- NASA will soon begin looking to the past. When it launches
its next space rover, the agency will task it with looking for signs of past
life on Mars. The new rover will boast a suite of instruments that will attempt to detect
the traces left in rocks by ancient biology. This will make it a slight upgrade
from the current Curiosity vehicle, which has been trying to establish whether
the planet has ever had habitable environments in its history. A NASA
commission tasked to develop the new rover has made it clear that there will be
no search for new life on Mars, a search they say would be extremely difficult
given what is known about the harsh surface conditions on the planet. "That's
a darn hard measurement to make and a darn hard measurement to convince the skeptical
science community, because scientists are naturally skeptical," explained
Jack Mustard, team chair and professor of geological sciences at Brown
University. "The science definition team wrestled with this question, but
the feeling was, on the basis of the evidence we have today, the most logical
steps forward were to look for the ancient forms of life that would be
preserved within the rock record." Instead, the new rover will go to a
location that was likely to have been habitable billions of years in the past, when
the planet was warmer and wetter than it is now. In order to keep costs down
for the new rover, its developers will make it a near-copy of Curiosity. Its design
features, most notably the novel entry, descent and landing (EDL) system, will
be identical. That should keep the project within its $1.5 billion budget. The
one noticeable difference will be the instrument suite, which NASA will develop
later this year. Once it is finished, the rover will capable of visual,
chemical and mineralogical analysis down to microscopic scale. It will be able
to collect and store interesting rocks and soils to be brought back to Earth……
- There is room for kindness everywhere, even in the midst
of a riot. Turkish
police proved this point Tuesday by allowing d thousands of protesters who have
been trying to block the redevelopment of a park in Istanbul to break their
Ramadan fast before resuming efforts to get them to leave the area. Some 12
hours after riot t police fired teargas and water cannon at protesters as they
tried to prevent them gathering in Gezi Park, a bit of civility prevailed not
far from the park, which has become the focal point of protests against Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government. A pair of leftist Muslim groups sympathetic to the
protests, the Revolutionary Muslims and Anti-Capitalist Muslims, held a fast-breaking
iftar dinner in a nearby pedestrian street by the Gezi Park on the first day of
the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The local government also hosted a dinner in
Taksim Square by the Gezi Park, following by a spirited march in the park by
activists. Police responded not with excessive force, but excessive volume by using
loudspeakers to warn people to leave. Protestors booed and clapped, but the
police did not intervene. Gezi Park had been sealed off for three weeks after
police expelled the residents of a protest camp there following an über-violent
crackdown on a small demonstration on May 31 against plans to redevelop the
park. That uprising gave way to broader action against what opposition groups
have denounced as Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian style of government.
Even though the park reopened to visitors on Monday afternoon, police later
expelled people due to concerns about a planned protest rally. The Taksim
Solidarity group, comprised of political parties and non-governmental
organizations, claimed police detained more than 80 people in clashes that took
place after the park was cleared Monday night. A Turkish court has stopped the
Taksim Square redevelopment project, but the government can appeal the
ruling……..
- John Rocker
is an idiot. Although gifted with a rocket arm that helped fuel the Atlanta Braves
for a short time, he is better known as this point for being suspended for the
first month of the 2000 season and fined $20,000 stemming from homophobic and
ethnically insensitive comments he made to a reporter, along with using
steroids during a time when they were prevalent in baseball. He now works as a
director of public affairs for SaveHomelessVeterans.com, the Ronald McDonald
House and a charity that raises money to battle multiple sclerosis, but his thoughts
on MLB’s steroid era are what’s news at the moment. The former All-Star acknowledged
having used steroids during his career years after retiring and said Wednesday
that PED use in Major League Baseball helped transform it into a more appealing
sport. "Honestly, and this may go against what some people think from an
ethical standpoint, I think it was the better game," Rocker said. "At
the end of the day when people are paying their $80, $120, whatever it may be,
to buy their ticket and come watch that game, it's almost like the circus is in
town. . They wanna see some clown throw a fastball 101 mph and some other guy
hit it 500 feet. That's entertainment. You're paying to be entertained."
Now would be the time to cue Russell Crow in Roman gladiator gear screaming at
the crowd in the arena, “Are you not entertained?” Rocker is of the opinion
that steroids made baseball better and what most know as the steroid era
"was a mesmerizing time for every baseball fan out there." He cited
the home run chase in 1998 between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire, both of whom
are known to have ‘roided up in their heyday, as a prime example of how PEDs
made the game more entertaining. Rocker retired from baseball in 2003 and can
now focus on saying offensive sh*t in a less-public setting………
- The award for poetic justice and person most munificent in
removing themselves from the gene pool has a strong contender with several
months left in the calendar year. Virginia Beach resident Jim Englehardt is
proof that karma does exist and it occasionally works on a very short schedule.
Like many good (and drunk) Americans across this great nation last Thursday, Englehardt
was out in a grassy place with some illegal fireworks having a good time while
attempting not to light himself on fire or blow off all of his fingers. He
succeeded in those pursuits….but still didn’t survive the holiday alive. The
local medical examiner has confirmed that the body found on the beach at the
Oceanfront on July 4, the one who died of an explosion injury to the head, was
in fact Englehardt. Virginia Beach police received a call shortly after 7:00 a.m.
Sunday reporting a body found on the beach at 76th Street at the Oceanfront.
They showed up, found Englehardt’s remains and quickly spotted the head wound.
Earlier this week, investigators said the death was being investigated as a
possible suicide, but the case remains under investigation. What they do know
is that the explosion that injured and ultimately killed Englehardt happened as
he was trying to ignite fireworks. Picking up illegal fireworks is clearly not
a sign of great intelligence, given that such devices could have been (and
often were) made by people with little or no actual experience with explosives.
Someone who buys such fireworks and use them when (possibly) intoxicated…that
person is generally not an individual that needs to contribute anything further
to the gene pool……..
- One of the most legendary frontmen in rock history and a
giant gorilla sculpture walk into the same room and….never mind. The point of
this story is that former Queen frontman Freddie Mercury and a massive gorilla bearing a
striking resemblance to the rock star are at the center of a big controversy in
Norwich, England. The gorilla, named Radio Go Go, is decorated with Mercury's
trademark moustache and yellow leather jacket. It was on display on outside The
Forum in Norwich until a complaint by the Mercury Phoenix Trust was made to display
organizers Wild In Art. Wild In Art and Brandbank, the gorilla's sponsor, were contacted
by the Aids charity, which was set up following the Queen frontman's death in
1991. The charity reached out because it claimed the display breached copyright
laws. The matter reached Queen guitarist Brian May, who responded to the
occurrence of a gorilla painted to look like Mercury being hauled away from
downtown Norwich. May said on Twitter that he would "look into" what
was going on and labeled the move "outrageous and petty.” Brandbank was equally taken
aback by the drama. "We, like everyone else, have been taken aback by the
passionate responses to the request by the Freddie Mercury estate that Radio Go
Go [the gorilla] be removed due to a suggestion of possible breach of copyright,”
the company said in an official statement. “We have spoken to one of the
executives of the estate and are endeavoring to see if we can resolve this so
that there's a positive outcome for all the charities involved. Our priority is
that the event is a success for the charities involved, while respecting the
wishes of copyright owners and fans of Freddie Mercury." For now, the
cleverly named gorilla statue will stay in storage until a) the dispute can be
resolved or b) it can find a better disguise………
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