that the building blocks for life are present on Mars and might only need the addition of water, which Mars had in the past, in order to produce organisms.
“If they found signatures of a very complex organic type, that would be astounding,” since they would likely be leftovers from complex life forms that once roamed Mars. But the odds of finding such a startling result in a sample of sand scooped from a random dune are “very, very low." Rumors have a way of spreading rapidly when it comes to any discussion of potential life on Mars. “When you keep things secret, people start thinking all kinds of crazy things.”
**Don’t go through life, grow through life.**
Eric Butterworth
LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)
This morning -
5.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G
Yesterday -
11/20/12 -
5.2 TAIWAN REGION
5.4 OFFSHORE O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.0 MOLUCCA SEA
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
11/19/12 -
5.2 PAKISTAN
5.0 MYANMAR
5.0 OFFSHORE O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.2 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.1 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.9 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.4 EAST OF SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS
Japan - Quake survivors' blood pressure rising in Iwate. The number of people suffering from high blood pressure has increased in the coastal areas of Iwate Prefecture since the Great East Japan Earthquake.
VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams
New Zealand's Mount Tongariro volcano has erupted, sending a black plume of gas and ash up to 2km into the air. The popular Tongariro Alpine Crossing walking track was closed on Wednesday afternoon (local time) and staff and police were urging people hiking the crossing to leave the mountain as quickly as possible.
An eruption earlier this year sent rocks smashing into a trampers hut. Wednesday's fine weather meant hundreds could be in the vicinity, but as the eruption happened in the afternoon most people would already be making their way down. "It's not a large-scale search and rescue exercise, there are no volcanic rocks in the eruption, just ash and gas." Staff were trying to get people off the crossing with a minimum of panic.
Civil Defence is monitoring the situation, but described the event as minor. A plume of smoke from the Te Maari Crater, on the northern side of Tongariro in the central North Island, was captured on web camera about 1.30pm (1130 AEDT). A light wind was blowing it towards the Kaimanawa Ranges to the east. The eruption prompted the volcanic alert level to be raised to "minor eruptive activity" and the aviation colour code to red - "eruption is forecast to be imminent and significant ash emission into the atmosphere likely".
Some media reported sources saying the eruption did not last long. Flights over the central North Island were being diverted away from the volcano. There were clear skies in the area and pilots could see the eruption smoke. Airways was waiting on more information from GNS before deciding if aircraft would be diverted even further from the volcano.
Last week, GNS warned there was increased activity underneath nearby Mt Ruapehu. In August, the upper Te Maari Crater erupted for the first time in more than a century, sending rocks falling within 1km of the crater, damaging Ketetahi Hut - one of four hikers' huts on the mountain. Light ash fell as far away as Taupo and Napier, while the smell of gas - similar to the "rotten eggs" smell experienced in Rotorua - had drifted to Wellington. ( Photo gallery )
Mt. Ruapehu - The temperature under the crater lake has risen to plus 800 degrees Celsius, while that of the lake itself does not exceed 20 degrees. Experts warn that this means there could be an eruption happening within the next few weeks or months.
TROPICAL STORMS -
No tropical storms.
Cyclone developing north of New Zealand - A tropical disturbance located between Solomon Islands and Vanuatu is moving slowly towards Fiji and is expected to turn into a cyclone. Both the Fiji Meteorological Office in Fiji and the Hawaii based Joint Typhoon Warning Center say it could become a significant tropical cyclone within 24 hours.
Madagascar - Funding shortage ahead of cyclone season. In past years, it has stocked 1,000 metric tons of food in vulnerable areas of the country, ahead of the cyclone season, which typically starts in November. However this year, due to funding shortfalls, it has only managed to deliver 544 tons.
HEALTH THREATS -
Signs of decline in H5N1 outbreaks - The number of reported H5N1 avian influenza outbreaks in poultry and wild birds has decreased since mid 2011 and was down sharply in the second quarter of this year.
E coli linked to fresh greens sickens 28 in five states - Federal and state health officials are investigating an Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to mixed salad greens that has sickened at least 28 people in five East Coast states, most of them in New York.
RECALLS & ALERTS
