NASA scientists recreated Mars’ ‘spiders’ in a lab

Science and Health

Scientists are amazed by spider-like shapes on the southern part of Mars. No one knows precisely how these formed. Each one can be over half a mile long and has many thin “legs.” These are known as araneiform terrain, and they often appear in groups, making the surface look wrinkled.

Now, NASA scientists have re-created those formation processes in simulated Martian temperatures and air pressure for the first time. The experiments could help tune the models for how they form.

The study confirms how spider-like shapes form on Mars based on the Kieffer model. Sunlight heats the soil through clear carbon dioxide ice that forms in winter. The darker soil absorbs heat, causing the ice to turn directly into gas in sublimation. As the gas builds up, it cracks the ice and escapes, carrying dark dust and sand from the soil onto the ice surface.

When winter ends and the ice sublimates, the leftover scars from these small eruptions create spider-like features.

The challenging part of conducting these experiments was re-creating conditions found on the Martian polar surface—extremely low air pressure and temperatures as low as minus 301 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 185 degrees Celsius). They used a liquid-nitrogen-cooled test chamber at JPL called the Dirty Under-vacuum Simulation Testbed for Icy Environments, or DUSTIE.

Lauren Mc Keown of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California said, “I love DUSTIE. It’s historic; the wine barrel-size chamber was used to test a prototype of a rasping tool designed for NASA’s Mars Phoenix lander. The tool was used to break water ice, which the spacecraft scooped up and analyzed near the planet’s north pole.”

NASA scientists recreated Mars’ ‘spiders’ in a lab

Science and Health

Scientists are amazed by spider-like shapes on the southern part of Mars. No one knows precisely how these formed. Each one can be over half a mile long and has many thin “legs.” These are known as araneiform terrain, and they often appear in groups, making the surface look wrinkled.

Now, NASA scientists have re-created those formation processes in simulated Martian temperatures and air pressure for the first time. The experiments could help tune the models for how they form.

The study confirms how spider-like shapes form on Mars based on the Kieffer model. Sunlight heats the soil through clear carbon dioxide ice that forms in winter. The darker soil absorbs heat, causing the ice to turn directly into gas in sublimation. As the gas builds up, it cracks the ice and escapes, carrying dark dust and sand from the soil onto the ice surface.

When winter ends and the ice sublimates, the leftover scars from these small eruptions create spider-like features.

The challenging part of conducting these experiments was re-creating conditions found on the Martian polar surface—extremely low air pressure and temperatures as low as minus 301 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 185 degrees Celsius). They used a liquid-nitrogen-cooled test chamber at JPL called the Dirty Under-vacuum Simulation Testbed for Icy Environments, or DUSTIE.

Lauren Mc Keown of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California said, “I love DUSTIE. It’s historic; the wine barrel-size chamber was used to test a prototype of a rasping tool designed for NASA’s Mars Phoenix lander. The tool was used to break water ice, which the spacecraft scooped up and analyzed near the planet’s north pole.”

New offerings provide tourists with fresh experiences in summer tourism boom

Travel

Regions across China rolled out a slew of measures to increase the supply of quality tourism products, leading to a tourist boom this summer. The emergence of new business formats, models, and scenarios, which met tourists’ diverse and personalized travel demands, led to growth in the tourism market, according to multiple travel platforms.
This year, China saw the hottest tourism summer since 2019, with both inbound and outbound tourist trips and tourism consumption hitting a record high, said Dai Bin, director of the China Tourism Academy.
Data from China’s service-focused e-commerce giant Meituan showed that bookings in the culture and tourism industries surged over 11 percent year on year this summer.
A report on the tourism market in the summer of 2024 issued by Chinese online travel agency Ctrip highlighted the continued resilience of both domestic and cross-border tourism this summer.
More inbound tourists visiting emerging destinations thanks to improved infrastructure

Visitors, including many from overseas, view the sights at the Palace Museum in Beijing in July. (China News Service/Jia Tianyong)
This summer, inbound tourists increased rapidly, fueled by a series of favorable policies and the improvement in relevant facilities.
During the period, a total of 110 million Chinese and foreign travelers entered or exited China, an increase of 30 percent compared with the same period last year, according to the National Immigration Administration.
Data from Ctrip revealed that inbound tourism orders jumped about 70 percent year by year this summer, with emerging destinations like Chongqing, Zhangjiajie, and Lijiang seeing a staggering increase of over 30 times in inbound tourists.
Lower-tier tourism markets became a highlight of summer tourism. Data from online travel service provider Qunar showed that hotel bookings in fourth- and fifth-tier cities and counties in July and August skyrocketed 113 percent compared to pre-summer levels and surged 24 percent year on year.
Thanks to the continuous improvement of tourism infrastructure, rural areas and lower-tier cities and counties can better meet the travel needs of specific groups, attracting an increasing number of tourists, said Cai Muzi, a researcher with the big data research institute of Qunar.
Integrated tourism: Sports, education, and culture
The integration of tourism with other sectors is creating exciting new experiences. By integrating sports, education, and culture with tourism, consumers can find the perfect match for their interests when planning a trip.
The Paris Olympics ignited a sports tourism boom this summer. Meituan data showed sports-related bookings surged 230 percent year on year between July 1 and Aug. 27, with more than 70 percent of customers aged 20 to 35.
The total bookings of tourists from the Chinese mainland traveling to Paris during the Olympics rose 129 percent year on year, and car rental bookings in Europe increased by 170 percent year on year, according to Ctrip data.

