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It rained on Mars -- three billion years ago
It rained on Mars -- three billion years ago
PARIS (AFP) - Mars was not only awash with water, it also once had rainfall, according to a French study. The evidence comes from infra-red imaging, which probed under dust deposited over the millions of years and found dense networks of dry valleys, whose branching bear the hallmarks of having been carved out by rain. The research, published in the US journal Science, could prompt a rewrite of the Martian history books, for it suggests the planet had a longer "summer" than anyone thought. The conventional theory is that Mars had a balmy climate during its infancy, a period called the Noachian era, in which vast volumes of water flowed on its surface, cutting valleys and eroding the craters left by asteroids. Then, around 3.6 billion years ago -- coincidentally, just when the first signs of life emerged on Earth -- the planet froze, entering the so-called Hesperian epoch, which lasted around half a billion years. What remained as water has almost always been locked up as ice, either at the poles or (so it is hoped) close to the surface, according to this theory. The French study, led by Nicolas Mangold of the University of Paris South, contends though that the rain-carved valleys date from near the end of the Hesperian -- at a time when the temperature was, supposedly, far too cold to permit precipitation. Their analysis is based on data sent back by the thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), which has been scanning the planet since October 2001 aboard a NASA (news - web sites) orbiter, Mars Odyssey. THEMIS' images show images of valleys with extensive branching, typical of the erosion on Earth caused by rainwater, as well as meandering curves and inner channels on the valley floors. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2004 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. |
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It rained on Mars -- three billion years ago
LenderBroker wrote:
THEMIS' images show images of valleys with extensive branching, typical of the erosion on Earth caused by rainwater, as well as meandering curves and inner channels on the valley floors. It never ceases to amaze me how a publicity department can make what has been known for years appear to have been discovered yesterday (by the scientists they are publicizing, of course). This sort of hyperbole needs to be stopped, and I say the responsibility lies with the scientists whose work is being reported to keep the hyperbole out of these publicity announcements. |
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It rained on Mars -- three billion years ago
LenderBroker wrote:
THEMIS' images show images of valleys with extensive branching, typical of the erosion on Earth caused by rainwater, as well as meandering curves and inner channels on the valley floors. It never ceases to amaze me how a publicity department can make what has been known for years appear to have been discovered yesterday (by the scientists they are publicizing, of course). This sort of hyperbole needs to be stopped, and I say the responsibility lies with the scientists whose work is being reported to keep the hyperbole out of these publicity announcements. |
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It rained on Mars -- three billion years ago
"Greg Crinklaw" wrote in message
... LenderBroker wrote: THEMIS' images show images of valleys with extensive branching, typical of the erosion on Earth caused by rainwater, as well as meandering curves and inner channels on the valley floors. It never ceases to amaze me how a publicity department can make what has been known for years appear to have been discovered yesterday (by the scientists they are publicizing, of course). This sort of hyperbole needs to be stopped, and I say the responsibility lies with the scientists whose work is being reported to keep the hyperbole out of these publicity announcements. Sorry, but it won't go away, because all science needs funding, from all possible sources, and if you're going to get funding from people with a minimal knowledge (and sometimes interest) in science, you need to put in the WOW! factor. And one way to do it is hyperbole, exaggerated claims, et al. It might grate on the science purists, hence it does grate on me, and leads to claims that are prematurely made and not substantiate by later experiments/observations, but this is the nature of the beast. How to reform it? I don't know. Government funding works the same way, and for the same reasons. Even for those who know more science than the average Joe, not a hard thing to do or accomplish, a little exaggeration never hurt to promote your cause. I guess the best advice to this situation comes from my Brooklyn friends; they would say, "Deal with it." ^_^ -- Sincerely, --- Dave ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A man is a god in ruins. --- Duke Ellington ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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It rained on Mars -- three billion years ago
"Greg Crinklaw" wrote in message
... LenderBroker wrote: THEMIS' images show images of valleys with extensive branching, typical of the erosion on Earth caused by rainwater, as well as meandering curves and inner channels on the valley floors. It never ceases to amaze me how a publicity department can make what has been known for years appear to have been discovered yesterday (by the scientists they are publicizing, of course). This sort of hyperbole needs to be stopped, and I say the responsibility lies with the scientists whose work is being reported to keep the hyperbole out of these publicity announcements. Sorry, but it won't go away, because all science needs funding, from all possible sources, and if you're going to get funding from people with a minimal knowledge (and sometimes interest) in science, you need to put in the WOW! factor. And one way to do it is hyperbole, exaggerated claims, et al. It might grate on the science purists, hence it does grate on me, and leads to claims that are prematurely made and not substantiate by later experiments/observations, but this is the nature of the beast. How to reform it? I don't know. Government funding works the same way, and for the same reasons. Even for those who know more science than the average Joe, not a hard thing to do or accomplish, a little exaggeration never hurt to promote your cause. I guess the best advice to this situation comes from my Brooklyn friends; they would say, "Deal with it." ^_^ -- Sincerely, --- Dave ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A man is a god in ruins. --- Duke Ellington ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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It rained on Mars -- three billion years ago
