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21st CENTURY Spring-Summer2012 5

THE OTHER MARTIAN ROVER FINDS CLAYWhentheMarsScienceLaboratorylandedonAugust6,thepublicallbut

forgotabouttheotherMartianrover:Opportunity.OpportunityhasbeenonMarsforover3000Sols,almost9Earthyears.Latelastyear,Opportunityhadarrivedat23kmwideEndeavourcrater,aplacesuspectedofharboringphyl-losilicaterock,similartoterrestrialclays.Inrecentweeks,OpportunityhassnappedpicturesofstrangesphericalnodulesinEndeavourcrater,onanrockoutcropcalled“Kirkwood.”Thesebasalticknobsaredifferentthanthehema-tite“blueberries”foundattheoriginallandingsite,andtheiroriginremainsamystery.Opportunityalsofoundwhatappearstobethephyllosilicateout-croppings,andiscurrentlytestingthecompositionwithitsarminstruments.Iftheseare,indeed,phyllosilicates,itmeansOpportunityisinalocationthatoncehadwaterthatwastheperfectcompositionforlife.

SCIENTISTS WILL COME TO AFRICA TO DO NOBEL-PRIZE RESEARCH, SAYS MINISTERSouth Africa’s Minister for Science & Technology, Naledi Pandor, an-

nouncedonMay25thattheinternationalSKASiteAdvisoryCommitteehasdecidedtolocatetwo-thirdsoftheSquareKilometerArrayradioastronomytelescopesinAfrica,andhasgrantedone-thirdoftheprojecttotheonlyothercontender—AustraliaandNewZealand.TheSKAwillbethelargestinterna-tionalastronomyprojectintheworldwhenitiscompletedin2024,madeupofupto3,000radioastronomydishes.(see21st Century,Winter2011).SouthAfricawill buildupon itsMeerKAT radio telescopearray, (seenhere) andalongwith itspartners—Botswana,Ghana,Kenya,Madagascar,Mauritius,Mozambique,Namibia,andZambia—willexpandthearraytositesinotherAfricanations.

PandorsaidthatbuildingtheSKAradiotelescopeswouldchangethechar-acterofAfrica.“WhocomestoAfricatoactuallydotheirbestresearch?”sheaskedatTheNewAgebusinessbreakfastAug.31.“Peoplecomeheretoex-

NEWS BRIEFS

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/Arizona State Univ.

Strange rock 'fins' at Matijevic Hill, Endeavour Crater

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/Arizona State Univ.

Small spherules found on 'Kirkwood Outcrop' at Endeavor Crater

Dishes of the Karoo Array Telescope, or MeerKAT.

6 Spring-Summer2012 21st CENTURY

amineus,tofindouthowpoorweare,tolookatdiseasesthatwehave,theynevercomeheretosay,̀ IwanttodoNobel[Prize]sciencework.’ButtheyaregonnabecomingtodothatwiththeSKA.”

PRIMARY HEALTH PROBLEMS AT CHERNOBYL ARE PSYCHOSOMATICFollowingatripinJulytotheVladimirMemorialNuclearPowerStationin

Ukraine,commonlyknownasChernobyl,writerChrisLewisreportedthat“inspiteofGreenpeace’swild claims, there is no evidenceof any significanthealthproblems”amongthe600,000militarypersonnelandcivilianswhoworkedtocontain,andthenrecoverfrom,the1986nuclearpowerplantac-cident.Withinthreekilometersoftheplant,inthecityofPrypyat,radiationlevelsareatbackgroundlevels.

Theprimaryhealthproblem,Lewisreported,hasbeenillnessesthatarepsy-chologicallyinduced,drugs,andalcoholism.Thisishardlysurprising,con-sideringthemorethantwodecadesofpsychologicalwarfarethathasbeenwagedagainst,notonlythepopulationofUkraine,butwasusedasanexcusetoshutdownmostofEasternEurope’sSoviet-eranuclearpowerplants,eventhosewithWestern-stylesafetyup-grades.

SPACE AND GLOBAL SECURITY CONFERENCE CALLS FOR COOPERATIONTwomembersoftheLaRouchePoliticalActionCommittee(LaRouchePAC)

“Basement”researchteamparticipatedintheIGMASS-sponsoredFourthIn-ternationalSpecializedSymposiumSpaceandGlobalSecurityofHumanity,inYevpatoria,Crimea,September3-6.Theconferencebroughttogetherava-rietyofspeakersfrommanycountries,todiscussongoingeffortstousespacetechnologiesandspacesciencetoserveasafetyroleformankind.Thisinclud-eddisasterforecasting(suchasearthquakes),spacethreats(suchasasteroids,comets,andsolarstorms),aswelltheorganizationalcapability,bothtechnicalandpolitical, to share suchdata for thewell-beingof allnations.TheLa-RouchePACrepresentatives, JasonRossandBenjaminDeniston,broughtapoliticalurgencytotheconference:theydevelopedthepotentialforcoopera-tion against space threats as a sound basis for international relations, theuniqueeconomicapproachofLyndonLaRoucheforunderstandingtheeco-nomicvalueofscience,andthenecessitytobringmankindtoahigherener-gy-fluxdensity“platform”todealwithspaceandeconomicrequirements.Afullerreportwillappearinthenextissue.

Fourth International Specialized Symposium Space and Global Security of Humanity, in Yevpatoria, Crimea, September 3-6. Benjamin Deniston (above left), Jason Ross (right).

Petr Pavlicek/IAEA

The ghost town of Pripyat, built in the 1970s to house Chernobyl workers and evacuated in July 2005. It should be resettled!