Category Archives: Mars

This story is part of Welcome to Mars, our series exploring the red planet.

Mars selfies are an entire category of image. They provide mission teams back on Earth with a good look at the hardware, but they're also a way to help space fans feel connected to those distant explorers on the red planet. NASA's InSight lander has sent back what will probably be its final self-portrait, one last look at a brave machine during its end days.

On Monday, NASA JPL tweeted a GIF dancing between InSight's first selfie in December 2018 and its most recent one. It highlights just how much dust is now covering the lander. JPL described it as "what is likely to be its final selfie."

The image comes from April 24 and is a mosaic of snaps taken by a camera mounted on the lander's robotic arm. The arm is scheduled to be placed into a "retirement pose" this month.

Due to a thick layer of dust on its solar panels, InSight is having to ration energy, and the team is prioritizing its seismometer to listen for marsquakes. With the dust issue worsening,InSight is expected to conclude its missionby the end of this year. JPL even named the photo in the release as "InSight's Final Selfie."

It's hard to say goodbye to a mission you've spent years following, but InSight has delivered on its promise toilluminate the interior of Mars. Not everything worked as planned, but its data onmarsquakes and the makeup of the red planet's innards has been enlightening for researchers who are studying rocky planets like Mars and Earth.

A dust-covered selfie is a fitting souvenir of InSight's valuable time on Mars.

Here is the original post:

Dusty NASA Mars Lander Snaps What Will Likely Be Its Final Selfie - CNET

At first, it certainly looks like a doorway.

A grainy image captured by NASAs Mars Curiosity rover in May 2022 shows a formation in the planets rock that social media users seized on as some kind of alien door, suggesting it shows the presence of life.

"Photo From Mars Curiosity Rover Looks Like We Found a Doorway," reads a headline from a website called the "Good News Network."

"NASA released this photo from the Mars Rover of an apparent doorway on Mars," one Facebook post featuring the image said.

The post was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but while NASA did capture the image at the center of this claim, it didnt find a secret, alien doorway on Mars.

Space officials and Mars experts said the formation is an unremarkable, naturally-occurring crevice that matches many others seen around the planet.

The claim was addressed in a Twitter thread authored by the NASA-run Curiosity Rover account that called the formation a natural geological feature.

"Some of you have noticed this image I took on Mars. Sure, it may look like a tiny door, but really, its a natural geologic feature! It may just *look* like a door because your mind is trying to make sense of the unknown."

Its somewhat common for people to see patterns in rock shapes that look like one thing or another, said Andrew Good, a spokesperson for NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

"This is called pareidolia, and despite all the sensitive science instruments on the rover and the missions hundreds of scientists working with our data, we have not seen anything that isnt easily explainable," Good said. "Sometimes its weird shapes in the rocks, sometimes its bad pixels that leave irregular marks in some of the images."

William Dietrich, an earth and planetary science professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies landscape form and evolution, said the perceived doorway is a result of rock movement.

"You can see that the feature resulted from the shedding of a block of rock, leaving a wedged shaped cavity, and you can see the back of the cavity," Dietrich said. "Another image (that) covers a larger area on this hill shows many other examples of loose blocks. Displacement of these loose blocks downslope could lead to such a cavity."

NASA shared additional images of the area and said the rover used its mast camera on May 7 to capture the photo of the mound of rock, nicknamed the East Cliffs.

The mound, located on Mars Mount Sharp, has a number of naturally-occurring open fractures, NASA said.

The opening featured in the posts is roughly 12 inches tall and 16 inches wide, similar in size to a dog door. The image shared online has been magnified, officials said, making the formation appear significantly larger than its real size.

"These kinds of open fractures are common in bedrock, both on Earth and on Mars," the organization said.

NASA says that Curiosity, which has been on Mars since 2012, is currently investigating a region on Mount Sharp that may hold evidence of a major change from wetter to drier conditions in the planets early history.

Our ruling

Posts on social media claim that NASA released an image that shows a doorway on Mars, suggesting life on the planet.

NASA officials and Mars experts did release a photo of a rock formation that, at some angles, looks like a doorway-shaped structure. But NASA dismissed claims that the formation is evidence of extraterrestrial life and said the opening is an unremarkable, naturally-occurring crevice that matches many others on the planet.

We rate these posts False.

Read more here:

Mars 'doorway' photo shows a naturally-occurring crevice, not proof of life on the planet - PolitiFact

Its time to take the lead and charge into new territory!

Mars, the planet of sex, passion and drive will venture into its home zodiac signand the first sign on the wheelknown as Aries. During this time, we will notice a much more rapid pace to our livesas well as our libidos! Mars ventures upon the cliffs of Aries from May 24 until July 5, 2022.

