Martian salt adds zest to rover’s science diet

MSNBC ^ | 18 Feb 2005 | Alan Boyle

[roaddog727]

Spirit rover hits its prime, uncovering more evidence of long-vanished saltwater

WASHINGTON - When the Spirit and Opportunity rovers arrived on Mars more than a year ago, it seemed as if their landing sites were worlds apart. But now that Spirit has taken the high ground, the mission's top scientist says both rovers are coming across similarly salty chemistry — and that hints at a tale of ancient, most likely acidic water on both sides of the Red Planet.

[roaddog727]

As always, Have at it

[cb]

Its no longer even surprising that a media reported story turns out to be completely wrong. I went on the nasa mars site looking for more info...but nothing! I then figured that the media had gotten it wrong.....again!

[roaddog727]

I guess that they only exist to churn up the debate, if you culd call it that.

[peyton randolph]

Too much salt in their diet killed off the Martians.

This dispels NYC Mayor Bloomberg's claim that second-hand smoke

led to extinction.

[reformedliberal]

"...similarly salty chemistry — and that hints at a tale of ancient, most likely acidic water on both sides of the Red Planet."

------------------------------------

Salt is a base. Acid is the opposite of basic. I am not a scientist, but this is just so..ah, basic. What are the qualifications for these science writer jobs?

[roaddog727]

"What are the qualifications for these science writer jobs?"

Be able to write the word "science" without misspelling it.

[ProudVet77]

He's not just the science writer, he's the science editor

alanboyle@feedback.msnbc.com

[lepton]

Salt is a base. Acid is the opposite of basic.

Ummm...no. Well, "Acid" is the opposite of "base", but salts vary considerably in their acidity - though there is a strong trend towards neutrality (pH7).

Sodium Chloride is neutral, acidity-wise. It reults when a perfect acid (HCl), and a perfect base(NaOH) combine to form NaCL + H2O.

pH means "potential of hydrogen". A pH of 7, means that there is a concentration of H3O+ in a ratio of 1 H20 for every (10 to the negative 7th power). In common pure water, there is also a like quantity of OH-.

There is likewise a scale based upon Hydroxide ions (OH-), called pOH, or "potential of Hydroxide". It is much less often used.

[reformedliberal]

Nah, that is what they hire copy editors for.

I have a long friendship with a journo who believes whole heartedly in anthropogenic causes of global climatic change, as well as the catastrophic predictions. He is actually a well-informed, logical individual and he writes extremely well. But he is forever sending me articles by other journos whom he touts for their science-writing ability. After reading the articles and checking the sources, it is evident that every single one only relies upon the pc sources that back the anthropogenic claim and also accepts every misleading *model* and *graph*. In our last exchange, he deflected the consideration of mendacity in the *scientists* and could not "bring himself" to accept that they would mislead the world in their quest for grants.

IMO, no one who writes science articles for the legacy media is allowed to even consider opposing views. If they do, they are then charged with *bias*.

This is not the first time I have read an egregious foundational error of the acid/base sort. It drives me nuts. I really want to know what the fact-checkers are doing in the newsroom. Checking facts is obviously not the answer.

It does appear science journalism is simply a huge, invitation-only circle jerk.

[bert]

Uhh Salt is not a base. Salt is the result of the interaction of an acid and a base.

HCL= NaOH =NaCL + H2O

There are lots of salts and the writer was nearly ignorant in not being more specific.

[roaddog727]

"He's not just the science writer, he's the science editor"

Even worse. THe Science editor should have then at least a "Basic" understanding of chemistry........

[reformedliberal]

If this is true (and I do not have enough chemistry education to even discuss it), then the sentence is still inaccurate, as neutrality still isn't acidic.

I also doubt that writing that evidence of salt is evidence of acidity was based upon this sort of detailed knowledge. If, by chance, it was and if, by design, the writer elided the facts thinking it was common knowledge, something aimed at the average reader could, at the least, have included a sentence or two explicating the facts as you did.

Thanks for the information, though. One of the things I appreciate about FR is the wealth of knowledge and information available.

[reformedliberal]

See my reply to lepton in #12.

I am happy to learn this and someone should have explained it more fully in the article, IMO. Having read it, with my lack of chemistry (which is probably not unique), the entire article became suspect because of the lack of such an explanation.

I occasionally dye wool with what are called *fiber reactive dyes*. The dye is first mixed with salt, which controls the depth of the color saturation, and after a time, which varies according to the results desired and the color being used, vinegar is added to control the fastness of the color within the fiber. I have always wondered how adding a small amount of acid changes the pH when the original solution was full of salt and the water was also *hard*. You and lepton seem to have explained it. Are the calcium salts in well water also neutral? By trial and error, I have discovered that some colors need more acid and more time to reach a deep hue, even though the amount of salt and hard water are the same. However, the instructions do not vary by the color of dye. They are uniform for all colors produced in this line of dyes.

[lepton]

If this is true [...], then the sentence is still inaccurate, as neutrality still isn't acidic.

What the sentence mostly is, is unsupported until you get down into the article where it identifies the salt in question as Magnesium Sulfate. As I tried to note, salts can be acidic, neutral or basic, and gave an example of one which was neutral - the most well known, sodium chloride.

A perfect acid, means that the hydrogen in a substance like Hydrochloric acid (HCl), is completely released when HCl is dissolved in water), forming one H3O+ ion (hydronium) for every HCl molecule dissolved in it. For acids with more than one hydrogen, like sulfuric acid (H2SO4), only the first hydrogen need be completely released to be considered a perfect acid. As I recall, the perfect acids are Hydrochloric (HCl), Nitric (H2NO3), Sulfuric(H2SO4), and Phosphoric(H3PO4). Most salts that has one of these, but not a perfect base, as precursors, would be acidic.

The Sulfate ion is associated with sulfuric acid, which is a perfect acid. Magnesium hydroxide is not a perfect base, so the salt, Magnesium sulfate would likely be acidic.

This still isn't perfectly explained, as really, most of the acids I noted have water as a component, as would some bases. Neither is particularly reactive (relatively) until water is present, as it is the hydronium and the hydroxide ions which do the work for acids and bases. If need be, we can go there, but I think that's probably too much detail.

[lepton]

Oooh. Now you may be getting into "buffering agents". :)

Many calcium salts, as I recall, are moderately basic.

[lepton]

Most salts that has one of these, but not a perfect base, as precursors, would be acidic.

I shouldn't have put that line in, since it's not really relevant. What is relevant is that a precursor for Magnesium Sulfate is a sulfate source, which would be likely dissolved in water, making it acidic.