Monthly Archives: June 2022

NASA's Perseverance rover has picked up a rocky hitchhiker on Mars.

The rover has collected a "pet rock" tucked inside its left front wheel that has been riding along with Perseverance since early February. So far, its ridden across 5.3 miles (8.5 kilometers) with the Perseverance rover as it drives across its Jezero Crater home on Mars.

"This rock isn't doing any damage to the wheel, but throughout its (no doubt bumpy!) journey, it has clung on and made periodic appearances in our left Hazcam images," Eleni Ravanis, a student collaborator on NASA's Perseverance mission from the University of Hawaii at Mnoa, wrote in an update (opens in new tab).

Related: Perseverance rover captures gorgeous video of solar eclipse on Mars

According to Ravanis, Perseverance picked up the small Mars rock on Feb. 4, the rover's 341st day (or Sol as Mars days are called) on the Red Planet. At the time, Perseverance was exploring a rock formation called "Maz" that scientists think was made up of ancient lava flows.

Since then, Perseverance has carried the rock north across its landing site, named for the famed late science fiction author Octavia E. Butler, and then west across the remains a region called "Kodiak," the remains of a former delta at Jezero. The rover is currently in the midst of what NASA calls its Delta Front Campaign and may have drilled into its first sedimentary Mars rock, Ravanis wrote.

"Perseverance's pet rock is now a long way from home," Ravanis wrote. "It's possible that the rock may fall out at some point along our future ascent of the crater rim. If it does so, it will land amongst rocks that we expect to be very different from itself."

If that happens, a future Martian geologist might be a bit confused to find the rock so out of place, Ravanis added.

Hitchhiking rocks are no strangers to NASA's Mars rovers.

In 2004, the Spirit rover picked up what Ravanis described as a "potato-sized" rock in its right rear wheel that eventually had to be dislodged. Perseverance's cousin, the older Curiosity rover that will celebrate its 10th year on Mars in August, has also picked up rocks in its own battered wheels every now and again as it continues its own mission in Mars' Gale Crater.

"While it's unclear exactly how long these rocks stuck around, they tended to hop off after a few weeks," Ravanis wrote. "Perseverance's current companion is therefore on its way to setting Mars hitch-hiking records!"

Email Tariq Malik attmalik@space.comor follow him@tariqjmalik. Follow us@Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.

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NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars has a 'pet rock' along for the ride - Space.com

The Earth is a dynamic, living planet. Volcanism, plate tectonics, and earthquakes are constantly reshaping it. These forces shuffle the continents, create new islands, and even change the atmosphere.

Mars is rather boring in comparison. The whole planet is made of a single plate. Without plate tectonics, the same location on the planets surface sits atop Mars active hotspots. This leads to enormous volcanoes. Indeed, Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in the solar system. Beneath the immobile crust lies a mantle that is relatively inactive. On Earth, convective currents within the mantle circulate rock from deep within the earth to the underside of the planets crust. These currents are responsible for giving Earth its protective magnetic field. Mars once had currents like these, too. Billions of years ago, however, they stopped, causing Mars magnetic field to vanish.

It would seem, then, that the interior of Mars is pretty quiet. Yet every once in a while, a marsquake rattles its surface. Are these quakes a sign that there is something more going on under the surface of Mars? Or do they originate in a way we would expect, based on what we already know? To find out, two scientists, one from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and another from Australian National University, teamed up to try to understand the origin of marsquakes. Their results were recently published in Nature.

NASAs little InSight Mars lander has been busy. Since November of 2018, when it landed on Mars, the spacecraft has collected a treasure trove of data that scientists back on Earth have been using to understand the interior of Mars from its crust through its mantle to its core.

One of InSights goals was to find marsquakes. So a few weeks after landing, it deployed a seismometer on the surface of Mars. The seismometer detected everything from marsquakes to meteor impacts it even picked up the vibrations caused by Martian dust storms. InSight has detected about 1,300 marsquakes, which comes out to about one per day.