Marsa planet of confidence, action and adventurewill vibrate at some of his greatest intensities because it is known to be homeor domicilein Aries. This gives us a shot of adrenaline to every area of our lives. We will feel our desires rise up and be encouraged to plunge headfirst into anything we set our minds upon.

When it comes to our sex lives in the weeks ahead, we will take a me first attitude, eager to take the lead and pursue passion like it is a conquest. Ariesand Marsembody warrior energy, so this will inspire us to put our heartsand our lustfirst. If we want it, well chase after it without thinking twice! This courage, spontaneity and impulsivity could lead to romps, hookups and wild love affairs.

Committed couples can use this firepower to turn up the heat to level 10, while singles can expect a surge of libido that encourages them to step out of their comfort zones, chase a new beginning and see if hot sex and romance are on the menu. We will thrive on instinct and be direct. If for some reason its not a match, we will move right along to the next hot and available option!

However, because Aries is a Fire sign and always lives in an egocentric vibe, we may become stubborn, selfish, impatient or aggressive if things arent turning out exactly as wed planned. This feisty energy can lead us to be arrogant and unreflective and may stimulate fast-paced, short-lived encounters that we regret later on down the line. The best thing to do is to give yourself a moment to breath before you race onto the next horizonor into the next persons bedduring this time!

Hot tips: try mirror masturbation, mutual masturbation, total worship, and athletic, primal sex. Work out, get sweaty, let your libido fire up and bang at the gym, in the showers or in a car. Tease each other and get off everywhereanywhereas soon as the moment strikes you. Dress up in athletic gear, jockstraps, thongs, or thigh-highs. Try out total domination.

Take a peek into a mini horoscope of what your zodiac sign will be focused on in the weeks to comebeyond just hot sex. Follow me for daily insight or read 2022 predictions for your zodiac sign or your 2022 love life and relationship horoscopes now! Dont forget to check out your monthly horoscope by me, too!

Prepare for life to go from zero to 100 at a moments notice, Aries! With your ruler in your zodiac sign, you are more fired up and powerful than ever! This is an excellent period to dust off your vision board and think about everything you want to tackle in the next two years and get moving. Launch projects, take the lead, strike into new territory and feel the adrenaline race through your blood. Youll also be especially magnetic now, so take your sexy vibes and fuel them into your personal life, too.

Astrology 101: Your guide to the stars

Take a deep breath and chillax for a minute, Taurus. As Mars races through your sector of privacy and solitude, its very likely that youre busy on a major project or endeavor behind-the-scenes. This could be a great time to develop your ideas, vision board your plans and strategize your plan of attack. Time is of the essence, so use this fuel now. Your creativity will be fierce and youll be thinking outside of the box.

Holler at your friends, fans and acquaintances, Gemini: youre ready to see your social life erupt! This feisty energy should bring plenty of fun engagements and events that will stack your calendar to the brim. TBH: this is one of the best times to have fun, let loose and focus on pleasure and laughter. Online dating could be firing off on all cylinders for single Geminis, too! Want to use this vibe toward your professional goals? Youre in luck. Network up a storm and youll see every door open to you.

Get amove on all your biggest professional goals, Cancer. As Mars ignites your ambitions and career, you could begin working on a significant milestone project that can lift you up to a whole other level. Awards, promotions and victory laps may soon be in hand! If youd like to move your career in a new direction, impress a VIP or get a different job, crack that whip and make it happen.

Feel the enthusiasm coursing through your veins to soar into exhilarating new directions, Leo. As Mars ignites your expansion zone, youll be racing forward and not looking back. This energy could inspire you around a few different endeavors. The first could be to head back to school or get busy on a major academic project. Next, if youve been in the mood to travel, immigrate or deal with international markets, this firepower could see a big win. Last, if youre involved in the media or working on a publishing endeavor, you may be racing along in your chariot to your next big finish line.

With Mars getting horny in your intimacy sector, youll be focused intensely on your sex life, Virgo. This will favor couples a bit more than singles, but will get you moving to be up close and personal. However, this energy could instead focus you in a slightly different direction: around what you and a partner share, negotiate, give and receive. If there are imbalances, youll feel the tension in bulk. Also, with energy activating major shifts around your assets and investments, you could soon be near a settlement or spending quite a bit of cash. Keep your wits about you.

Partnership will be a top priority for you now, Libraeven more than usual! With Mars across the sky from you, you will likely be very busy working with a significant other in business or love on a major endeavor side-by-side. Teamwork and collaboration will get you much further now than trying to fly solo. However, if theres tension beneath the radar, you could find that conflicts and aggression erupt before you. Focus on union rather than going to war!

