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21st CENTURY Spring-Summer2012 5
THE OTHER MARTIAN ROVER FINDS CLAYWhentheMarsScienceLaboratorylandedonAugust6,thepublicallbut
forgotabouttheotherMartianrover:Opportunity.OpportunityhasbeenonMarsforover3000Sols,almost9Earthyears.Latelastyear,Opportunityhadarrivedat23kmwideEndeavourcrater,aplacesuspectedofharboringphyl-losilicaterock,similartoterrestrialclays.Inrecentweeks,OpportunityhassnappedpicturesofstrangesphericalnodulesinEndeavourcrater,onanrockoutcropcalled“Kirkwood.”Thesebasalticknobsaredifferentthanthehema-tite“blueberries”foundattheoriginallandingsite,andtheiroriginremainsamystery.Opportunityalsofoundwhatappearstobethephyllosilicateout-croppings,andiscurrentlytestingthecompositionwithitsarminstruments.Iftheseare,indeed,phyllosilicates,itmeansOpportunityisinalocationthatoncehadwaterthatwastheperfectcompositionforlife.
SCIENTISTS WILL COME TO AFRICA TO DO NOBEL-PRIZE RESEARCH, SAYS MINISTERSouth Africa’s Minister for Science & Technology, Naledi Pandor, an-
nouncedonMay25thattheinternationalSKASiteAdvisoryCommitteehasdecidedtolocatetwo-thirdsoftheSquareKilometerArrayradioastronomytelescopesinAfrica,andhasgrantedone-thirdoftheprojecttotheonlyothercontender—AustraliaandNewZealand.TheSKAwillbethelargestinterna-tionalastronomyprojectintheworldwhenitiscompletedin2024,madeupofupto3,000radioastronomydishes.(see21st Century,Winter2011).SouthAfricawill buildupon itsMeerKAT radio telescopearray, (seenhere) andalongwith itspartners—Botswana,Ghana,Kenya,Madagascar,Mauritius,Mozambique,Namibia,andZambia—willexpandthearraytositesinotherAfricanations.
PandorsaidthatbuildingtheSKAradiotelescopeswouldchangethechar-acterofAfrica.“WhocomestoAfricatoactuallydotheirbestresearch?”sheaskedatTheNewAgebusinessbreakfastAug.31.“Peoplecomeheretoex-
NEWS BRIEFS
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/Arizona State Univ.
Strange rock 'fins' at Matijevic Hill, Endeavour Crater
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/Arizona State Univ.
Small spherules found on 'Kirkwood Outcrop' at Endeavor Crater
Dishes of the Karoo Array Telescope, or MeerKAT.
6 Spring-Summer2012 21st CENTURY
amineus,tofindouthowpoorweare,tolookatdiseasesthatwehave,theynevercomeheretosay,̀ IwanttodoNobel[Prize]sciencework.’ButtheyaregonnabecomingtodothatwiththeSKA.”
PRIMARY HEALTH PROBLEMS AT CHERNOBYL ARE PSYCHOSOMATICFollowingatripinJulytotheVladimirMemorialNuclearPowerStationin
Ukraine,commonlyknownasChernobyl,writerChrisLewisreportedthat“inspiteofGreenpeace’swild claims, there is no evidenceof any significanthealthproblems”amongthe600,000militarypersonnelandcivilianswhoworkedtocontain,andthenrecoverfrom,the1986nuclearpowerplantac-cident.Withinthreekilometersoftheplant,inthecityofPrypyat,radiationlevelsareatbackgroundlevels.
Theprimaryhealthproblem,Lewisreported,hasbeenillnessesthatarepsy-chologicallyinduced,drugs,andalcoholism.Thisishardlysurprising,con-sideringthemorethantwodecadesofpsychologicalwarfarethathasbeenwagedagainst,notonlythepopulationofUkraine,butwasusedasanexcusetoshutdownmostofEasternEurope’sSoviet-eranuclearpowerplants,eventhosewithWestern-stylesafetyup-grades.
SPACE AND GLOBAL SECURITY CONFERENCE CALLS FOR COOPERATIONTwomembersoftheLaRouchePoliticalActionCommittee(LaRouchePAC)
“Basement”researchteamparticipatedintheIGMASS-sponsoredFourthIn-ternationalSpecializedSymposiumSpaceandGlobalSecurityofHumanity,inYevpatoria,Crimea,September3-6.Theconferencebroughttogetherava-rietyofspeakersfrommanycountries,todiscussongoingeffortstousespacetechnologiesandspacesciencetoserveasafetyroleformankind.Thisinclud-eddisasterforecasting(suchasearthquakes),spacethreats(suchasasteroids,comets,andsolarstorms),aswelltheorganizationalcapability,bothtechnicalandpolitical, to share suchdata for thewell-beingof allnations.TheLa-RouchePACrepresentatives, JasonRossandBenjaminDeniston,broughtapoliticalurgencytotheconference:theydevelopedthepotentialforcoopera-tion against space threats as a sound basis for international relations, theuniqueeconomicapproachofLyndonLaRoucheforunderstandingtheeco-nomicvalueofscience,andthenecessitytobringmankindtoahigherener-gy-fluxdensity“platform”todealwithspaceandeconomicrequirements.Afullerreportwillappearinthenextissue.
Fourth International Specialized Symposium Space and Global Security of Humanity, in Yevpatoria, Crimea, September 3-6. Benjamin Deniston (above left), Jason Ross (right).
Petr Pavlicek/IAEA
The ghost town of Pripyat, built in the 1970s to house Chernobyl workers and evacuated in July 2005. It should be resettled!