Tourists visit Vanke Songhua Lake Resort in Jilin City, northeast China’s Jilin Province, Aug. 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Li He)
Tourism integrated with education was especially popular with families this summer, as summer vacation is a peak season for parent-child trips and family trips, with education tours, recreational vehicle tours, and chartered car services becoming popular.
According to data from Ctrip, bookings for family trips on the platform accounted for a whopping 35 percent of the summer’s total, and orders for car rentals during this summer surged 22 percent year on year. The recreational vehicle rental market was particularly hot. On the platform, 49 percent of recreational vehicle renters were first-timers, and families with children made up 65 percent of recreational vehicle renters. Educational tours in China saw an even more dramatic 175 percent year-on-year increase.
This summer, China saw a thriving performance market, and some places where performances were held emerged as tourist destinations.
Museums gained great popularity this summer. Ctrip data showed a double-digit surge in museum visits compared to last year’s summer season.
China also launched a series of special cultural and tourism activities, new consumer scenarios and measures to benefit the people, according to an official with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
In Xi’an, capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, the “Twelve Hours of Chang’an” theme block that vividly reproduces the urban life of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) introduced multiple activities combining culture and tourism, including collaborations with popular IPs like “A Chinese Odyssey” films and promotions for Hanfu, the traditional attire of the Han ethnic group. Consequently, the theme block received over 7,000 tourist arrivals every day during this summer.
(Web editor: Xian Jiangnan, Liang Jun)

Ellen DeGeneres addresses being ‘kicked out of show business’ in trailer for stand-up special

Business News

Your support helps us to tell the storyMy recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyondEric GarciaWashington Bureau ChiefFind out moreEllen Degeneres has spoken about the controversy that led to the end of her Hollywood career.The talk show host and comedian, 66, was forced to end The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2022 after a Buzzfeed News investigation accused it of fostering a toxic work environment. DeGeneres subsequently announced she would retire this August after playing the final dates on “Ellen’s Last Stand… Up” tour, which were filmed for her forthcoming Netflix special.In the Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval trailer, the stand-up says: “All right, well let me catch you up on what’s been going on with me since you saw me last.“I decided to take up gardening, I got chickens. Let me see what else I can tell you about that’s been going on…Oh yeah, I got kicked out of show business.”DeGeneres claimed being labelled “the ‘be kind’ girl [that] wasn’t kind” had led to the end of her career.“Here’s the problem,” she said. “I’m a comedian who got a talk show and I ended the show everyday by saying ‘Be kind to one another.’ Had I ended my show by saying ‘Go f*** yourselves,’ people would’ve been pleasantly surprised to find out I’m kind.”Ellen Degeneres in her Netflix special ‘Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval ‘