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As a comparison, Earth seismometers detect between about 500,000 and 1 million earthquakes every year, Hrvoje Tkali, one of the authors of the study, told Big Think.

Most marsquakes are small, with magnitudes ranging from 1 to 3. The largest, recorded at the beginning of May, registered a magnitude of 5.Marsquakes are hard to identify, though. Since they are small, they often get lost in the noise. Wind shaking the seismometer can be enough to drown them out. Thats why Tkali and his colleague, Weijia Sun, used a new method to detect marsquakes that had gone unobserved before.

By looking at the data itself, and not at isolated events, they could search for commonalities that marsquakes shared. One method, called the matched filter technique, worked particularly well. It allowed them to identify events as quakes because they had similar waveforms to other quakes. By doing this, the researchers were able to detect 47 new low-frequency marsquakes in the InSight data.

Marsquakes are divided into two event types: high-frequency events and low-frequency events. High-frequency marsquakes usually originate from shallow locations.

There are two main types of high-frequency events, Tkali explained. Distant shallow quakes that we dont fully understand, but they seem to represent energy that is guided through the Martian subsurface; and those due to background noise. This noise could be anything from wind to fluctuations in temperature. For example, many of these events are clustered on either side of sunset, when big temperature changes affect the Martian surface.

Low-frequency events are rare, but they provide invaluable information from deeper within Mars down to its deep crust and even into the mantle. It is these events that especially interested Sun and Tkali.

InSights seismometer was deployed in an area called Cerberus Fossae. This is a location with large tectonic faults and fissures, as well as massive vertical cliffs created from tectonic activity. Mars has only one plate, so Cerberus Fossae is similar to regions on Earth that have earthquakes because of where they sit in a plates interior.

The fact that Mars has a single plate doesnt mean that that plate is homogeneous, explains Tkali. You can have a plate buckling in the middle because of the convection in the mantlesay, upwelling of a hot material that would cause a plate to buckle. This way, you can get tectonic quakes in a sense that they are related to a plates dynamics.

However, these low-frequency events seem to be clustered. When one happens, others are sure to follow. The repetitive nature of the newly discovered events strongly suggests their relationship with magmatic events, Tkali said.

This means that these small earthquakes could be caused by the movement of magma within Mars. This is surprising. The discovery could indicate that the mantle of Mars is more dynamic than previously supposed.

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"Marsquakes": The Red Planet has two types of seismic activity - Big Think

The Curiosity rover has found an outstanding rock formation piercing the alien landscape of Mars.Amongst the shallow sands and boulders of the Gale Crater rise several twisting towers of rock the spikes of sediment look almost like frozen streams of water poured from an invisible jug in the sky.

In reality, expertssaythe columns were probably created from cement-like substances that once filled ancient cracks of bedrock. As the softer rock gradually eroded away, the snaking streams of compact material remained standing.

Rock formations found on Mars. (NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS)

The rock formations weresnapped by a camera on board the Curiosity rover on May 17, but the image was only shared last week by NASA and experts at the SETI institute (which stands for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), as part of SETI's planetary picture of the day initiative.

As alien as the structures might look, they aren't without precedent.

In Earthly geology, a 'hoodoo' is a tall and thin spire of rock formed by erosion. It can also be called a tent rock, fairy chimney, or earth pyramid.

Hoodoos are usually found in dry environments, like the canyons of Utah or southern Serbia, and the columns can sometimes tower as high as ten-story buildings.

A hoodoo in Bryce Canyon, Utah. (Don Graham/Flickr/CC BY SA 2.0)

The natural structures are formed by hard rock layers that build up within softer sedimentary rock. As the rest of the rock erodes away from rain, wind or frost, you're left with a magnificent mould of an ancient fracture in the bedrock.

Hoodoos East Coulee, Alberta, Canada. (Darren Kirby/CC BY SA 2.0)

The two towers of rock on Mars look like they are about to topple over compared to the ones we see on Earth, but clearly they are solid enough to withstand the lighter surface gravity experienced on the red planet.

