Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Thursday 26 July 2018
Water is buried beneath Martian landscape, study says

By EMILIANO RODRIGUEZ cause it's the culmination National Institute of Astro-
MEGA of that philosophy." physics in Bologna and
NEW YORK (AP) — A huge The study, published in the lead author of the study.
lake of salty water appears journal Science, does not Mars is very cold, but the
to be buried deep in Mars, determine how deep the water might have been
raising the possibility of find- reservoir actually is. This kept from freezing by dis-
ing life on the red planet, means that scientists can't solved salts. It's the same
scientists reported Wednes- specify whether it's an un- as when you put salt on a
day. derground pool, an aqui- road, said Kirsten Siebach,
The discovery, based on fer-like body, or just a layer a planetary geologist at
observations by a Europe- of sludge. Rice University who wasn't
an spacecraft, generated To find the water, Italian part of the study.
excitement from experts. researchers analyzed ra- "This water would be ex-
Water is essential to life as dar signals collected over tremely cold, right at the
we know it, and scientists three years by the Europe- point where it's about to
have long sought to prove an Space Agency's Mars freeze. And it would be
that the liquid is present on Express spacecraft. Their re- salty. Those are not ideal
Mars. sults suggest that a 12-mile- conditions for life to form,"
"If these researchers are wide (20 kilometers) reser- Siebach said.
right, this is the first time voir lies below ice about a Still, she said, there are mi-
we've found evidence of a mile (1.5 kilometers) thick in crobes on Earth that have
large water body on Mars," This May 12, 2016 image provided by NASA shows the planet an area close to the plan- been able to adapt to en-
said Cassie Stuurman, a Mars. A study published Wednesday, July 25, 2018 in the journal et's south pole. vironments like that.
geophysicist at the Universi- Science suggests a huge lake of salty water appears to be They spent at least two Orosei said, "It's tempting
buried deep in Mars, raising the possibility of finding life on the
ty of Texas who found signs red planet. years examining the data to think that this is the first
of an enormous Martian ice Associated Press to make sure they'd de- candidate place where life
deposit in 2016. tected water, not ice or could persist" on Mars.
Scott Hubbard, a professor director in 2000, called it the one phrase that cap- another substance. He suspects Mars may
of astronautics at Stanford "tremendously exciting." tured everything," Hubbard "I really have no other ex- contain other hidden bod-
University who served as "Our mantra back then was said. "So this discovery, if planation," said astrophysi- ies of water, waiting to be
NASA's first Mars program 'follow the water.' That was it stands, is just thrilling be- cist Roberto Orosei of Italy's discovered.q

Bad dogs die young, many from euthanasia, British study says

study found. Euthanasia they select is important, as 127 U.K. veterinary clinics
was the most common is socialization for young to determine what portion
cause of those deaths — dogs, "to ensure that the of early deaths were linked
75 percent overall. Traffic lives of dogs and their own- with undesirable behavior.
accidents involving disobe- ers are fulfilling for all parties The study didn't report oth-
dient dogs were another involved," said study super- er causes but previous re-
common cause. visor Dan O'Neill, a senior search by the same group
The study involved data on lecturer at the Royal Veteri- found that less common
264,000 U.K. dogs, and the nary College . causes included gastroin-
results underscore the im- Socialization is most effec- testinal and neurological
portance of training dogs tive when puppies are 4 to diseases.
and educating owners, the 12 weeks old, according Males, mixed-breed dogs,
researchers said. They said to Partnership for Animal and small dogs weighing
the large number of misbe- Welfare, a U.S. nonprofit less than 22 pounds (10 ki-
In this Sept. 28, 2011 file photo, a dog casts a shadow in St. having dogs that are eu- animal rescue and adop- lograms) were more prone
Petersburg, Russia. thanized also highlights a tion group . It involves intro- to early deaths from misbe-
Associated Press need for improved behav- ducing them to new expe- havior than females, larger
ioral education for veteri- riences, including people, dogs and purebreds.
By The Associated Press canine pets to an early de- narians so they can better places, objects and other Compared with Labra-
Bad dogs tend to die mise. assist pet owners. animals to help teach them dor retrievers, a common
young, according to a Brit- One in three deaths in U.K. The study was published how to respond "appropri- breed in the U.K. and the
ish study that says aggres- dogs younger than 3 years Tuesday in the British publi- ately and without fear," the United States that is often
sion, excessive barking and old was from "undesirable" cation Animal Welfare. group's website says. well-tempered, certain
disobedience are among behaviors, a dispropor- Making sure owners are The researchers analyzed breeds faced higher risks
behaviors that can doom tionately high number, the aware of traits in breeds 2009 to 2014 records from of behavior-related deaths
including cocker spaniels
and Staffordshire bull terri-
ers, similar to American pit
bulls.
"Greater awareness of the
scale of this issue can be
the first step toward reduc-
ing the problems and mak-
ing the lives of thousands of
our young dogs happier,"
O'Neill said.q