David Nakamoto wrote:
I guess the best advice to this situation comes from my Brooklyn friends; they would say, "Deal with it." ^_^ Couldn't possibly disagree more. Deal with it. |
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It rained on Mars -- three billion years ago
David Nakamoto wrote:
I guess the best advice to this situation comes from my Brooklyn friends; they would say, "Deal with it." ^_^ Couldn't possibly disagree more. Deal with it. |
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It rained on Mars -- three billion years ago
On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 10:34:46 -0600, Greg Crinklaw
wrote: It never ceases to amaze me how a publicity department can make what has been known for years appear to have been discovered yesterday (by the scientists they are publicizing, of course). This sort of hyperbole needs to be stopped, and I say the responsibility lies with the scientists whose work is being reported to keep the hyperbole out of these publicity announcements. Having just read the paper, I'm curious what information you think "has been known for years"? The paper presents the first good evidence of liquid water flowing on the surface near the end of the Hesperian epoch. The surface morphology suggests that rain was the source of the water, in a time when the general presumption has been that all Martian water was locked up in ice. The press release seems to accurately describe the paper, and I fail to identify the hyperbole you are seeing here. _________________________________________________ Chris L Peterson Cloudbait Observatory http://www.cloudbait.com |
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It rained on Mars -- three billion years ago
On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 10:34:46 -0600, Greg Crinklaw
wrote: It never ceases to amaze me how a publicity department can make what has been known for years appear to have been discovered yesterday (by the scientists they are publicizing, of course). This sort of hyperbole needs to be stopped, and I say the responsibility lies with the scientists whose work is being reported to keep the hyperbole out of these publicity announcements. Having just read the paper, I'm curious what information you think "has been known for years"? The paper presents the first good evidence of liquid water flowing on the surface near the end of the Hesperian epoch. The surface morphology suggests that rain was the source of the water, in a time when the general presumption has been that all Martian water was locked up in ice. The press release seems to accurately describe the paper, and I fail to identify the hyperbole you are seeing here. _________________________________________________ Chris L Peterson Cloudbait Observatory http://www.cloudbait.com |
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It rained on Mars -- three billion years ago
Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 10:34:46 -0600, Greg Crinklaw wrote: It never ceases to amaze me how a publicity department can make what has been known for years appear to have been discovered yesterday (by the scientists they are publicizing, of course). This sort of hyperbole needs to be stopped, and I say the responsibility lies with the scientists whose work is being reported to keep the hyperbole out of these publicity announcements. Having just read the paper, I'm curious what information you think "has been known for years"? The paper presents the first good evidence of liquid water flowing on the surface near the end of the Hesperian epoch. The surface morphology suggests that rain was the source of the water, in a time when the general presumption has been that all Martian water was locked up in ice. The press release seems to accurately describe the paper, and I fail to identify the hyperbole you are seeing here. Yes, it does do that. But it also engages in hyperbole. I quoted the relevant part (which you snipped from your reply). It has long been known that *in general* there exist water carved features on Mars. MGS MOC images have shown this for years. There is a paragraph in this press releases (coincidentally the one I quoted) that appears to claim there was no such evidence before the recent results. That is either self serving hyperbole or at they very least very sloppy writing... Either way there is no excuse for not doing better, and my point is that more astronomers/planetary scientists should take responsibility for what is written by the PR departments at their institutions. Not really an earth shattering idea, that. I consider Malin Space Science Systems an example of an organization that always writes excellent hyperbole free press releases. They set an excellent example that others should try to emulate. On the other side you have the kings of hyperbole, the massive press office of the Space Telescope Science Institute (although they have cleaned up their act some in recent years). -- Greg Crinklaw Astronomical Software Developer Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m) SkyTools Software for the Observer: http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html Skyhound Observing Pages: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html To reply have a physician remove your spleen |
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