President-elect Donald Trump and outgoing President Joe Biden held a cordial and historic meeting to ensure a smooth transition of power. By yourNEWS Media Newsroom President-elect Donald Trump and outgoing…

I’ve covered this twice before, but it just took on a whole new meaning today…. I contend that Kim Clement prophesied in 2007 that not only would we have a “President” Trump (that’s wild enough!)…

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James Carville is a hardcore Lefty, but he's also right and one of the few occasional voices of reason in the Democratic Party. The Dems would do well to listen to him from time to time and maybe they'd…

Mars has been a fascination to us for centuries. Early observations falsely gave impressions of an intelligent civilisation but early visiting probes revealed a stark, desolate world. Underneath the surface is a few metres of water ice and a recent study by NASA suggests sunlight could reach the layer. If it does, it may allow photosynthesis in the meltwater. On Earth this actually happened and biologists have found similar pools teeming with life.  The exploration of Mars by space probes began in the 1960’s. It began with the Soviet Union Mars 1 and NASA’s Mariner mission and was soon followed by the well known Viking landers in 1976. They were the first missions to test surface material for signs of life. The Mars Pathfinder mission took along the Sojourner rover and was followed by Spirit and Opportunity rovers after the turn of the century. Curiosity rover was among the latest of the visitors along with Perseverance and China’s Tianwen-1. The focus of later missions has been the hunt for water and analysis of the climate and geology of the planet. This was not only to understand the conditions as the planet evolved but to pave the way for human exploration.  The Viking 1 lander was the first to capture a real selfie. This is a mosaic of high-resolution images of Viking 1 at Chryse Planitia. Image Credit: NASA/JPL. To date, there has been no evidence of life on Mars. The question has intrigued us for decades though. Of all the planets in the Solar System, Mars is the most likely place to have once harboured primitive life, chiefly due to the discovery of liquid water in the distant past. Evidence of ancient dried river beds has been found across the planet with mineral deposits indicating that Mars was once warmer, wetter and potentially far more habitable. Even organic molecules have been discovered by the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers but researchers continue to hunt for evidence (past or present) of microbial life.  Mars, Credit NASA A team of researchers from NASA have published a paper articulating their use of computer modelling to help the search. They have shown that sunlight can shine through the Martian water ice, perhaps even enough for photosynthesis to occur in shallow pools of meltwater.  There are two types of ice on Mars, frozen water and frozen carbon dioxide. The study explored water ice which had mostly formed as snow had fallen on the surface during a Martian ice age millions of years ago. The team believe that the key to the study are the dust particles that obscure light reaching the deeper layers of ice. They suggest that sunlight will warm the dark dust more than surrounding ice and then cause ice to warm and melt. Some scientists believe that ice at the surface cannot melt due to the thin dry atmosphere causing it to turn straight to a gas. This won’t apply to the ice deeper in the surface layer.  Almost pure water ice is seen in the ejecta surrounding this impact crater (8 meters in diameter), which formed in 2008. The only reason we can see ice at the surface here is because this crater is so young. As time passes, the ice will all sublimate and no longer be present at the surface. Image Credit: High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera, NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona. Such a process has been observed on Earth where dust heats ice, melts and allows the dust to sink. Over time, the dust particles will stop sinking through the ice but still generate enough heat to melt the ice and create tiny voids. It is here that thriving ecosystems have been found hosting simple forms of life.  The paper published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment, suggests the dusty ice can produce enough light at depths up to 3 metres to allow photosynthesis to occur. The subsurface pools of meltwater are protected from evaporating by the ice above. It also provides some protection from radiation too providing a possibly habitable environment for simple forms of life. The authors suggest the areas would likely form in the Martian tropics between 30 and 60 degrees latitude in both hemispheres.  Source : Could Life Exist Below Mars Ice? NASA Study Proposes Possibilities The post How Life Could Live Under the Ice on Mars appeared first on Universe Today.

Navigating the harsh terrain of other rocky worlds has consistently been challenging. The Free Spirit campaign unfortunately failed in its goal to will the plucky Martian rover out of the morass it found itself in, despite two years of continual effort from some of the world’s best engineers. To combat this difficulty, other engineers have turned to alternative propulsion methods, and a team of researchers in the EU have done just that for their work on an autonomous mining robot. They decided to use an Archimedes screw as their primary propulsion method. The team has already successfully tested various prototype iterations of their miniaturized mining robot. More recently have released a paper that detailed a mobility platform based on four individually controlled Archimedes screws that could be useful for more than just mining underground. As with most engineering projects, they started with a computer model, which resulted in a CAD model that the team tested on different terrain. They weren’t the first ones to think of using an Archimedes screw as a driving mechanism. Existing research has pointed out that it is not the most efficient on some terrains. However, it can navigate almost all terrains to at least some degree. The work described in the paper was part of the ROBOMINERS project, supported by the EU.Credit – ROBOMINERS YouTube Channel Kinematics models are critical to the development of any robot, and one with a relatively obscure propulsion system is no exception. Since Archimedes screws can be modeled from any observational angle, coordinating the operation of each of the four independent screws to align correctly to the desired direction required some complex modeling that was eventually hosted as part of the control algorithm on board a computer seated on top of the mobile platform. Another part of the control algorithm required the robot to understand how it was orientated, and to do that, the team developed an integrated network of sensors. These ranged from time of flight positioning systems, which allowed the robot to gauge the distance to an object, to force sensors on the screws themselves that would ensure they wouldn’t over-torque and burn out their drive motors. Once the sensors were selected and the preliminary control code was written, it was time to put it to a real environmental test. The team built a physical prototype, partly out of 3D-printed parts, and set about moving it about on various surfaces. The drive system worked well on snow, sand, frozen ground, and mud. However, it was mainly used to traverse level surfaces rather than the more complicated slopes that it might encounter in some environments, such as Mars.  Fraser discusses how we might use robots to explore the Moon. That is not to say the system cannot adapt to slopes – just that there is more work to be done. ROBOMINERS, the EU project focused on building an autonomous mining robot, is looking to complete its final prototype soon, and the results of the drive platform testing shown in this latest paper will help contribute to that. Someday, it might contribute to a similar robot on the moon or Mars. Learn More:Gkliva et al – A Multi-Terrain Robot Prototype With Archimedean Screw Actuators: Design, Realization, Modeling, and ControlUT – NASA Tests a Robotic Snake That Could Explore Other WorldsUT – Snake Rovers Might be the Best Way to Explore the Surface and Tunnels on MarsUT – NASA Redoubling Efforts to Contact Spirit Lead Image:Prototype of the screw-driven robot on leafy ground.Credit – Gkliva et al. The post A Screw-Driven Robot Could Autonomously Mine Rocky Worlds appeared first on Universe Today.

New film chronicles the genre's rise, featuring stars like Christopher Cross, Michael McDonald and Toto. Continue reading…

Missing From: Rapid City, SD. Missing Date: July 11, 2024. Both photos shown are of Wawokiye. She was last seen on July 11, 2024..