New Mars Pictures Show Signs of Watery "Aquifers"

Is or was Mars wet and if so is there still life or was there life on Mars? More clues with investigation of stunning images
New Mars Pictures Show Signs of Watery "Aquifers": "Stunning color images offer new evidence that plentiful water once percolated through Martian bedrock—and new hints as to where life might be hiding."

What triggers ice ages? still a puzzle

Have you seen the movie Ice Age? Funny and cute. But the real thing happened. So...

What triggers ice ages?: "by Rasmus Benestad, with contributions from Caspar & Eric

In a recent article in Climatic Change, D.G. Martinson and W.C. Pitman III discuss a new hypothesis explaining how the climate could change abruptly between ice ages and inter-glacial (warm) periods. They argue that the changes in Earth's orbit around the Sun in isolation is not sufficient to explain the estimated high rate of change, and that there must be an amplifying feedback process kicking in. The necessity for a feedback is not new, as the Swedish Nobel Prize winner (Chemistry), Svante Arrhenius, suggested already in 1896 that CO2 could act as an amplification mechanism. In addition, there is the albedo feedback, where the amount of solar radiation that is reflected back into space, scales with the area of the ice- and snow-cover. And are clouds as well as other aspects playing a role.


Martinson & Pitman III's hypothesis states that the fresh water input works in concert with the Milankovitch cycle and the albedo feedback. They conclude that 'major' terminations can only follow fr"

Video: Octopus Mating a Tangled Affair

Video: Octopus Mating a Tangled Affair: "Watch as a cyanea octopus overcomes ocean tides and fierce competition to attract a female's attention—only to have a hard time keeping it."

Magnificent Eagle Nebula where stars are being born

One of my wall pictures is a framed closeup of this magnificent Eagle Nebula where stars are being born. Taken with the Hubble Space Telescope it is a favorite astronomical photo for many.
Now it seems like more information is being found and stars are making their way to prominence to an even greater extent.
Sun’s “twin” found, as embryo
Feb. 16, 2007
Courtesy University of Colorado at Boulder
and World Science staff
Astronomers say they have peered at the embryo of a star that will probably develop into a virtual twin of our sun. It’s one of four new‐found “proto-stars” that are probably the youngest stars as‐tro‐no‐mers have ever imaged, there‐searchers said.
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/070216_sun-embryo.htm
more about the Eagle Nebula
M16: Pillars of Creation
Credit: J. Hester, P. Scowen (ASU), HST, NASA
Explanation: It has become one of the most famous images of modern
times. This image, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995,
shows evaporating gaseous globules (EGGs) emerging from pillars of
molecular hydrogen gas and dust. The giant pillars are light years in
length and are so dense that interior gas contracts gravitationally
to form stars. At each pillars' end, the intense radiation of bright
young stars causes low density material to boil away, leaving stellar
nurseries of dense EGGs exposed. The Eagle Nebula, associated with
the open star cluster M16, lies about 7000 light years away. The
pillars of creation were imaged recently by the orbiting Chandra X-
ray Observatory, and it was found that most EGGS are not strong
emitters of X-rays.

Frostquake, meteor or what was the noise in Ohio? 2/15/2007

This is an interesting report of a loud noise 2/15/2007
Frostquake, meteor or what was the noise in Ohio?
Here is additional information for this enigma mystery.

Thursday, February 15, 2007
UPDATE: Last night's 'big bang' might be a meteor
Mike Hansen, director of the Ohio Seismic Network, said there’s no evidence to suggest an earthquake could have caused the bang, especially not over the range specified. NBC-4 has fielded calls from Fairfield, Muskingum and Pickaway counties, and the National Weather Service heard similar tales from Cincinnati, Wilmington and Lebanon. CASSIOPEDIA History Channel Daily Bleed IMDB NY Times How To


“The type of waves that I see is not earthquake-type stuff. What bothers me is we don’t see it anywhere else,” Hansen said. “Right now this is mysterious to me.”

The National Weather Service’s station in Wilmington is equally lost, especially after hearing calls from the Cincinnati area. The only common factor is that each area was affected by Tuesday’s ice storm.

“It definitely wasn’t thunder,” a meteorologist there said. “We’re kind of stumped on that ourselves.”

Readers of NewarkAdvocate.com reported similar stories — a bang loud enough to shake houses, but with nothing apparently wrong afterward.

