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Explanation: The Perseverance rover's Mastcam-Z captured images to create this mosaic on August 4, 2022. The car-sized robot was continuing its exploration of the fan-shaped delta of a river that, billions of years ago, flowed into Jezero Crater on Mars. Sedimentary rocks preserved in Jezero's delta are considered one of the best places on Mars to search for potential signs of ancient microbial life and sites recently sampled by the rover, dubbed Wildcat Ridge and Skinner Ridge, are at lower left and upper right in the frame. The samples taken from these areas were sealed inside ultra-clean sample tubes, ultimately...

Billions of years ago, a river flowed across this scene in a Mars valley called Mawrth Vallis. A new study examines the tracks of Martian rivers to see what they can reveal about the history of the planet’s water and atmosphere. Credit: NASA/JPL Caltech/University of Arizona Mars once ran red with rivers. The telltale tracks of past rivers, streams and lakes are visible today all over the planet. But about three billion years ago, they all dried up—and no one knows why. "People have put forward different ideas, but we're not sure what caused the climate to change so dramatically,"...

Images of dry lake beds, scorched forests and charred buildings, and drought-stricken farmland from the American West have been published in newspapers worldwide as a megadrought intensifies. Many have wondered just how severe the current drought is, and perhaps, that question can be answered in a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. A new peer-reviewed study titled “Rapid intensification of the emerging southwestern North American megadrought in 2020–2021” says the last 22-year dry period is the worst since the Vikings and Mayans ruled parts of the world, or about 1,200 years ago. “Anyone who has been paying...

The CIA's search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has found no evidence that former president Saddam Hussein tried to transfer chemical or biological technology or weapons to terrorists, according to a military and intelligence expert. Anthony Cordesman, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, provided new details about the weapons search and Iraqi insurgency in a report released Friday. It was based on briefings over the past two weeks in Iraq from David Kay, the CIA representative who is directing the search for unconventional weapons in Iraq; L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. civil administrator...

On a remote island hours away from Key West lies the largest masonry structure in the Americas: Fort Jefferson. Built with 16 million bricks, but never finished, the fort served as a prison during Civil War. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, upon visiting the island, named it a National Monument, and in 1992 it became part of Dry Tortugas National Park. Besides serving as a safe haven for the most preserved coral reef in the United States, the set of islands that comprise the national park also protect countless marine animals and bird species. However, the true treasure of...

Baghdad leaders reveal that coup plot duped MI6 Julie Flint explains how rumours of Saddam's overthrow caused British intelligence to miss vital information about Iraq's weapons programme British intelligence took its eyes off Saddam Hussein's weapons programmes because it had been duped into believing a military coup would leave Sunni Muslims in power in Iraq. Sources in the country say what they missed was a push to convert chemical and biological organisms into dry agents that could be hidden until pressure on the regime was lifted. 'From the second half of 2000, the focus of the British was not on...

Published on Jan 4, 2014 This [video] discuses the damages that can be caused by dry firing.

US engineers have created the "most waterproof material ever" - inspired by nasturtium leaves and butterfly wings. The new "super-hydrophobic" surface could keep clothes dry and stop aircraft engines icing over, they say. The lotus leaf was thought to be the gold standard for staying dry in nature, but now a team from MIT in Boston say they have surpassed it. By adding tiny ridges to a silicon surface, they made water bounce off it 40% faster than the previous "limit".

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Detectives Tuesday continued their efforts to find the suspect wanted for planting dry ice bombs around Los Angeles International Airport. One dry ice bomb exploded and two plastic bottles containing the dangerous material were found around 8:30 p.m. Monday at the Tom Bradley International Terminal in a restricted area, Los Angeles Police Department Det. Gus Villanueva said. No one was injured, and no flights were delayed. Airport police and a bomb squad cleared the items around 9:45 p.m On Sunday, a dry ice device exploded inside an employee bathroom at LAX’s Terminal 2. No injuries were...

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The head of the SC NAACP, Lonnie Randolph, was arrested Friday night at a Five Points dry cleaners after a disagreement with employees. According to the incident report, Columbia police were called to Tripp’s Fine Cleaner at 830 Harden Street around 7:15 p.m. Friday. An employee told officers that Randolph, 63, refused to pay his bill, refused to leave the premises after being asked to do so several times and then began to act erratically. Once Randolph was escorted out of the business by police officers, the employee told officers the manager wanted Randolph banned from the...

JPL video here

Sales of precious metal coins during the festivals in India, the world's largest consumer of gold, are higher this year as compared to last year, the Times of India reports. Many jewelers ran out of low-denomination gold and silver coins on Wednesday evening, when Dhanteras kicked off the first five days of Diwali. The coins are typically gifted during the holidays. ''Most markets are witnessing a huge crowd," Praveen Khandelwal, president of Confederation of All India Traders, told the newspaper. "Business has been much better in comparison to the past two years." Indian demand for gold typically rises by 40...

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This is already the hottest summer in Austin's history — shattering the previous record — but the sweltering city might not be done setting dubious milestones in 2009. Two more days of triple digits will tie the record for the most 100-degree temperatures in a year: 69 days of lawn-killing, air conditioner-straining heat. A typical year has 12 triple-digit days. The 1925 record appears safe for at least the next few days, with highs forecast in the 90s.

July 2009 goes down as the hottest month ever recorded, Lower Colorado River Authority meteorologist Bob Rose said Friday.

Experts in the Far East have suggested that more than one third of the current number of shipping companies may go bankrupt in 2009, because of the global economic downturn. Since the beginning of the crisis last September, at least four companies, hit by a combination of falling rates and a global capacity glut, have had to seek bankruptcy protection in order to keep trading. Exacerbating the situation is China's diminishing need for iron ore imports. Analysts suggest that shipping lines will respond by scrapping almost one third of active vessels over the next 24 months. Shipping lines trying to...

SYDNEY: Raging wildfires swept southeastern Australia on Saturday, killing at least 14 people and razing some 100 homes as scorching temperatures and gale-force winds combined into a deadly inferno, while floodwaters in the country’s sodden north continued to rise. Victoria state police said the death toll might exceed 40 as dozens of fires burned unchecked into the night. Some officials described the day as the worst in the sunburned country’s history of wildfires. More than 30,000 volunteer firefighters were battling fires after dark, when helicopters and planes that hand-dumped millions of tons of water on the flames returned to base...

The question is: what's wrong with this picture? Think for a moment and then click the link below. Aral Sea in the 21st century Full size

OK so here is the deal. I cooked that London Broil in my electric oven with it set to "broil." I put the rack on the 2nd highest shelf. It was basted with olive oil, salt, & peper. I drove a fork through it repeatedly, just because it felt good, and I thought it might make it more tender. I cooked it 7 minutes each side. THE RESULTS: It was dry and boring, and I almost choked on it. I should have given to the one poster who said that London Broils are dangerous and he/she would dispose of it....

Once Lush Sahara Dried Up Over Millennia, Study SaysJames Owen for National Geographic NewsMay 8, 2008 The grassy prehistoric Sahara turned into Earth's largest hot desert more slowly than previously thought, a new report says—and some say global warming may turn the desert green once again. The new research is based on deposits from a unique desert lake in remote northern Chad. Lake Yoa, sustained by prehistoric groundwater, has survived for millennia despite constant drought and searing heat. The body of water contains an unbroken climate record going back at least 6,000 years, said study lead author Stefan Kröpelin of...