Another strange rock formation found by Curiosity earlier this year might have been created in a similar way, albeit with very different results.

This other, smaller rock looks sort of like a piece of coral or a flower with numerous little petals stretching up towards the sun.

"One theory that has emerged is that the rock is a type of concretion created by minerals deposited by water in cracks or divisions in existing rock," a press release from NASA explained at the time.

"These concretions can be compacted together, can be harder and denser than surrounding rock, and can remain even after the surrounding rock erodes away."

A flower-shaped rock found on Mars. (NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS)

The Gale crater isn't wholly flat, but the alien spires discovered by Curiosity stand out from the rest of their environment, although no height measurements accompany the image.

The towering tombstones of rock might look lifeless now, but their formation speaks volumes about ancient conditions on Mars and whether life could have once thrived there billions of years ago.

The Gale crater itself is thought to be a dried-up lake bed, though possibly shallower and more transitory than experts once assumed.

Rock formations in and around the ancient lake are helping to reveal the region's true history.

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Curiosity Has Found Some Truly Weird-Looking, Twisty Rock Towers on Mars - ScienceAlert

Amazon, Mondelez & Mars launch Climate Resolute Coalition -- promoting gender equity in companies as a climate strategy

Cathy Pieters, Vice President, Sustainable Ingredients and Cocoa Life at MondelzInternational, the first CRC member, said: "As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of Cocoa Life our flagship cocoa sustainability program - we reflect on just how much our longstanding focus on women's empowerment in cocoa communities has been instrumental to make a real difference and amplify our impact. We see firsthand how there can be no lasting progress on tackling climate change without lifting the voices of women at each and every table. We invite all companies to join us in this transformative journey."

CRC was formed to flip existing power dynamics. Evidence shows that as women's incomes and influence rise, climate outcomes improve, underscoring the value of companies focusing on gender equity and women's leadership in their supply chains as an innovative climate strategy alongside their other climate efforts . CRC is a cross-industry group comprised of supply chain practitioners and other experts that seeks to enable companies to innovate and test new approaches that put women at the center of climate solutions and raises awareness of the important role gender equity can play in creating more sustainable and resilient supply chains.

Lisa Manley, Vice President, Sustainability at Mars said: "We are thrilled to have Amazon join us as one of the Climate Resolute Coalition pioneers because the momentum we need to reach our sustainability goals will require unprecedented levels of collaboration and working together to unlock opportunities for women will supercharge innovation and action to address climate change and many other sustainability challenges."

Over time, CRC members will be able to contribute to a field-building research agenda, establish new business cases for gender and climate action, and scale transformative social and climate impacts. Gender equity is among the top solutions to climate change, however it is estimated by the World Economic Forum that it will take 136 years to close the gender gap a timeline that must be accelerated for gender equity to serve as a meaningful climate strategy. CRC invites additional like-minded companies, experts, donors, and governments to join this effort to leverage the power of global supply chains to unlock economic opportunities for women.

About the Convenors

The Mara Partners is a research, training and strategic dialogue organization that works to structure equitable solutions to environmental and human rights challenges through its pioneering Integrated Gender and Climate Framework. Our global team helps design, convene and lead equitable dialogues that harness the power of global supply chains to accelerate progress on climate change by raising the incomes-- and voices -- of women worldwide.

Kite Insights is a diverse, highly analytical and internationally minded team that prepares organisations and their people for the green economy. We develop and co-develop cutting-edge content, research, learning and education programmes, provide event curation and help clients build or participate in targeted coalitions that support their brand and purpose and reveal insights on issues that matter. We have extensive experience in structuring and brokering action-focused coalitions and partnerships, developing and managing agendas, secretariats, and community management. We believe that global challenges require urgent and thoughtful action, and that systems transformation should leave no one behind.

SOURCE Climate Resolute Coalition

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Amazon to join Mondelz International and Mars as a founding member of the Climate Resolute Coalition - Group Aims to Accelerate Progress on Climate by...

