Mars Discovery Provides Evidence of the Planet’s Wet Past

A patch of Martian soil analyzed by NASA’s rover Spirit is so rich in silica that it may provide some of the strongest evidence yet that ancient Mars was much wetter than it is now. The processes that could have produced such a concentrated deposit of silica require the presence of water.

The alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, a chemical analyzer at the end of Spirit’s arm, had measured a composition of about 90% pure silica for this soil. The team has laid out plans for further study of the soil patch and surrounding deposits.

Exploring a low range of hills inside a Connecticut-sized basin named Gusev Crater, Spirit had previously found other indicators of long-ago water at the site, such as patches of water-bearing, sulfur-rich soil; alteration of minerals; and evidence of explosive volcanism.

For images and information about the rovers, click here.

Purdue University researchers have created a handheld sensing system its creators liken to Star Trek’s “tricorder” used to analyze the chemical components of alien worlds. The new portable system is an ultrafast chemical analysis tool that could be used for detecting everything from cancer in the liver to explosives residue on luggage and “biomarkers” in urine that provide an early warning for diseases.

The instrument is a miniature mass spectrometer combined with a technique called desorption electrospray ionization, or DESI. Unlike conventional mass spectrometers, which are cumbersome laboratory instruments that weigh more than 300 pounds, the new handheld device weighs less than 20 pounds and can be used in the field.

For more information, click here.