If a spaceship with aliens from other part of the universe would come to our planet and enter a low Earth orbit in order to observe us, where would they find the most savage humans?

This would make a lot of sense as a question for any exploration leader: It is evident that before landing, risks should be properly assessed and understood. So, what could they do? They could see us using some sort of telescope, or they could enter our data networks and take a look at our history, or they could simply watch TV.

Without doubt, the leader of such an expedition would be interested in anything and everything, but in order to understand the risks involved in meeting us he, she or it would probably be less interested in the beginning about our ancient history than in current events, relative power ratios, recent history and future trends. So, he would look back at our resume for - perhaps - a hundred years.

And within that time span, the leader of such an expedition would see that we humans had our share of self-provoked disasters. He - we assume that we are speaking about a "he", although it could be she or it, of course - would learn a bout Stalin, Hitler, Lenin, Mao and the factions that took part in the most destructive events that happened in our planed within that span of time: the United States, China, Russia, Germany, Japan, France and the United Kingdom.

He would further see that two of those factions - what we know as countries - are no longer in the destruction business, so Japan and Germany would soon be taken out of the sample. But he would also see that two additional factions have already replaced them: Israel and its neighbours.

And among the remaining factions, it would be interesting for the alien expeditionaries to establish which ones would represent the highest danger in terms of both their destructive capacity as well as their intentions: Russia would certainly impress and disquiet them for the nation's arsenals as well as its bloody history, but since they and the Chinese have been quiet lately, they would have to be monitored but they seem to be at least thoughtful. Israel and its neighbours are quarrelling bitterly, but their troubles are relatively domestic, while the faction known as France seems to be not quite active in this regard, so, they could also be taken out of the picture.

And what is left? Two factions: the United States and the United Kingdom. These have been at war for decades, unabated, with a myriad of enemies. Considering that they call themselves "democracies" - a concept to be pondered aside by our alien friends - it becomes apparent that the people living in those nations just love destruction because they actually chose to be so. If there is something that could be seen constantly in the history of these two factions - or countries, as Earthlings call them - is that they have been fighting wars all around their planet against scores of enemies from which, naturally, they have nothing good to say. But as it doesn't speak well about a person to have more enemies than friends, it doesn't really speak well about a nation to have so many wars, from a place called "the Falklands" (other factions call it "Malvinas", so who's right?) to other place known as "Ulster", to "Vietnam", "Iraq", "Afghanistan" and so on, they seem to be poised to take part in destructive events all around the planet.

Strange indeed if they consider themselves to be "democracies", a form of government that implies that Earthlings solve their issues by negotiating. Clearly, those countries are not democracies despite the fact that they believe they are, for any sufficiently advanced society would act upon others in the same way that they would like to be acted upon by others, and not by force. At the very least, they are incapable of talking so the leadership that they want to have in their world is completely questionable. I other words: those in the so-called United States and United Kingdom are the most disunite regards other human beings. They are clearly very competent in technical and military terms, but more inept than average at solving disputes in a peaceful manner. They cannot be considered as the best Earthlings to talk to, save for starting an interplanetary war.

Source: Pablo Edronkin, Andinia.com

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Ice shelves are retreating in the southern section of the Antarctic Peninsula due to climate change. This could result in glacier retreat and sea-level rise if warming continues, threatening coastal communities and low-lying islands worldwide.

Research by the U.S. Geological Survey is the first to document that every ice front in the southern part of the Antarctic Peninsula has been retreating overall from 1947 to 2009, with the most dramatic changes occurring since 1990. The USGS previously documented that the majority of ice fronts on the entire Peninsula have also retreated during the late 20th century and into the early 21st century.
The ice shelves are attached to the continent and already floating, holding in place the Antarctic ice sheet that covers about 98 percent of the Antarctic continent. As the ice shelves break off, it is easier for outlet glaciers and ice streams from the ice sheet to flow into the sea. The transition of that ice from land to the ocean is what raises sea level.

"This research is part of a larger ongoing USGS project that is for the first time studying the entire Antarctic coastline in detail, and this is important because the Antarctic ice sheet contains 91 percent of Earth's glacier ice," said USGS scientist Jane Ferrigno. "The loss of ice shelves is evidence of the effects of global warming. We need to be alert and continually understand and observe how our climate system is changing."

The Peninsula is one of Antarctica's most rapidly changing areas because it is farthest away from the South Pole, and its ice shelf loss may be a forecast of changes in other parts of Antarctica and the world if warming continues.