As Mars energizes your sector of productivity, youll be cranking along in every part of your daily routine. Busy? Absolutely. You may even be taking on more projects for your employer and trying to hit major deadlines. If youre out of work and looking, youre especially favored to dust off that resume and get in front of every hiring manager that you can. Last, as this energy also activates your physical health, you may become spurned to take on new fitness, diet or exercise goals in order to become stronger than ever before.

Feel the passion ignite in your heart and in your loins, Sagittarius! With Mars energizing your sector of pleasure, dating, fertility and creativity, youll be especially focused on having fun and living in the moment. This is the most important period in two years for singles to put themselves out there to find someone new, while committed couples can use this sexy vibe to get down and dirty with their partner. Looking to have a kid or spend more time with your children? This energy could let you do just that.

With Mars charging through your sector of home, family and domesticity, youll be deeply focused on these matters at this time, Capricorn. Some Capricorns could be renovating, redecorating or movingor handling important real estate matters. However, this tension could instead be affecting your family, causing you to handle a big conflict or step in to help someone you love. Do your best to keep your emotions in check.

Speak your mind, Aquarius. As Mars darts through your communications sector, youre likely immensely busy on a writing, speaking, advertising or branding project. You could be generating big ideas at every turn and ready to blast them to the world. However, this same vibe could propel you to learn quite well and comprehend complex concepts. Last, if youre able to take some time off work and enjoy some short-distance travel, youll have a blast and be glad that you did.

Watch your finances, Pisces, because with Mars burning up this sector, you could very well be burning through that cash! You may be spending a great deal of money at this time, so watch your finances and be sure to know where everything is going. However, this same enthusiasm could instead be focusing you upon making more, so if you buckle down and work hard, you could very soon see your wealth become pools of gold.

Kyle Thomasis a globally recognized pop culture astrologer who has been featured in Access Hollywood, E! Entertainment, NBC & ABC television, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Hulu, Bustle, Elite Daily, Marie Claire and more. He is known for his cosmic guidance for celebrities, business executives and prominent influencers. His work harnesses the power of the stars in regards to entertainment lifestyle and trends affecting people worldwide. For more information, visitKyleThomasAstrology.com.

The rest is here:

Mars in Aries will bring you fiery sex and scandalous hook-ups - New York Post

Hard on the heels of his latest science fiction novel, The Ministry for the Future a blistering near-future vision of climate change Kim Stanley Robinson has just published The High Sierra: A Love Story. The book is a captivating memoir laced with reflections on history, literature, geology, ecology, politics and psychogeography, all strung on the narrative thread of the authors lifelong enchantment with rambling and scrambling in a wilderness without trails on a precarious planet spinning in space.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Jon Christensen: How has the High Sierra influenced your science fiction?

Kim Stanley Robinson:I think its been formative, in a really deep sense. I was surprised how many of my texts have some analogue to the High Sierra. Right from the start, I can see when Hjalmar Nederland is wandering around Mars in Icehenge, it was a Sierra wander. And that kept happening. It was true in my Mars Trilogy. To terraform Mars is really cheating. Mars is basalt rather than granite. Its poisonous rather than healthy. So, turning Mars into the High Sierras required something like a 2,000-page novel to make it even slightly plausible. I like it when my novels find their way to get in a big walk. Its also a gesture toward Ursula K. Le Guin. In The Left Hand of Darkness, when Genly Ai and Estraven have to make a long trek across the glacier, thats a brilliant piece of writing, and it has always inspired me.

JC: Has the process worked the other way around? Has your science fiction influenced how you experience the High Sierra?

KSR: When youre hiking in the High Sierra, youre high enough on this planet that you can look down into the Central Valley and down into the Owens Valley and think, Look, youre on a planet here. This is a kind of a science fiction moment. It leads to other ideas. Like, what is the future of wilderness? Is there wilderness in the Anthropocene? And what are we going to do with this planet in the future? And then Im also thinking to the deep past. What about the first people that arrived here? Somewhere between 20,000 and 10,000 years ago, humans were wandering these spaces, and they had backpacking kits that were not dissimilar to ours. They were using leather and wood and other natural materials to create light stuff that they could carry on their backs and be comfortable at the end of the day. When Im up there hiking, my literary imagination, a historical imagination, is definitely fired up.

JC:What has changed in the High Sierra in your lifetime?

KSR:The main thing is that climate change has hit the Sierra. Fires mean that its often smoky up there, and the lower reaches have burned. And the glaciers are going, going, gone. Ive seen it with my own eyes. I went up to the head of Deadman Canyon, where there had been seven glaciers, and now theres one. And its teeny. Itll be gone in three, four years. In the Sierras, everything is happening faster than we thought it would. You know, I was hoping I would die before this happened, and it would be someone elses problem. But, no, itll be something that Ill see on every trip for the rest of my life.

