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Mysterious Martian Gouges Carved By Sand-surfing Dry Ice
sciencehabit writes: After the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter began beaming back close-up images of the Red Planet, researchers spotted peculiar features along the slopes of dunes: long, sharply defined grooves that seem to appear and disappear seasonally. They look like trails left behind by tumbling boulders, but rocks never appear in the sunken pits at the trail ends. Researchers initially took these gullies as signs of flowing liquid water, but a new model suggests they're the result of sand-surfing dry ice that breaks off from the crests of dunes and skids down slopes. This is no ordinary tumble — according to the model, the bases of the chunks are continually sublimating, resulting in a hovercraftlike motion that gouges the dune while propelling the ice down slopes.
In what sense does a camera on wheels even remotely count as human?
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
In what sense does a camera on wheels even remotely count as human?
Remotely.
Since this is a public relations issue, what's needed is a rabid single issue voting block that can sway elections and spark fear in the hearts of elected officials, like the NRA. It helps if the issue can be simplified to a simple "for us or against us" mentality.
So here's the pitch:
Surf a Martian Sand Dune on a Block of DRY ICE in 1/3rd Gravity!!!
Every extreme sport enthusiast will go nuts. And if they are anything, they are fanatics. That's why it's called extreme sports. So there is an already existing community that can be recruited and is crazy enough to focus on only one thing. Additionally, the demographic is alienated from politics, so they don't have to be recruited from existing voter blocks.
I see a Kickstarter campaign, and possible participation from Red Bull and GoPro. What could possibly go wrong?
Why is Snark Required?