Retreat along the southern part of the Peninsula is of particular interest because that area has the Peninsula's coolest temperatures, demonstrating that global warming is affecting the entire length of the Peninsula.

The Antarctic Peninsula's southern section as described in this study contains five major ice shelves: Wilkins, George VI, Bach, Stange and the southern portion of Larsen Ice Shelf. The ice lost since 1998 from the Wilkins Ice Shelf alone totals more than 4,000 square kilometers, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island.

The USGS is working collaboratively on this project with the British Antarctic Survey, with the assistance of the Scott Polar Research Institute and Germany's Bundesamt fur Kartographie und Geodäsie. The research is also part of the USGS Glacier Studies Project, which is monitoring and describing glacier extent and change over the whole planet using satellite imagery.

The report, "Coastal-Change and Glaciological Map of the Palmer Land Area, Antarctica: 1947-2009" and its accompanying map is available online.

The other completed reports in the Coastal Change and Glaciological Maps of Antarctica series can be viewed online.

Source: USGS

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WASHINGTON - After six years of unprecedented exploration of the Red Planet, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit no longer will be a fully mobile robot. NASA has designated the once-roving scientific explorer a stationary science platform after efforts during the past several months to free it from a sand trap have been unsuccessful.

The venerable robot's primary task in the next few weeks will be to position itself to combat the severe Martian winter. If Spirit survives, it will continue conducting significant new science from its final location. The rover's mission could continue for several months to years.

"Spirit is not dead; it has just entered another phase of its long life," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We told the world last year that attempts to set the beloved robot free may not be successful. It looks like Spirit's current location on Mars will be its final resting place."

Ten months ago, as Spirit was driving south beside the western edge of a low plateau called Home Plate, its wheels broke through a crusty surface and churned into soft sand hidden underneath.

After Spirit became embedded, the rover team crafted plans for trying to get the six-wheeled vehicle free using its five functioning wheels - the sixth wheel quit working in 2006, limiting Spirit's mobility. The planning included experiments with a test rover in a sandbox at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., plus analysis, modeling and reviews. In November, another wheel quit working, making a difficult situation even worse.

Recent drives have yielded the best results since Spirit became embedded. However, the coming winter mandates a change in strategy. It is mid-autumn at the solar-powered robot's home on Mars. Winter will begin in May. Solar energy is declining and expected to become insufficient to power further driving by mid-February. The rover team plans to use those remaining potential drives for improving the rover's tilt. Spirit currently tilts slightly toward the south. The winter sun stays in the northern sky, so decreasing the southward tilt would boost the amount of sunshine on the rover's solar panels.

"We need to lift the rear of the rover, or the left side of the rover, or both," said Ashley Stroupe, a rover driver at JPL. "Lifting the rear wheels out of their ruts by driving backward and slightly uphill will help. If necessary, we can try to lower the front right of the rover by attempting to drop the right-front wheel into a rut or dig it into a hole."

At its current angle, Spirit probably would not have enough power to keep communicating with Earth through the Martian winter. Even a few degrees of improvement in tilt might make enough difference to enable communication every few days.

"Getting through the winter will all come down to temperature and how cold the rover electronics will get," said John Callas, project manager at JPL for Spirit and its twin rover, Opportunity. "Every bit of energy produced by Spirit's solar arrays will go into keeping the rover's critical electronics warm, either by having the electronics on or by turning on essential heaters."

Even in a stationary state, Spirit continues scientific research.

"There's a class of science we can do only with a stationary vehicle that we had put off during the years of driving," said Steve Squyres, a researcher at Cornell University and principal investigator for Spirit and Opportunity. "Degraded mobility does not mean the mission ends abruptly. Instead, it lets us transition to stationary science."

One stationary experiment Spirit has begun studies tiny wobbles in the rotation of Mars to gain insight about the planet's core. This requires months of radio-tracking the motion of a point on the surface of Mars to calculate long-term motion with an accuracy of a few inches.

"If the final scientific feather in Spirit's cap is determining whether the core of Mars is liquid or solid, that would be wonderful - it's so different from the other knowledge we've gained from Spirit," said Squyres.

Tools on Spirit's robotic arm can study variations in the composition of nearby soil, which has been affected by water. Stationary science also includes watching how wind moves soil particles and monitoring the Martian atmosphere.

Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars in January 2004. They have been exploring for six years, far surpassing their original 90-day mission. Opportunity currently is driving toward a large crater called Endeavor and continues to make scientific discoveries. It has driven approximately 12 miles and returned more than 133,000 images.

JPL manages the rovers for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. For more information about Spirit and Opportunity, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/rovers

Source: NASA

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