JC:And how are you feeling about the future of the Sierra Nevada?

KSR:Ive been pondering that a lot. I think its a practice honed by the writing of science fiction. This is where we are, this is the trajectory were on, so lets extrapolate. The Sierra is part of the 30-by-30 plan for California, keeping 30% of California wild by the year 2030. And theyre thinking of 50-by-50 to follow. The Sierras will be very important for that. Tree-ring data are very clear that there have been stupendous droughts in the American West, and we may be entering another one. That doesnt mean that the Sierras are going to die off and be just dead rock. There are extremophiles up there. The life forms up there are used to desiccation, and then being under snow. And being so high and so close to the Pacific, theyre going to get some precipitation. Maybe itll be really irregular; maybe the Arizona monsoon coming up from the Gulf of California in July. But it wont turn into one of these utterly lunar landscapes that you see some places, including other places in the American West. It will always be a little greener, a little more varied, a little more Sierra-like. Thats what Im seeing as I try to run it forward. Itll be hurt, damaged. It will change. But it wont be dead. Thats a small comfort.

JC:You were very involved with naming Mount Thoreau recently. And your book takes on the debate about changing the names of some of the Sierra peaks named after racists and eugenicists. What is your guiding philosophy for naming the landscape?

KSR:I think its OK to name peaks after humans as a gesture of honoring them and what they stood for. But almost all the Sierra names came from the period between the Civil War and World War II. And they kind of blew it. The whole ethos at that time was about the great men of history. For one thing, it was intensely male. For another, they were business leaders. Stanford has two; there are two Mount Stanfords in the Sierra Nevada. So, these names, theyre crap. And if theres the equivalent of a Confederate monument up there, which there is, lets take it off. These magnificent peaks should have better names. Native American names should come back where we know them.

JC:One name you strongly believe should stay on the landscape is John Muir. Why do you think Muir needs defending now?

KSR:I do feel like his defense attorney. And, of course, he was not perfect. No one is perfect. Im also trying to interrogate my own feelings now and realizing that Im partly interested in questions of historiography, like, how do we judge people out of the past? And whats the psychological motivation for judging historical figures for doing good or bad? Is it part of judging ourselves? I think it must be. So then it gets even more interesting. I am interested in Muir. Ive read all of his writings, including his unpublished work in the archives. Muir has gotten a bad rap. Out of, I would guess, 3,000 to 4,000 published pages, there are, indeed, at least three or four pages of nasty comments about Native American individuals. Muir did not put it together that he was looking at a devastated refugee population. He was looking at prisoners. That was stupid on Muirs part. And he had prejudices, thats true. But actually, he was a huge admirer of Native American cultures.

JC:What do you think Muir still has to offer us now, and in the future. Why shouldnt we just bury him for good?

KSR:For Native Americans, Muir is symbolic of European settler colonial appropriation of Native lands. So we have white settler colonialism, and the incredible repressed guilt of the suppression and near extermination of the Native American population in this land. How, then, do you pay attention to this land? Like the Wes Jackson book Becoming Native to This Place, how do you do it? Its really a religious question, in a way the transcendentalist idea that nature is a sacred space, that God is imminent, that you can transcend by paying close attention to nature. As a powerful public intellectual of his time, Muir was a crucial figure in that. He was also an early reader of Thoreau. He read Walden when he was young. He read all 20 volumes of Thoreaus complete works. To California Native Americans, Muir stands for appropriation of their ancestral lands, even though, compared to the military people with guns that actually killed them and drove them off, he was just some hippie figure wandering around up there going, This place is beautiful! But also, history is not determinative. In terms of its guidance to us, for what to do now, its extremely ambiguous. You can take what you want out of it.

JC:Youre not a big fan of the John Muir Trail, though, or bagging peaks. You prefer going off trail, scrambling over unnamed passes and rambling through high basins without trails. It seems to be almost a philosophy. Why?

KSR:Well, its beautiful. And you can do it. The Sierra is a giant eroded plateau. So, unlike certain other mountain ranges in the world, like the Swiss Alps, you can ramble without getting into immediate danger and without having to climb vertically. The John Muir Trail gets 90% of the traffic in the Sierra now. There is a lot of wilderness with no trails and very few names. When youre rambling and scrambling, you get off trail, but youre not putting your life at risk. The problems are solvable with some intense cognitive and physical effort. And you can get a little thrill of nervousness, like, oh gosh, I better not fall here. But even if you did fall, you arent going to kill yourself at the bottom of that fall, which is exactly what I dont like about climbing. So the rambling and scrambling is quite a beautiful activity. To be quite honest, Im playing a game up there. Its all for the fun of it. Im like a 5-year-old on a jungle gym. And its just a spectacularly great jungle gym.

