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Geothermal Activity on Mars?
An anonymous reader writes "This article on the New Scientist site reports that Mars Odyssey has detected warm spots (20-40 degrees
warmer irrespective of sunlight, day or night) in the Hellas basin."
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For those who 1) don't read the article and 2) don't know much about science, this is why this article is "important":
Unusual warm spots on Mars might represent "ice towers" similar to those seen in Antarctica, say researchers. They could even harbour life, Nick Hoffman of Melbourne University told a conference on Thursday.
Then the article talks about how some guy discovered this and what the further implications can be.
Or.... ;^)
It could be methane emmissions from all those cows/rednecks that them pesky martians keep abducting
An Italian astronomer named Schiaparelli created some of the first maps of Mars. He named features using words from biblical and mythical geography. Some of these names, such as Argyre, Hellas, and Tempe, are still used on maps and globes of Mars.
In the 1970s, after the Mariner spacecraft flew by Mars, many new images were returned to Earth. A special group of people was formed to decide on names for the newly discovered features. This group also set up rules for naming future discoveries.
All features on Mars have two names. The first is a formal name following the international rules that have been established. The other is a geologic name. The second name tells us what type of geologic feature it is. Following are some examples of geologic names:
For example, Olympus Mons is a mountain formed by a volcano. It is named after Mount Olympus in Greece. Sometimes the name order is reversed. For example, in Valles Marineris, the geologic name comes first. Valles Marineris is a valley named after the Mariner spacecraft that first flew by Mars.
Anyone can submit a name for a specific feature on Mars! The group meets once each year to consider appropriate names. If you would like to suggest a name for a feature on Mars, send your suggestion to the U.S. Geological Survey, Branch of Astrogeology, Room 409, 2255 N. Gemini Drive, Flagstaff, AZ 86001.
Rules for Naming Martian Features
Large craters are named after deceased scientists who have contributed to the study of Mars.
Small craters are named for villages and towns of the world with populations less than 100,000.
Large valleys are named for the word used for Mars in various languages of the world.
Small valleys are named for classical or modern names of rivers.
All other features retain the names given by Schiaparelli or Antoniadi, another Italian astronomer.
Rules for Naming Craters
Naming rules exist for most features on planets, moons, and asteroids. The following are the regulations for craters:
http://chainreaction.asu.edu/solarsystem/digin/nam e.htm
Even on Earth, there are a number of places with cold and volcanic vents, but ice towers form in only one place (the most extreme, granted). Obviously the conditions have to be just right. Other than being cold, Antarctica really isn't that much like Mars.
The ice tower story sounds like either Hoffman was either playing to the media, or they were playing him.
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
Yes. Hellas is greek for Greece. It is the "proper" world for Greece and the one used from Ancient to Modern Greece by Greeks themselves (whe say "Hellada"). :)
'Greek' is also of ancient origin and is the word that other European nations called the Ancient greeks. It comes from the Slav world "grex" (greek-latin conversion, sorry) , is a derogatory term and means "the imposter". There are other possibilities for the origin of the word but the aforementioned is the most convincing one.
So, Europe (and US) call Hellas as Greece and Asian counties call us Yunanistan (And that's another story
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