What is USB? Wacky Devices for the Geek Martian South Pole Probed Martian Caves Revealed Identity Theft Update Replacement Battery Woes Origin of Smiley Face Emoticon
The findings were presented this week at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, Texas.
The Mars Express probe used its radar instrument to map the thickness of Mars’ south polar layered deposits.
Enough water is locked up at Mars’ south pole to cover the planet in 36 ft of water
Based upon data from the Mariner and Viking projects, the polar layered deposits were considered to be accumulations of dust and ice.
The Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (Marsis) consists of two 20m-long (65ft) hollow fiberglass"dipole" booms to make a primary antenna.
It sends out pulses of radio waves from the antenna to the planet’s surface and analyses the time delay and strength of the waves that return.
The radar was successfully deployed in June 2005, after a delay of more than a year amid concerns that the booms might swing back and damage the spacecraft.
Details were presented here at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, Texas.
Scientists studying pictures from Nasa’s Odyssey spacecraft have spotted what they think may be seven caves on the surface of Mars.
The candidate caves are on the flanks of the Arsia Mons volcano and are of sufficient depth their floors mostly cannot be seen through the opening.
Temperature data from Mars Odyssey’s Themis instrument support the idea.
The authors say that the possible discovery of caves on the Red Planet is significant.
The caves may be the only natural structures capable of protecting primitive life forms from micrometeoroids, UV radiation, solar flares and high energy particles that bombard the planet’s surface.
The researchers describe the candidate caves as "seven sisters"
The cave entrances are between 100m and 252m wide (330-828ft).
Mars Odyssey was launched in April 2001 to hunt for past or present water on the Red Planet.
Its Themis (Thermal Emission Imaging System) instrument uses the visible and infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum to measure the temperature properties of the Martian surface.
Identity Theft Update
My eBay credit problem is finally solved
We got both (mine and my wife’s) eBay accounts reinstated
It took over five weeks to resolve the issues with eBay
Required patience and a willingness to wait for a response (up to 72 hours)
Replacement Battery Woes
Lost the battery charger and battery for my digital camera
Olympus Sylus 300 Digital (3.2 Mpixels, 3 to 1 Zoom)
Found battery on Internet for $14 and at BestBuy for $40!
Froogle located Olympus Stylus Battery Charger & Battery for only $14
Always check capacity (varied from 700 milliamp-hour to 1400 milliamp-hour)
The origin of the ASCII smiley face is typically traced to September 1982
Scott Fahlman, a research professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Computer Science, suggested that 🙂 symbol be used in the subject line of an online bulletin board post to denote a humorous or non-serious
These are emoticons (or emotive icons), the arrangements of letters and symbols that have been inserted into e-mails, message board posts, and instant messages since the fledgling days of the Internet.