Jon Christensen teaches and does research in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and the Luskin Center for Innovation at UCLA, where he is a founder of the Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies.

Link:

Seeing Mars on Earth (We're on a planet here!) High Country News Know the West - High Country News

A long time ago Veronica Marsoriginal three-season run came to an end.

Veronica Marsmay have come back for a fan-funded movie in 2014 and a fourth season on Hulu in 2019, but the original show came to a close 15 years ago.

For many castmembers, the series marked one of their first major roles, arguably launching the career of Kristen Bell, who starred as the title character and has since gone on to have an extensive career.

The series follows Bells Veronica,the daughter of a sheriff-turned-private-detective in Neptune, California, who takes what shes learned from her dad and starts moonlighting as a private investigator for her rich classmates.

Seven years after Veronica Mars original run ended, Veronica, Logan (Jason Dohring), Wallace (Percy Daggs III), Weevil (Francis Capra), Dick (Ryan Hansen), Keith (Enrico Colantoni) and more of the shows cast reunited for a crowd-funded movie. Over 90,000 fans raised $5.7 million, nearly tripling creator Rob Thomas ask of $2 million for the film that would take place 10 years after the events of season three.

Once theVeronica Marsmovie hit theaters, fans wanted more, so Thomas, Bell and most of the original cast returned to Neptune for a fourth season at Hulu. The new season highlighted the class divide in the California beach town that ran throughout the original series run, this time pitting the towns wealth 09ers against the working-class residents.

In honor of the 15th anniversary of season three (the end of the original run), The Hollywood Reporter looks at what some of the main cast has been up to since the show wrapped its original run in 2007.

See the rest here:

'Veronica Mars' Cast Then and Now The Hollywood Reporter - Hollywood Reporter

Who brought me here? howls Cedric Bixler-Zavala as the Mars Voltas blistering debut draws to a close, giving voice to the narrative-driven records central character, Cerpin Taxt. De-Loused in the Comatoriumcharts the outer reaches of one mans collapsing mindstate via manic rhythms, funk bass (courtesy of the indomitable Flea) and dissonant, unruly guitar, and is one of the most intense hours youre likely to spend with an album.

With its two founding members rising from the ruins of the aborted post-hardcore punk outfit At The Drive In, Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodrguez-Lpez took their new vehicles multi-sectioned cues from the likes of King Crimson, Genesis and, quite markedly, Pink Floyd. This was emphasised by Floyds frequent collaborator, graphic designer Storm Thorgerson, delivering De-Louseds exquisite artwork.

As Pink Floyd demonstrated on their timeless Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, illustrating the process of mental deterioration is a mission to which progressive rocks divergent flights of fancy can ably lend itself. Voltas 2003 debut hinges on a conceptual character whose story mirrors that of their late friend Julio Venegas. Following a drug overdose, Venegas entered a coma for a number of years, before ultimately awaking and sadly taking his own life. The album, thematically and musically, conveys the internal struggle of a similarly comatose protagonist, Cerpin Taxt, and dives headfirst into a near-psychedelic maelstrom, halfway between existence and oblivion.

Rejecting conventional songwriting, this new bands sound was assembled from a disparate tapestry of genres, sonics and moods. From the opening death-drive of Inertiatic ESP and the turbulence of Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of) to the shimmering, opiated lament of Televators and the disordered convulsion of the 12-minute, John Frusciante-guesting epic Cicatriz ESP, the Mars Voltas unhinged musical universe features elements of metal, jazz and Latin, melted down and reforged into a listening experience as unforgettable as it is uncompromising.

Working with Rick Rubin at his Laurel Canyon-based Mansion studio, the bands conceptual objectives crystallised as the duo-led troupe began expanding on their initial compositions. Writing a song is the easiest part; you can do that in your sleep, Rodrguez-Lpez would tell Clash magazine. But challenging yourself to go further and further and further, thats what takes will and exercise.

Go further is just what they did. With Flea guesting on bass and the masterful drumming of Jon Theodore setting the pace, Rodrguez-Lpez and Bixler-Zavala drew the threads of the record together.

Writing with his Ibanez AX120 Custom, Rodrguez-Lpez wrenched a multitude of colours from his increasingly expanding pedalboard, which would eventually be regarded as one of the worlds largest. Blending the likes of EHXs Small Stone phaser and Small Clone chorus with a Boss DD-3 and Line 6 FM4 Filter Modulator, as well as the characterful sweep of a Dunlop Bass Crybaby, Rodrguez-Lpezs guitar takes on an ever-morphing role on De-Loused.

