- How did Mars get its valley networks? An international team of planetary
scientists now believe the red planet had its surface carved by winds driving
soggy air up the slopes of a mountain range, where the moisture condenses and
precipitation leaves those slopes with lush vegetation and a network of valleys
and ravines. According to a team led by Kathleen Scanlon, a PhD candidate at
Brown University, the same process that is common on Earth may have taken place
on Mars some 3.7 billion years ago. The result is a large network of wide,
shallow valleys that drop from ridges, peaks and crater rims on the Martian
highlands. If accurate, this study could provide valuable details about Mars'
climate during a period when water filled what are now dry river beds. These conditions
and processes "point to a more hospitable climate than we currently have
on Mars, one that could potentially have been more amenable to life,"
Scanlon said. Her team could not determine whether the precipitation would have
appeared mainly as rain or snow because Mars’ temperature at that time is not
known. Brown’s team included scientists from the University of Chicago and the
University of Paris and their model pointed to colder average temperatures for
the period in question, meaning snow. Regardless of its form, the atmospheric
moisture played a key role in shaping the Martian surface during a time the red
planet's climate is thought to have started its shift from what some
researchers suggest was a relatively warm, wet period to the chilled, desiccated
climate of the present. The valleys surveyed average a few hundred yards deep
and a few miles across, Scanlon said. Her team’s next step is to determine if
the atmosphere could have held enough moisture to allow precipitation from topographic
lift to play a significant role in forming the valley networks………
- If ever there was a single occasion that perfectly summed
up who a professional athlete is, the way New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is handling his current
roster limbo with his team is it. Rodriguez hasn’t played all season and if the
Yankees have their way, he will never play for them again. He has missed the
entire season while recovering from hip surgery and has recently been going
through a rehab stint in the minor league. At the same time, he is next in line
to be whacked with a major suspension by Major League Baseball for his
involvement with a Miami-area wellness clinic that was essentially a front for
distributing performance-enhancing drugs. Knowing he is on the verge of a long
suspension and possibly one of the dirtiest athletes in modern sports history,
the Yankees clearly have no interest in him ever donning their uniform again.
Over the weekend, he was supposedly done with his rehab and ready to rejoin the
Yankees when he suffered a mysterious quadriceps strain. The Yankees did an MRI
and determined that he would need another week or two to rehab, secretly hoping
he would be suspended before he could get back on the field. When it became
clear he wasn’t going to be cleared to play, Rodriguez did what me-first,
PED-using diva/cheaters do in such situations: He went out and found a doctor
he had never met to look at his MRI, ask him a few questions over the phone and
go out on the media circuit to do interviews in which he said A-Fraud was
healthy enough to play. The doctor in question is Dr. Michael Gross, a New
Jersey physician who was previously reprimanded by the state of New Jersey in
February for not properly supervising an unlicensed employee. According to a
report filed by the state's attorney general, Gross failed to "adequately
ensure proper patient treatment involving the prescribing of hormones,
including steroids" at the Acting Center for Health & Wellness. He
admitted that he has never met Rodriguez in person. "I spoke with Alex on
the phone, and I asked him if he has any pain and he said, 'I don't,' "
Gross said. "I said, 'Do you have an injury?' And he said, 'I don't.' He
said, 'Would you be willing to say I'm ready to play?' I said, 'No, I'm not
willing to say that. I've never examined you. I've looked at your MRI.'"
