BlackWaterEast

                                                 Does water STILL flow on Mars?
                             by Daily Mail
                            http://www.esogarden.com/index.php?/weblog/2006/12/P30/p://www.esogarden.com/index.php?/weblog/2006/12/P30/

    Striking new images of the Red Planet have raised hopes life could be found on
    Mars after all. Scientists say they have photographic evidence that suggests liquid
    water may have been on the planet as little as five years ago. Experts last night
    said Mars now appears more active than previously thought and the latest study
    shows why it is vital to continue to search for life on our planetary neighbour.

        See also at NASA: Latest from Mars.

      The Great Alien Debate: Part I in a VII part series:Launching the Alien Debates
      by Astrobiology Magazine. As for other life, what could it be? Could there be non-DNA
      life? If such life does exist, what does chemistry permit? Certainly chemistry permits
      certain types of life on our planet and others not. But once we move out in the solar
      system, especially in the vast realm of cold, chemistry changes.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap020402.html

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2002 April 2

See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

Mysterious Black Water in Florida Bay
Credit & Copyright: ORBIMAGE, SeaWiFS, NASA

Explanation: What is causing the water in Florida Bay to turn black? The mysterious black color could be seen as early as last December in images taken by the SeaWIFS instrument on board the Earth-orbiting SeaStar satellite. During the darkest period in February, when the above image was taken, visibility in the usually transparent/turquoise water dropped below three meters. Samples have been taken and are currently being analyzed. Early tests show the black water has normal salinity and oxygen and might be an unusual nontoxic algae bloom. Whatever the cause, the black water has real ecological and economic consequences, as normally abundant fish are completely absent. More recent SeaWIFS images show the black water to be breaking up into smaller pockets.

Tomorrow's picture: A Flocculent Spiral

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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Technical Rep.: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA/ GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap020402.html

http://www.vestaldesign.com/blog/2006/12/ancient-astronomical-clock.html

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Ancient Astronomical Clock

December 6th, 2006

When they weren’t conquering the Aegean world, writing epics, and inventing democracy, the ancient Greeks cultivated an advanced knowledge of the natural world; so advanced, in fact, scientists are only now fully appreciating it. In this month’s edition of the journal Nature, a group of scientists announce the discovery of the Antikythera Mechanism, an 82-piece brass astronomical calculator so complex, it wouldn’t be rivaled for over a thousand years.Using 37 different gears, the Antikythera Mechanism could add, multiply, divide and subtract. It was also able to align the number of lunar months with years and display where the sun and the moon were in the zodiac, a movement that required knowledge of the moon’s elliptical orbit. It could even predict lunar and solar eclipses.So raise an amphora of ouzo to the ancient Greeks today, in honor of their achievement.
Link Digg this Hugg this See Also: The Only Clock You’ll Ever Need,Corrugated Goodness,Global Warming Threatens the Past,This entry was posted by Jeffrey Goodman on Wednesday, December 6th, 2006 at 9:30 am and is filed under Technology, Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

http://www.vestaldesign.com/blog/2006/12/ancient-astronomical-clock.html

http://darwin-online.org.uk/

http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F1528.1&pageseq=250

December Astrology for Writers by Ohmy News.
Sun-sign humor for journalists, e.g. PISCES (Feb. 19 - March 20): Your article writing will improve this month and into next year. Instead of just stringing together facts, figures and opinions, you will introduce emotion, passion, energy, conviction, exhilaration, originality, and enthusiasm. Wow, readership of your writing will soar to new heights. Halleluiah!

Not a fortress, or a temple, or a calendar. Stonehenge was a hospital by The Guardian.
... His hair was laced with gold, the earliest found in England. His grave contained traces of fine clothes and implements of archery and copper-working. Analysis of his bones and teeth revealed that he came from central Europe, probably Switzerland, with possessions from Spain and France. Was this evidence of invasion?

Lunar Leonid Strikes by NASA.
Meteoroids are smashing into the Moon a lot more often than anyone expected. Last month, Earth passed through a "minefield" of debris from Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. This happens every year in mid-November and results in the annual Leonid meteor shower. From Nov. 17th to Nov. 19th both Earth and the Moon were peppered with meteoroids.

Pyramids were built with concrete rather than rocks, scientists claim by The Times Online.
The research, by materials scientists from national institutions, adds fuel to a theory that the pharaohs’ craftsmen had enough skill and materials at hand to cast the two-tonne limestone blocks that dress the Cheops and other Pyramids. Despite mounting support from scientists, Egyptologists have rejected the concrete claim, first made in the late 1970s by Joseph Davidovits, a French chemist.
Elsewhere: Are the pyramids concrete? by Philly.
And Concrete used in pyramids by Chicago Tribune.

Older than the sun, the meteorite scientists call 'the real time machine' by The Guardian.
The Tagish Lake meteorite was already regarded as exceptional because its mineral composition linked it to the earliest days of the formation of the solar system, more than 4.5bn years ago. The fragments of meteorite that still exist are among the most pristine in the world, as they were protected from contamination when they became wedged in blocks of lake ice.

More about the mystery of the Antikythera Mechanism:

IT helps solve mystery of ancient calculator by Computerworld.
Since its discovery in 1902, the Antikythera Mechanism -- with its intricate and baffling system of about 30 geared wheels -- has been an enigma. Our knowledge of its functions has increased as computer-based imaging, analysis and X-ray technologies have evolved. During the last 50 years, researchers have identified various astronomical and calendar functions, including gears that mimic the movement of the sun and moon.

See also:
The The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project website, including 3D animation (download here and here), the inner workings, and great images.

http://www.tigerfreund.de/english/bad_arithmetic_problems.htm
http://www.tigerfreund.de/english/01/catmurder.htm
http://www.tigerfreund.de/tigerfell.de.htm

http://www.oggi7.info/platform/2007/09/16/280-aldo-tambellini-ribelle-tra-passato-e-futuro