Image: Stefan M. Prager / Redferns

Speaking to Mix Online in 2003, Dave Schiffman, the engineer behind De-Louseds tracking, discussed the use amps throughout the recording process. A large portion of the guitar sounds came from an amazing Supro amp, a Fender Princeton, and a very small Fender Tweed, he said. We also used a Fender Super Reverb and a Vox AC30 for some songs.

While there are a handful of moments that nod to more conventional chord and riff-craft the restraint of the arpeggiated Televatorsand the near-romantic sway of Eriatarka, for example for the most part the guitar is a violent, unbalanced presence. Take the punch and thrust of the relentless Drunkship of Lanterns, for instance. While Bixler-Zavala oscillates between hushed on-edge paranoia and shrieking mania, Rodrguez-Lpezs guitar lurches from tight, danceable funk-frolic into a halting Fmaj75 chord, punctuating the intersection between the verse and the thoughtless note-shedding of the chorus section. All the while, the arrangement is nagged by the insistent buzz of fuzzy micro-riffs and phased chord sweeps. Its an aural descent into lunacy and a mesmerising reflection of Taxts mental state.

Image: Tim Mosenfelder / Getty Images

Rodrguez-Lpez crafted the overall structure and arrangement of the records 10 tracks, leaving ample space for improvisation and spontaneous reactions. Everything for this recording was pretty much laid out before any recording began, Rodrguez-Lpez told Thenitmusbetrue.com. Certain parts of the album have been left open for expression, so theyre always a little different when we play them live. But even the improvising is structured to a certain degree, because you know its coming.

De-Loused in the Comatorium is not a record full of immaculately written songs. Its a freeform explosion of music-as-living-entity rather than an exhibition of orthodox musicology. Throughout its hour-long runtime, Rodrguez-Lpezs guitar wanders off on odd tangents (Inertiatic ESP), his leads squeal in harrowing fashion (This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed), and chords poke and prod, jumping key and incorporating dissonant notes that pain the musical structures (Cicatriz ESP, Drunkship of Lanterns). Yet, the Mars Voltas still-captivating debut is one of the best examples of using the instrument as a sonic paintbrush. Marked by tremolo-picked scratches, riff-dominated bedlam, and haunting, swelling undercurrents, with De-Loused, The Mars Volta birthed one of the definitive catalogues of a human minds disintegration.

The Mars Volta, De-Loused in the Comatorium (GSL/Universal, 2003)

For more reviews, click here.

View post:

The Genius Of De-Loused in the Comatorium by The Mars Volta - Guitar.com

Mastcam image, showing some of our surroundings. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS. Download image

Coming into planning on Friday, we were greeted with a beautiful vista, with well preserved layering and amazing outcrops, and a reminder of just how stunning the planet Mars is. Mastcam takes a 360 degree image on a regular basis, and our last one was fairly recently, on sol 3474, but given the stunning views from here, it was suggested that we take another here if we could fit it in.

As APXS planner today, I had hoped we would find something to DRT and remove some dust in this workspace, but I was not very optimistic, as the bedrock is rough, with larger gnarly looking nodules or lumps of material, and smaller exposures of nodular free, laminated bedrock. However, the RPS found us a smooth spot just large enough to brush on the laminated material, so APXS will analyze the brushed surface at Bamboo Creek and the unbrushed surface at Maple Creek.

Pairing targets like this is very beneficial to APXS, allowing us to compare adjacent compositions and to determine if compositional trends are real or if dust buildup is obscuring some of the more subtle trends. ChemCam will also use LIBS to look at the chemistry of Bamboo Creek, and Mastcam will use multispectral imaging to look at the brushed spot.

GEO is also investigating the nodular-rich bedrock. MAHLI is taking a suite of images on one of the largest features Apoteri, whilst ChemCam and Mastcam take aim at El Gato. ChemCam will use the long distance imaging (RMI) to look at some possible Prow-like material in the distance.

Mastcam has a very full list of activities, looking at more possible Prow-like lens material (at Sierra Maigualida) in the distance, and characterizing sedimentary structures near the rover (at Ampa,) in addition to imaging of Mirador butte and the cliffs to the east of Mirador. There is also a special Mastcam multispectral sunset image, timed to document the brightness of the sky when the sun is at a low angle. But despite this heavy load, the views were just too good to pass up, so Mastcam will get that 360 image here too keep your eyes peeled for that image!