“We live in Indian Hills (west of Granville off Ohio 16) and the explosion at approximately 9 p.m. was so loud it shook our house!” one reader wrote. “We thought a sheet of ice came off of our roof onto the deck or our roof had collapsed, but after further investigation we could find nothing amiss.”

Not everyone agreed that it’s a meteor, however. NBC4 meteorologist Jym Ganahl said every contact he’s heard about the bang was writing from an area that got some layer of ice earlier this week.

“I’m 100 percent certain that it’s ice,” he said. “It’s only the areas that had a lot of ice. None have been from areas with just snow.”

Hansen did offer one idea, but not one that would explain the noise over such a large area.

He described a phenomenon called a “frostquake,” in which water seeping into the ground and freezing can cause the earth to break up and create localized bangs.

the full story at
http://tangotwo.blogspot.com/2007/02/update-last-nights-big-bang-might-be.html

Underground Plumbing on Mars

Mars once was thought to be dead. Much evidence seems to suggest a different story in the past and may be even presently. Read more

Underground Plumbing System Discovered on Mars
By Ker Than
Staff Writer
posted: 15 February 2007
02:00 pm ET
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070215_candor_chasma.html

Meteorites that come from Mercury?

There was a movie called "8 degrees below" about some arctic dogs left stranded in Antartica. Two guys went hunting for meteorites that supposedly came from Mercury.
One guy found such a meteorite. In any case, I had never of such a thing. I guess I missed some possible clues from 2002. Read below

Friday, 17 May, 2002, 08:37 GMT 09:37 UK

Mercury meteorite puzzle

By Dr David Whitehouse BBC News Online science editor

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1991394.stm

Comets striking each other kicking up dust around star?

Comet clash kicks up dusty haze

Collisions between comets may be kicking up copious amounts of dust observed around a dead star.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6357765.stm

Very interesting new information about meteorite investigation study from India

Very interesting new information about meteorite investigation study from India

A meteorite that fell in Piplia Kalan, a western Rajasthan village, has changed the way scientists think about the birth of the solar system.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/stories/20070223001109000.htm

Tornadoes start to spawn even now Likely tornado kills New Orleans woman

Even in Febuary severe storms and even tornadoes begin to spawn and cause havoc.
POSTED: 1843 GMT (0243 HKT), February 13, 2007
www.cnn.com/WEATHER/9904/04/la.tornado.02/index.html

Lunar eclipse 3/3/2007

Lunar eclipses are not as spectacular as total solar eclipses but the events are still interesting to observe. Lunar eclipse will take place on March 3, 2007. Moon becomes red, orange, brownish depending upon the refraction of the light rays in the atmosphere (volcanic dust etc).
This one however won't be viewed in its entirety though throughout the world. Some countries you only see part of the events as in Kansas.
More info
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/12feb_lunareclipse.htm

more info
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/eclipse.html

Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS: E.O.A.S. (Earth, Oceans, Atmosphere and Space) Blog -<http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/

New powerful microscope looks more closely inside meteorite far better then ever better

New powerful microscope looks more closely inside meteorites , far better then ever done previously

Paul is studying the molecular structure of minerals in a meteorite and is using the synchrotron to see details so small no one will have seen them before.

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2007/february/news_10451.html

Dinosaur egg find

Dinosaur Eggs are very rare. This area also has uncovered tracks.

Dinosaur Eggs Found in India, Report Says

AP

NEW DELHI (Feb. 6) - Three Indian explorers have recovered more than 100 fossilized eggs of dinosaurs in a remote area in a central Indian state, a news report said Monday.

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/dinosaur-eggs-found-in-india-report-says/20070206100909990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

Dinosaur egg find

Dinosaur Eggs are very rare. This area also has uncovered tracks.

Dinosaur Eggs Found in India, Report Says

AP

NEW DELHI (Feb. 6) - Three Indian explorers have recovered more than 100 fossilized eggs of dinosaurs in a remote area in a central Indian state, a news report said Monday.

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/dinosaur-eggs-found-in-india-report-says/20070206100909990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

The next Martian lander named Pheonix

This lander will to land with jets instead of bouncing around in a shell as the Rovers did. Read more

Phoenix Lander Readied For Mars Exploration
By Leonard David
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/070201_phoenix_update.html

amino acid and Searching for micro-Martians

Do the present Mars Rovers and Mars viking landers looked for Amino Acids? But this is the first I have heard of two types of amino acids " right and left handed" amino acids. Lots of conjecture about missing or not profiling the right data that could show true data. Read more at the link


Searching for micro-Martians
Marine chemist's device could help determine if there is life on Mars.

