June 27, 2012

Good Morning,

A Swedish study finds that certain areas of Mars have experienced recent freezing and thawing periods. Check out the details on this cool find in the first article including what it could mean for possible life baring conditions on the Red Planet.

Until Next Time,
Erin

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P.S.
Sorry for the Random Facts today - mailing mix-up! Neat stuff though.

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Recent water action detected on Mars

GOTHENBURG, Sweden - Areas of Mars may have been shaped by liquid water in recent geologic times, suggesting more favorable conditions for life, European researchers say. Scientists at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, along with colleagues from Germany, said their study shows large parts of the planet's Northern Hemisphere have undergone a number of freeze-thaw cycles, similar to what occurs on Earth. "This process is common in our own arctic permafrost environments and causes the formation of lobate features on slopes," Andreas Johnsson of Gothenburg's Department of Earth Sciences said in a release Monday. Lobate features consist of piles of rock debris below cliffs, caused when melting ice saturates near-surface sediment, which then begins to move downward over still-frozen permafrost due to gravity."As the martian landscapes we're studying feature ground-ice, our interpretation is that liquid water has been available in the ground during thaw periods," Johnsson said. "Consequently there must have been liquid water in large areas, which is interesting for our understanding of past climates." Transient liquid water suggests more favorable environments for life on Mars, researchers said, since organisms can survive for long periods without water in cold environments on Earth but there must be access to water at certain times.


Russia confirms creation of 117th element

MOSCOW - Russian scientists say they've successfully repeated their synthesis of the 117th chemical element, paving the way for formal addition to the periodic table. The Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna outside Moscow first synthesized the 117th element in 2010, but the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry requires such experiments to be reproduced before registering a new element. The researchers have already filed an application to register the new element, Andrei Popeko, an official at the Dubna institute, told RIA Novosti Monday. However, obtaining a proper name and formally adding it to the periodic table could take up to a year, Popeko said. Elements beyond uranium, No. 92 in the periodic table, do not occur in nature and have to be artificially created in reactors or laboratories. The Dubna Institute said it has already synthesized element 118, while a German research center is working to synthesize elements 119 and 120, RIA Novosti reported.


Human-powered copter set duration record

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - A University of Maryland team, one of three building human-powered helicopters, says it set an unofficial record of 50 seconds airborne in its Gamera II design. The student team from Maryland's A. James Clark School of Engineering said its record would become official once verified by the National Aeronautic Association. The Maryland team currently holds the record of 11.4 seconds set last July, and is one of three teams competing in the American Helicopter Society Igor I. Sikorsky Human-Powered Helicopter Competition for a $250,000 prize, TG Daily reported Monday. To win the prize, a human-powered helicopter must lift off and hover for 60 seconds and must attain an altitude of at least 3 meters, almost 10 feet, at some point during the 60-second flight. The Gamera II helicopter is pedal-powered, with four 42-foot rotors at each end of a 60-foot central X-shaped frame. Made with balsa, foam, mylar, and carbon fiber, the vehicle weighs 101 pounds.


Risk of sea-level rise with warming seen

POTSDAM, Germany - Even if the world can limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, sea levels could still rise between 5 and 13 feet by the year 2300, German researchers say. However, emissions reductions that kept the temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius could go a long way toward inhibiting rising seas, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research reported Sunday. The predictions are based on observed sea-level rises over the past millennium, as well as on scenarios for future greenhouse-gas emissions, researchers said. "Sea-level rise is a hard to quantify yet critical risk of climate change," study lead author Michiel Schaeffer of Wageningen University, said. "Due to the long time it takes for the world's ice and water masses to react to global warming, our emissions today determine sea levels for centuries to come." Keeping global warming in check could considerably reduce sea-level increases, researchers said. Limiting global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius and subsequent temperature reductions could halve sea-level rise by 2300, compared to a 2-degree scenario, they said. But even moderate sea-level increases would have significant impacts, researchers said. "As an example, for New York City it has been shown that 1 meter (about 39 inches) of sea level rise could raise the frequency of severe flooding from once per century to once every three years," study co-author Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute said.

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