View post:

Sols 3480-3482: Mastcam-Ing All the Things! NASA Mars Exploration - NASA Mars Exploration

In a move that surprised many in the food industry, the UK government has announced a 12-month deferment of its HFSS regulations, citing the unprecedented financial pressures facing consumers caused by rising inflation. They were scheduled to originally come into force in October 2022.

The regulations ban volume-based promotions (buy one get one free, 50% extra) now viewed as a lifesaver by many cash-strapped families on foods deemed high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS), and place limits on the advertising of the so-called junk food.

Mars Wrigleys HFSS compliant Triple Treat will be available in four variants Snickers, Mars, Galaxy, and Bounty. Mars said that because Triple Treat is jam-packed with over 75% fruit and nuts, Mars Wrigleys new snack will be exempt from these new regulations and gives Britons the opportunity to pick up a tantalisingly tasty, and HFSS-compliant, treat next time theyre doing their weekly shop.

The company said its UK chocolate team spent thousands of hours working on every minute detail of the bars from the chewy caramel in the malt-infused Mars Triple Treat, to the crunchy roasted nuts on the Snickers variant, every aspect has been carefully developed with great taste at front of mind.

Triple Treat does exactly what is says on the tin its packed with a knockout trio of fruit, nuts and our iconic chocolate, and is delightfully delicious to boot. At Mars Wrigley, were thrilled that Brits can now enjoy a great tasting and HFSS compliant - Galaxy, Mars, Snickers and Bounty treat. Its tasty reinvented, said Kerry Cavanaugh, Marketing Director at Mars Wrigley UK.

Mars Wrigleys Triple Treat will be available from the beginning of June in Tesco stores nationwide.

Link:

Mars gets ahead of the game with non-HFSS chocolate choices - ConfectioneryNews.com

20 May 2022, 17:30 | Updated: 20 May 2022, 18:05

Dr Nina Lanza tells Classic FM why symphony orchestras would sound off on Mars.

Sounds we hear on Earth are not the same as what we would hear on Mars.

NASA's Perseverance rover has been surveying the surface of Mars since February 2021, and has been recording sounds since the day after its arrival on the red planet.

The sounds which returned revealed that Mars is quiet. So quiet in fact, that the scientists wondered if the microphone had been damaged and was no longer working.

Sound on Mars is altered due to three main differences; atmosphere, temperature, and density. We spoke to Dr Nina Lanza from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, United States, to find out more about how music would be affected on the red planet...

Read more: 7 times classical music was inspired by space

While the Earths atmosphere is made up largely of nitrogen, with around 21 percent oxygen and an even smaller amount of other gases, such as carbon dioxide, whereas Mars atmosphere is 96 percent carbon dioxide. Mars also has a lower temperature than Earth, and a lower density.

Dr Lanza explains: First of all, things are going to sound a lot quieter on Mars overall, because there are just fewer molecules there [due to the density], so these need to work harder to make a wave that travels.

Last month, a study revealed that the speed of sound is slower on Mars than on Earth, however, unlike on Earth, Mars has two speeds of sound. On Earth the speed of sound is approximately 767 mph (343 meters per second), whereas on Mars, lower pitches travel at about 537 mph (240 meters per second), while higher-pitched sounds move at 559 mph (250 meters per second).

Sounds at different frequencies at different pitches are also going to be attenuated differently than they are on earth, Dr Lanza continues. In general, higher pitches are quieter and lower pitches are louder than on Earth, which is especially true on Mars because of the carbon dioxide atmosphere.

If you are listening to music that is very high pitched, it will sound [very] tinny and quiet... whereas the lower pitches are going to sound a little more robust.

Read more: Listen to the eerie, real-life sounds of every planet in our solar system

Thinking about an orchestra, where higher-pitched instruments usually play the tune, such as the violins, while lower-pitched instruments fill out the accompaniment, Lanza says listening to this kind of ensemble would sound off on Mars.

I think gravity would also make a really big difference, Lanza adds, for musicians that usually play bigger instruments.

Musicians would find their instruments much easier to lift to because of their beefy Earth strength, so this difference could throw them off when trying to play.

Read more: What actually happens when you play a musical instrument in space?

Growing up in Boston, a city known for its multitude of world-leading higher education institutions such as Harvard and MIT, Lanza became interested in space at an early age, as she had the opportunity to attend free events at universities on the topic as a child.

When Lanza was seven, her parents took her to observe the passing of Halleys comet in 1986. Ill never forget what it was like to look through a telescope and to think, my gosh, theres like a thing out there!, the scientist recalls.

Fast forward to an undergraduate degree in astrology, it was only at the end of her bachelors study that Lanza realised that geology was her best pathway to exploring more about space.

Geology is where I feel like I belong, Lanza admits. I just really want to understand whats out there, and studying rocks helps us do that.