Florida to argue for Texas book bans in out of state…

Arts & Culture, Books

Florida’s controversial legal argument defending book bans is expanding, pushing beyond school libraries into public libraries.After arguing for more than a year on behalf of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration that school officials can remove any books for any reason, including objections to LGBTQ and race-related content, attorneys for the state now are making the same defense for community libraries — in Texas.The Florida Attorney General’s Office joined 17 other red states in filing a court brief defending a Texas county’s removal of 17 books from its library system. They claim that book removals are “government speech” and therefore don’t violate others’ First Amendment rights.The legal doctrine is essentially a First Amendment exception that says governments can discriminate based on viewpoint or content when they speak for themselves.Next week, Florida Solicitor General Henry Whitaker will argue that before a federal appeals court in New Orleans. To make this happen, Llano County – located in Central Texas, population 22,540 – ceded some of its speaking time to Florida.“The county’s decisions over which books to offer its patrons in its public libraries, at its own expense, are its own speech,” the states wrote in their August filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which includes Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. (Public libraries are publicly funded.)“The government does not violate anyone’s free speech rights merely by speaking — no matter what it chooses to say or not to say,” they continued. Next week, notably, is also “Banned Books Week.” It’s a decades-old event held by librarians and free speech advocates to spread attention about books that have been targeted in school and community libraries.Some of those advocates have told the appeals court that it should uphold a district court’s preliminary ruling rejecting the government speech argument.“A Democratic governor could not order the removal of all library books advocating ‘Republican’ ideals, nor could a predominantly Jewish city council ban all copies of the New Testament to impose a single religious view,” wrote the American Civil Liberties Union and its Texas chapter in an early September filing. “This is clear not only from common sense, but also from First Amendment doctrine.”More on what is the ‘government speech’ doctrineFlorida has seen a multitude of lawsuits on school book banning and related policies. Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office has defended DeSantis’ education officials and local school officials, invoking the government speech defense: “Public school systems, including their libraries, convey the government’s message,” Moody wrote in one of the filings. It’s a relatively new legal doctrine, and the U.S. Supreme Court has not always ruled in favor of it, though justices in 2015 said Texas could refuse to allow Confederate flag specialty license plates because they represented government speech.In one of the Florida cases, U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor, appointed by President Trump, said how the doctrine applies to school library books is “surprisingly unsettled.” He’s not made a ruling on it yet.But Texas U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman, appointed by President Obama, ordered the county the removed books last year, writing that those suing “have sufficiently alleged that Defendants’ actions do not constitute government speech and that Defendants unlawfully removed books based on their viewpoint.”The books removed ranged from ones about farts to ones about racism and LGBTQ topics. County residents who used the local library system filed the lawsuit.The district court’s decision was appealed by the county. A conservative three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit agreed in part with the original ruling, saying eight of the 17 books had to be returned.“We agree that library personnel must necessarily consider content in curating a collection,” it wrote in its June decision. “However, the Court has nowhere held that the government may make these decisions based solely on the intent to deprive the public of access to ideas with which it disagrees. That would violate the First Amendment and entirely shield all collection decisions from challenge.”But U.S. District Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan dissented, slamming the other two conservative judges as “Federal Library Police.”“There is a simple answer to the question posed by this case: A public library’s choice of some books for its collection, and its rejection of others, is government speech,” wrote Duncan, who was appointed by Trump.A majority of the 17-member appeals court tossed that decision and ordered a rehearing, setting up the Tuesday morning hearing where Whitaker will appear.“Our office is routinely involved with amicus briefs, especially when they involve state issues,” said Kylie Mason, Moody’s spokesperson, in an email. “It is also not unusual for us to appear at an argument when we draft a (friend of the court) brief.”Mason said the crafting of the court brief came at no extra cost to the state, since “there is no additional cost for a salaried employee to help draft a brief,” but did not answer price questions about travel.The Florida Freedom to Read Project, a book access advocacy organization, warned the public in a social media post to “pay attention” to this case: “They will keep presenting this ridiculous argument until they find a friendly court,” it wrote.From school libraries … to public librariesMost of the book banning controversies in Florida have surrounded school shelves. Unlike in Texas, community libraries have largely avoided the controversy. But the USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida reported last year that this was beginning to change. That change has accelerated in recent months.For example, the Pasco County library system recently pulled 130 children’s books for review, according to the Tampa Bay Times. County officials decided which books to put on that list by, in part, key word searching terms such as “LGBTQ.”One of the titles, “And Tango Makes Three,” is a children’s picture book that’s based on a true story about a same-sex penguin pair raising a chick together.Yet, just last week, school officials who removed it from school shelves in Nassau County put it back after getting sued. They emphasized in a settlement agreement with its authors that “And Tango Makes Three” is appropriate for all ages and has educational value.“Pasco County Libraries is committed to fostering an environment where all customers can access a broad range of ideas and information,” Sarah Andeara, a county spokesperson, in an emailed statement. “As part of the county’s effort to ensure our collection meets state standards, we have pulled for reconsideration certain materials in our collection.”And this is likely to continue – until, at least, higher courts weigh in on Florida’s government speech argument.“Regardless of whether book-banning campaigns target the Bible or Judy Blume, politicized efforts to restrict access to information cannot be reconciled with the Founders’ faith in the free exchange of ideas and our national commitment to freedom of expression,” wrote the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression in a brief for the Llano County case. “These battles will persist until the courts declare that the only way to win is not to play.”Financial cost of book bans:Florida school board pays over $100K to defend ban on book about same-sex penguin pairStephen King slams Florida book banning:Stephen King had a 3-word reaction to news his books are banned in some Florida schoolsThis reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA Today Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Douglas Soule is based in Tallahassee, Fla. He can be reached at [email protected]. On X: @DouglasSoule.

Six business-academic collaborations get funding green light

Business News

Two alternative protein ventures and an educational digital children’s game about business are among the research and development projects awarded funding through the Scottish Inward Investment Catalyst Fund (IICF). The fund was set up by Interface and Scottish Government to attract companies from outwith Scotland to collaborate with Scottish academic institutions to create research, development…