Over 100 people were arrested from six districts in Uttar Pradesh after violent protests broke out in different parts of the state over BJP leader Nupur Sharmas recent remarks on Prophet Mohammad.Protesters pelted stones at policemen in Prayagraj and Saharanpur while protests broke out in four other cities.

In Prayagraj, some motorcycles and carts were set on fire and an attempt was made to set ablaze a police vehicle. Police used tear gas and lathis to disperse mobs and peace was later restored, they said, adding that one policeman was hurt in the region.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said that those involved in vandalisation have been identified and all the damages will be procured from them.

All those who indulged in vandalisation have been identified, cases being filed against them under serious sections. Procurement for all damages will be done; properties of the guilty will be seized under Gangsters Act. No one will be spared, Kumar said.

He said 38 protesters were arrested from Saharanpur, 15 from Prayagraj, 24 from Hathras, seven from Moradabad, two from Firozabad and 23 people from Ambedkar Nagar.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath chaired-level meeting with the top police officials of the state and directed strict against those involved in vandalisation and violence.CM Yogi Adityanath begins a meeting with top officials over todays incidents. The CM has given liberty and clear instructions to the officials to take stringent action against anti-social elements. Those who take the law into their hands will be taught strict lessons, the chief ministers office said in a statement.

There was slogan-shouting against the now-suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma over her remarks during a TV debate, also triggering outrage in several Islamic nations.

In Saharanpur, protesters demanded a death sentence for her.There were also protests in Bijnor, Moradabad, Rampur and Lucknow over the controversial remarks. Sloganeering took place in Lucknow.

According to local people, stone pelting continued for over 15 minutes in Prayagraj. They said some of the miscreants pelted stones at the police personnel deployed on the main road, as the situation escalated when more people joined the stone pelters.

Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said, Minor force was used to stop some people involved in the violence. The situation in Prayagraj is now peaceful. I would like to appeal to people to use democratic ways of protest without resorting to violence.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradeshs Director General of Police (DGP) D S Chauhan said no life has been lost because of the proper arrangements made by the state police.Because of our preparedness, no life has been lost. We will take strict action against those found involved in the violence, he said.

Additional Director General (ADG), Parayagraj Zone, Prem Prakash said a constable of Rapid Action Force (RAF) was injured during stone pelting in the region.Additional police force and teams of RAF were rushed to the spot. The police also fired tear gas shells and used force to stop the miscreants, he said.

In Saharanpur, people holding placards raised slogans against Nupur Sharma. Some of them also turned violent after the security personnel tried to stop them. This led to brief stone pelting in the Nehru market area of the city. Some madrasa students also raised slogans in the Deoband area.The protestors also raised slogans demanding capital punishment for the BJP leader.

District Magistrate Akhilesh Singh told PTI, Police had to retort to force when the protesters refused to hear the appeals of peace by police personnel. The protestors are being identified using CCTV footage for further action.

Four people, including the district president of AIMIM, were arrested in Bijnor as a precautionary measure.Superintendent of Police Dharamveer Singh said AIMIM district chief Abdullah along with one Iftekhar, Mahroof and Akil were arrested for inciting communal hatred.According to police, the accused called a gathering near Purani Musfi area in Bijnor.

The arrests were made on the complaint of people from the Muslim community, the SP said.People demanded action against the BJP leader and waved banners with Arrest Nupur Sharma written on them in Rampur and Moradabad.

In Kanpur, which was the epicentre of communal violence last week, the Friday prayers were held in a peaceful manner with no reports of any untoward incident. The prayers were held in a watertight security vigil by police personnel. A heavy police force was deployed in the area with senior police and administrative officials present on the spot.

This comes following clashes last week in Kanpur over the remarks on the Prophet at a TV debate some days earlier. A high alert was issued across the state after that, and a heavy police force was deployed to ensure that violence does not occur again.

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Prophet remarks row: Over 100 arrested as violence mars UP, police say will recover damages from rioters - The Financial Express