For some odd reason, the Yankees are angry and reportedly considering a
suspension for violating MLB policy by seeking an unapproved second opinion on
his condition………
- There will be no letting it be for the production company
behind a Beatles-themed musical that opened on Broadway Wednesday night. The
cash grab/celebration of the Beatles' music has become a real
sh*t storm of ego, control and anger after a rival production company claimed
the “Let It Be” show ripped off its concepts. The show played in the West
End last year and premiered on the Great White Way this week in the midst of an
on-going copyright infringement lawsuit filed by the creators of rival tribute
show, “Rain: A Tribute To The Beatles.” The “Rain” crew claims that “Let
It Be” uses elements of their 2010-11 show, including musical arrangements of
hits, hairstyles, similar Scouser banter and a selection of 28 of the 31 songs
that “Rain” used on Broadway. Attorney Peter Cane, representing “Let It
Be” producers Jeff Parry and Annerin Productions, denounced the copyright claim
as absurd. "Let It Be is a tribute to The Beatles, not to the four guys
who impersonate The Beatles. How do you monopolize the ability to present an
impersonation of The Beatles?” Cane asked. “How many different ways can you
really do it? The Beatles acted a certain way, they played certain notes, they
spoke a certain way." Those on the opposing side claim that the new
version is a virtual spin-off of their production and that both teams came
together in 2005 in a 50/50 partnership. At the time, Jeff Parry allegedly wanted
to take “Rain” to London and informed the opposing side that they were
instead entitled to just 7.125 percent of the revenue from “Let It Be.” Neither
side is willing to back down and with boatloads of cash at stake, it’s unlikely
they ever will be……..
- College students spend enough time playing video games,
they may as well earn a degree in the business of gaming. Designing and
producing games is actually a lucrative business and it’s (partially) why the University of
California at Santa Cruz is now offering a master’s degree in video gaming at
its Silicon Valley extension in Santa Clara. Learner/gamers like UC Santa Cruz
student Mark Gerow, inventor of his own video game known as “Siege Breakers,”
is one of those who will be in the first class in the brand-new program this
fall at the Santa Clara campus. He is aiming to earn a master’s in Games and
Playable Media. “It’s a very technically oriented program that requires a lot
of hard work … it’s not quite underwater basket weaving,” Gerow said. “It
requires a little bit of blood, sweat and tears.” He and his fellow students
believe games are a mythical blend of art and technology and say the program
requires a mastery of a variety of diverse subjects, from state-of-the art touch
screen software to art design to video and sound. It purportedly is an
opportunity for students to take their computer science experience and invent
their own games from scratch, which conveniently means a whole lot of time
playing video games to “test” them and make sure they are bug-free for their
eventual release. UC Santa Cruz Professor Noah Wardrip-Fruin will be one of the
educators leading this ship of dorks. “And that’s an experience that’s really
hard to go through in your garage or a traditional undergraduate program,” Wardrip-Fruin
said. “But by doing it in this masters program, you can really take your skills
to the next level.” The cost for in video gaming at UC Santa Cruz would cost about
$16,000 for in-state grad students and a very affordable $32,000 for
out-of-state students……..
- Heroism is in the water – or the water in
this case – off the west coast of Ireland Wednesday morning. On a sunny, calm
morning, a small Dutch ship nearly met its demise and its crew along with it. By
Thursday, the
mast and part of the hull from the sailing vessel Astrid protruding from the
water was the only reminder of what had transpired a day before. Those who
witnessed or knew of the rescue called it miraculous and Kinsale Mayor Tony
Cierans was passing out “well done, lad” praises like they were going out of
style. “Any maritime accident is distressing but one which involves youngsters
is all the more traumatic. Huge thanks are due to the Kinsale and
Courtmacsherry lifeboat crews, the Coastguard and other services,” Cierans
said. “It’s at such moments that one becomes aware of the vital service
provided by these groups. Their bravery is truly overwhelming. They
deserve our admiration and gratitude, Thanks also to Kinsale Yacht Club and
local families for their hospitality.” All 30 of the sailors in training and
the crew of the Astrid survived after their vessel struck the rocks around
mid-day. The mayor cited the response of the RNLI Kinsale inshore and
Courtmachserry lifeboats, Irish Coastguard and other emergency services in what
a spokesman for the coast guard described as a most challenging and complex rescue
operation. Irish Sailing Association CEO Harry Hermon tried in vain to use his
own boat to prevent Astrid hitting rocks and said the crash could have been
much worse. Rescue crews were on the scene 18 minutes after the original
distress call went out and crew members Nicky Searls, Liam O’Connell and Jim
Grennan got all 30 passengers off the Astrid, initially on to a life-raft
before 18 were transferred to the Courtmacsherry lifeboat and 12 on to the
vessel Spirit of Oysterhaven. All of the sailors were taken to Kinsale port and
safety………
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