"Meteorites are to planetary scientists what fossils are to archeologists or ice cores are to climatologists"

I liked the way this article started off saying "Meteorites are to planetary scientists what fossils are to archeologists or ice cores are to climatologists."

This article is more about the Tagish British Columbia meteorites ( I have a sample) that are being examined for a better understand of our Solar System. Their discover and what will come about through their examination is quite interesting.

http://www.fordham.edu/campus_resources/public_affairs/inside_fordham/january_19_2007/in_focus_faculty_and/on_the_cosmos_and_ch_24714.asp

"Meteorites are to planetary scientists what fossils are to archeologists or ice cores are to climatologists"

I liked the way this article started off saying "Meteorites are to planetary scientists what fossils are to archeologists or ice cores are to climatologists."

This article is more about the Tagish British Columbia meteorites ( I have a sample) that are being examined for a better understand of our Solar System. Their discover and what will come about through their examination is quite interesting.

http://www.fordham.edu/campus_resources/public_affairs/inside_fordham/january_19_2007/in_focus_faculty_and/on_the_cosmos_and_ch_24714.asp

Why do storms approach tornadic level and increase?

Why do storms approach tornadic level and if they do , when do these tornadoes increase their vicious cycle of rampage?
Good explanation in this article

Supercells: tornadoes that last

By Curtis Krueger and Graham Brink
Published February 3,2007

The brightest comet that nobody (hardly anyone) saw

It was difficult to get out the word to local newspapers, TVstations, USAtoday.I tried .
Yes the comet caught us all by surprise. There was not much time for many of us to view it before the comet got close to the Sun and could only be seen in the daytime(!) or then the Southern Hemisphere .
But those who saw it here in Northern Hemisphere it was a nice show although not as splendid as those in the south. But as they say beggars can be choosers.
More here at this linked article below and earlier in January on my blog

The brightest comet that nobody saw
The Republican - Springfield,MA,USA
Among the least predictable of celestial occurrences are comets. Last month, a comet did something truly remarkable: It went from being virtually unknown, ...
http://www.masslive.com/living/republican/index.ssf?/base/living-1/1170408686138320.xml&coll=1

Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS: E.O.A.S. (Earth, Oceans, Atmosphere and Space) Blog -<http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/

Meteorite lands in Turkey

Following a series of booming noises and bright multicolored flashes in the sky reported by people , a meteorite landed in Turkey.
See the interesting pictures and more info

New Fujita scale

A new Fujita scale has been devised to enhance the original scale that takes into several factors to finalize the severity of a tornado stike.

Powerful Storms Kill at Least 14 in Florida

Tornadoes at night are not good especially when storms find trailer

2007-02-02 13:19:23
Powerful Storms Kill at Least 14 in Florida
At least 14 people were killed early Friday as severe thunderstorms and at least one tornado struck central Florida, flattening hundreds of homes and a church, causing power outages and lifting a tractor trailer into the air, officials said.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-02-02T170432Z_01_N02388360_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-TORNADO-DEAD.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C1-topNews-3

For many of us:The Great and Frustrating Comet of 2007

You can read my my frustrations and exhilirations with this comet. At best some of us as I did had a few marvelous days but :we got the short end of the stick" with the even more spectacular Comet McNaught that showed up after it rounded the Sun and could only be seen in the Southern Hemisphere (a few could see the tail from the US).
Read on

The Great and Frustrating Comet of 2007
Northern hemisphere stargazers have never had any shortage of reasons to be jealous of our southern hemisphere cousins.

Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS: : E.O.A.S. (Earth, Oceans, Atmosphere and Space) Blog -

See my latest photos of the bright comet McNaught

I have been looking into my latest photos of the bright comet a couple of weeks ago. Taken 1/10/07 near Kansas City, KS.
Here is one of the more photogenic ones.
The comet is between the bright red cloud bank near the horizon and the other darker one on top. Comet with tail is in middle of the photos.
At that time it was probably -1 magnitude about 1/3 the brightness of Venus, the bright "star" you see in the West after sunset.
I was so excited I forgot to zoom in closer.
Also it did not help that my better digital camera conked out in December so I used my kodak digital one instead. (it is not bad after all I did shoot a picture of the eclipse of 2001 that got into Astronomy magazine).
Now I have to work on the video I took of the comet which was not bad either .
Let me know what you think.