Why Take a One-Way Trip to Mars?

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NASA announced last year that it plans to send people to the planet Mars in the near future, but because Mars is so far away, a trip to Mars would be so expensive, so that the best way to send people to Mars would be on a one way trip. Well, a few days ago ABC's Ned Potter did a feature on settling the Red Planet. See the video.

My take on a one way trip to Mars?  Question 1: Would I go?  Question 2: Do I think anyone should volunteer?

More on a One-Way Ticket to Mars: Would You Volunteer to Colonize Mars?


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While the incredibly odd conspiracy theorist might still believe that man never made it to the Moon, scientists are predicting that we might be able to send people to Mars in as little as twenty years.  Because of a number of complicated factors involving the high cost of such an adventure, any ideas of a trip to Mars have been thus far postponed. However, a new idea is being floated around that would solve many of the problems with a mission—sending astronauts to Mars with a one-way ticket only. 

"You Are Here", Part 2

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The second part of “You are Here” by Colin Ellard leaves the science behind the navigation of animals, insects, and ants and instead focuses on how we as people relate to different kinds of environments. Ellard doesn’t look to scientists for answers; instead, he quotes and references urban planners, architects, and anthropologists.

 

Don’t expect the second half of the book to be as interesting as the first part—it’s just not as good.

 

New Zealand UFO video Explained?

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The New Zealand Defense Force has released thousands of files of UFO sightings. The files conclude that there are normal, explainable explanations for UFO's. For example, The New Zealand Defense Force's UFO; investigators took a look at the 1978 video of a UFO sighting and; concluded that it was either the image of Venus or of light waves. See the video and see for yourself how much sense that explanation makes.

New Zealand has also released reports of alien sightings by eye-witnesses, whom tell of aliens with big shoe sizes, and tell other bizarre stories. The emphasis put on these stories is to say, in so many words, these are unbelievable tales, like it's an joke, ya'll. You are meant to chuckle.

An Important but not Surprising Find

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From  CNet -- "A microbe GFAJ-1 grown on arsenic -- . The microbe is the first known life to have a DNA structure different than all other known life forms. NASA scientists have discovered an entirely new form of life that shares no biological building blocks with anything currently known on Earth, the agency said."

NASA finds a new life form -- a new kind of life existing on earth in a lake in California. This discovery leads to all kinds of questions. Such as: How did it get there? Is it native to earth, or was it put there by an extraterrestrial visitor? A meteor? Or something else?

GFAJ-1: Earth's First Confirmed Arsenic-Based Life Form

imageIn a big news conference today, NASA announced that researchers had "taught" bacteria to survive on arsenic instead of the phosphate it usually eats. 

Researchers had long theorized that there could be bacteria which use arsenic instead of phosphorus.   Dr. Felisa Wolfe-Simon presented a paper with her prediction in 2006.

She decided to start looking for them in an arsenic-rich environment, which is how the floor of California's Mono Lake came to be dredged for samples.  She then gradually removed phosphorus from their little tanks and added more arsenic, and eventually GFAJ-1 was living solely on arsenic.

Take A One-Way Trip To Mars?

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MARS NEEDS PEOPLE.

"Mars Needs People," sound like a movie title, a B- move, grindhouse style. The net is buzzing since NASA let out the call that Mars needs volunteers for a one-way trip-- one way to save money -- and preferably, wealthy volunteers, with the cash to pay their own way, are wanted. Since the NASA call, some have joined in the game of suggesting whom to send to Mars, which wealthy dude or gal the planet earth can do without. The list is long. I won't linger on it. Sixty and fifty and seventy years old; eccentric billionaires, who is going to miss them?

Blue UFOs: Night Sky Rave

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A recent spate of UFO sightings has featured blue lights, flying in any number of patterns, configurations, and speed.  Problem being: these are the work of hoaxers across the country.

The recent availability of lightweight LED light strips has allowed pranksters with remote controlled aircraft to mimic UFO sightings with remarkable skill.  Metafilter user smoothvirus put together an excellent post about this pranking, and its consequences.

If you are a devoted fan of the late lamented show MonsterQuest, you have already seen these light strips in action in several episodes.  For example, in the "Ohio Grassman" episode, a local RC helicopter enthusiast is enlisted to help with the hunt.  The team attaches a FLIR thermal camera to the belly of the RC helicopter.  The pilot meanwhile attaches a set of lightweight LED strips to the helicopter itself, so that he can monitor its orientation when it is in flight in the darkness.

Ok, Alright, Humanoid Robot In Space

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Tomorrow is scheduled to begin Wednesday afternoon, with the launch of NASA's Discovery space shuttle, with a new kind of astronaut on board, a robonaut, on a journey into space with six human crewmates. In the future, it could well be six robonauts to one human crew member, or all robonaut crews.

Item from the Associated Press -- "Space is about to get its first humanoid from planet Earth. Robonaut 2 - affectionately known as R2 - is hitching a one-way ride to the International Space Station this week aboard the final flight of space shuttle Discovery."

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