Viking Did Find Evidence of Organic Material 30 Years Ago!

NASA re-examine the Viking 1 & 2 Lander science findings recently. Scientists conducted a new experiment on Mars-like soil and discovered that Viking did indeed discover organic material 30 years ago.

Prompted by a August 2008 discovery of some powerful oxygen-busting compounds called perchlorates at the landing site of the Mars Phoenix probe landing site.

Quote: Scientists repeated a key Viking experiment using perchlorate-enhanced soil from Chile's Atacama Desert, which is considered one of the driest and most Mars-like places on Earth, and found telltale fingerprints of combusted organics -- the same chemicals Viking scientists dismissed as contaminants from Earth.

"Contrary to 30 years of perceived wisdom, Viking did detect organic materials on Mars," planetary scientist Christopher McKay, with NASA's Ames Research Center in California, told Discovery News. "It's like a 30-year-old cold case suddenly solved with new facts." End quote.

For more information, please read the article. Link below.

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Ref.

1. Discovery.com. "VIKING FOUND ORGANICS ON MARS, EXPERIMENT CONFIRMS" by Irene Klotz. January 4, 2011. (http://news.discovery.com/space/viking-mars-organics-experiment.html).

NASA's Singularity University

NASA announced on February 3, 2009 a new, narrowly focused graduate studies program. Called the Singularity University, or more simply, (SU); it plans to offer nine-week graduate studies program as well as a three day executive officer and management level programs beginning in June. Location will be at the Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California.

According to the NASA statement, the SU curriculum will cover a borad range of interdisciplinary exposure to ten fields of study. Such as future studies and forecasting; networks and computing systems; biotechnology and bioinformatics; nanotechnology; medicine, neuroscience and human enhancements; artificial intelligence, robotics, and cognitive computing; energy and ecological systems; space and physical sciences; policy, law and ethics; and finance and entrepreneurship.

The university was founded on September 20, 2008, by S. Pete Worden, Ames Center Director; Ray Kurzweil, author and futurist Peter Diamandis; space entrepreneur and chairman of the X PRIZE Foundation; Robert Richards, who is the co-founder of the International Space University; Michael Simpson, president of the International Space University; and a group of Singularity University associate founders who have contributed time and capital.

Ray Kurzweil stated the purpose of Singularity University in his own words, “With its strong focus on interdisciplinary learning, Singularity University is poised to foster the leaders who will create a uniquely creative and productive future world.”

Here is the link that was posted with the NASA news release ( http://www.singularityu.org and http://singularity-university.org/ ).

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Ref. Space.com article by the Space.com staff ( http://www.space.com/news/090203-singularity-university.html ).  also http://singularity-university.org/