Lanza works on two Mars projects; the planetary scientist is the Principal Investigator of the ChemCam instrument onboard the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, and a science team member for the SuperCam instrument onboard the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover.

Both instruments are used to rapidly identify the kind of rocks being studied, and are straight out of your wildest space nerd dreams. The cameras shoot lasers at rocks, and vaporise a small part of the matter, in order to collect data on he chemical makeup of Martian rocks and soil. Regrettably Lanza informs us, the sound emitted from the lasers during this process is more of a sharp snapping sound, than the somewhat expected Sci-Fi-esque pew pew.

This sharp snapping sound is useful to Lanza, whose main area of research is trying to understand how we can use that laser zapping sound to understand whether or not there is a very thin coating on that rock, because you can hear the changing the sound as you penetrate from one composition to another.

As the scientists cant access the rocks on Mars themselves, using this acoustic dataset helps squeeze as much information out of the rocks as possible.

Sound is not only an important part of Lanzas data collection, but other scientists research on the red planet. On the SuperCam, a microphone is attached to the back of its mast, which not only picks up the sound of the lasers vaporising rocks, but also general sounds made on Mars.

We werent really sure if this microphone was going to work, Lanza explains, because the Martian atmosphere is a lot less dense and has a different composition than that of Earths. But it was a very inexpensive addition and so we added it.

And it turns out you can actually hear a lot of things on Mars. You can hear things like the wind, and how the planet sounds at different times of the day.

You can also hear the sound of Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, which gives us a constant sound to measure against. This allowed us to test the propagation of sound in the mountains in the Martian atmosphere, something we werent previously able to do.

Read more: NASA releases eerie singing from a black hole and its straight out of a horror movie

Lanza is a former violinist, and sings with local choral ensemble, Coro de Cmara, and has a deep love for music as an art.

My sister in law is a professional violinist, and I think sometimes the arts get the same criticism as planetary science; what use is it?

Why do we need music in our school and education system? Why do we spend money on exploring the solar system when people are suffering here?

Of course, I dont advocate for anyone to be left suffering ever, but I also know that we need more than shoes on our feet, food in our bellies, and a roof over our heads. We need things that feed our souls.

Part of what makes us human is our curiosity, and we explore to understand ourselves. Music and planetary science have a lot in common in this regard as I think these are the things that give our lives meaning.

Here's a perfect Saturday tune!Purcell's 'Sound the Trumpet', arranged by Benjamin Britten and performed by Carolyn Sampson, soprano, Iestyn Davies MBE - Countertenor and Joseph Middleton. It's part of a wonderful series of recordings on BIS Records - get your copy here http://amzn.eu/d/3hgCazm

Ending our interview with Lanza, we asked what piece shed want to hear played live on Mars.

The planetary scientist quickly responds, probably something nerdy like Purcell. Sound the Trumpet is a classic.

However, she swiftly adds, though because of the higher pitches, it probably wouldnt sound very good on Mars.

Maybe Id be better off with a piece of deep bass club music on this occasion.

Continued here:

What would music sound like on Mars? We spoke to a planetary scientist to find out... - Classic FM

NASA will be collecting samples around Apavatn next month as a part of their research into life on Mars. mbl.is/Sigurur Bogi

Scientists from NASA, the US Space Agency will be conducting research into Apavatn in Grmsnes next month. The project is a continuation of NASAs research last summer at Sandvatn . There are indications that the nature and the geological formations in those areas have certain similarities with the ones on Mars. As most people know, unmanned spacecrafts have been sent to the far away planet and that it has been suggested that millions of years ago there were possibly rivers, estuaries and lakes on wide stretches of sand on Mars.

The Perserverance rover and the Mars helicopter Ingenuity were sent to Mars last year to collect data that can give an indication of what kind of life has possibly existed on the red planet. However, in order to fully comprehend the data it needs to be compared to similar areas on Earth. Sandvatn was a good option, and now Apavatn is another area that fits the criteria, because of its inflow of hot water.

"NASA was searching for precisely that kind of a testing ground," says Gunnar Gujnsson, the founding partner of the Icelandic Space Agency, ISA. Gujnsson has been assisting the scientists this time like last summer. There will be 18 scientists coming in mid June and staying for two weeks. They will be staying at Kjastair Farm which is located midway between the two lakes, so it is very convenient.

Because of the research,the plan is to go out on Apavatn on a barge to drill and take samples. This is quite an operation, sayd Gujnsson who is well versed in projects of this kind. The span of a research of this kind is usually three years. The first two years all the data is collected and the last year it is analyzed in NASAs Research Center in Houston, Texas.

Continued here:

Will Grimsnes give us clues to life on Mars? - Iceland Monitor