Phoenix Lander sees snow falling on Mars
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says its Phoenix Mars Lander has detected snow falling from Martian clouds, vaporizing before reaching the planet's surface.
And the National Aeronautics and Space Administration says that, plus soil test experiments, have proven evidence of past interaction between minerals and liquid water -- both processes that occur on Earth.
"A laser instrument designed to gather knowledge of how the atmosphere and surface interact on Mars detected snow from clouds about 2.5 miles above the spacecraft's landing site," NASA said, adding data shows the snow vaporizing before reaching the ground.
"Nothing like this view has ever been seen on Mars," said Jim Whiteway, of Canada's York University, the lead scientist for the Canadian-supplied Meteorological Station on Phoenix. "We'll be looking for signs that the snow may even reach the ground."
Since landing May 25, Phoenix has also confirmed a hard subsurface layer at its far-northern site contains water-ice. NASA said determining whether that ice ever thaws will help answer whether the environment there has been favorable for life, a key aim of the mission.
New anti-viral agent is developed
COVENTRY, Faeroe Islands, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- British scientists say they've developed an anti-viral agent using a naturally occurring influenza "protecting virus."
University of Warwick researchers said their newly created anti-viral agent is designed to provide defense against any influenza A virus in any animal host.
Human influenza virus A is not only responsible for seasonal disease in humans, but it is also the cause of worldwide pandemics of which the last three resulted in millions of deaths worldwide, the researchers said.
Currently, live and killed vaccines countering specific strains of the flu are available, however a vaccine for a new pandemic strain would take months to develop, they said. Also, they note that increased resistance to current anti-virals emphasizes the need for a new effective prophylactic and therapeutic treatment method.
The scientists said their "protecting virus" contains an altered gene that makes it harmless and prevents it from reproducing in a cell. If another influenza virus invades the cell it still remains harmless, but rapidly reproduces and prevents infection by literally crowding out the new influenza strain.
The research is detailed in the September issue of the Journal of Virology.
Jules Verne spacecraft burns on re-entry
The European Space Agency's first Automated Transfer Vehicle, the Jules Verne, ended its six-month mission Monday by burning while entering Earth's atmosphere.
The controlled destructive re-entry occurred over an uninhabited area of the South Pacific, the ESA said, when the spacecraft entered the atmosphere at an altitude of about 75 miles and then broke up approximately 47 miles above the water, with the remaining fragments falling into the Pacific 12 minutes later. Jules Verne, ended its six-month mission Monday by burning while entering Earth's atmosphere.
The controlled destructive re-entry occurred over an uninhabited area of the South Pacific, the ESA said, when the spacecraft entered the atmosphere at an altitude of about 75 miles and then broke up approximately 47 miles above the water, with the remaining fragments falling into the Pacific 12 minutes later.
Following its March 9 launch from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, the ATV delivered 6 tons of cargo to the International Space Station, where it remained docked for five months.
During its mission, the ATV conducted an automatic rendezvous and docking, four ISS re-boosts to a higher orbital altitude to offset atmospheric drag, ISS attitude control, a collision-avoidance maneuver when fragments of an old satellite came within the station's vicinity and, during its final journey, offloading 2 1/2 tons of waste.
"Europe has now taken a further step toward its capability of being able to transport and return cargo and astronauts to and from space and helping to define the global picture for human spaceflight from the ISS to future exploration activities," ESA officials said.
New astroviruses are identified in bats
HONG KONG, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Chinese scientists say they've discovered bats might be reservoirs of a new group of astroviruses that cause diarrhea in many species, including humans.
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong and the school's Pasteur Research Center said astroviruses are associated with gastroenteritis in a variety of mammals including humans, but most commonly afflict children, elderly people and immune-compromised patients. Until now, most studies of astroviruses have focused on humans and domesticated animals, so little is known about potential carriers in wildlife.
In the new study the scientists collected fecal samples from a single habitat of apparently healthy insectivorous bats in Hong Kong during a one year period. Results showed high genetic diversity of viruses within a single habitat. And that, the researchers said, suggests some of the bat astroviruses might be genetically linked with human astroviruses and further studies are warranted.
"These findings are likely to provide new insights into the ecology and evolution of astroviruses and reinforce the role of bats as a reservoir of viruses with potential to pose a zoonotic threat to human health," said the scientists.
The findings are reported in the September issue of the Journal of Virology
