Mars lander finds ice: NASA

Scientists believe NASA's Phoenix Mars lander exposed bits of ice while recently digging a trench in the soil of the Martian arctic.


Mars probe beams home first pics


LOS ANGELES - Scientists believe NASA's Phoenix Mars lander exposed bits of ice while recently digging a trench in the soil of the Martian arctic, the mission's principal investigator said Thursday.

Crumbs of bright material initially photographed in the trench later vanished, meaning they must have been frozen water that vaporized after being exposed, Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson, said in a statement.

"These little clumps completely disappearing over the course of a few days, that is perfect evidence that it's ice," Smith said. "There had been some question whether the bright material was salt. Salt can't do that."

Phoenix Mars is studying whether the arctic region of the Red Planet could be habitable. The probe is using its robotic arm to dig up soil samples, and scientists hope it will find frozen water.

However, an initial soil sample heated in a science instrument failed to yield evidence of water.

The bright material was seen in the bottom of a trench dubbed "Dodo-Goldilocks" that Phoenix enlarged on June 15. Several of the bright crumbs were gone when the spacecraft looked into the trench again early Thursday, NASA said.


Phoenix's arm, meanwhile, encountered a hard surface while digging another trench Thursday and scientists were hopeful of uncovering an icy layer, the space agency said. That trench is called "Snow White 2."

The arm went into a "holding position" after three attempts to dig further, which is expected when it the reaches a hard surface, NASA said.

Scientists have been using names from fairy tales and mythology to designate geologic features around Phoenix and the trenches it has been digging.

In 2002, the orbiting Mars Odyssey detected hints of a vast store of ice below the surface of Mars' polar regions. The arctic terrain where Phoenix touched down has polygon shapes in the ground similar to those found in Earth's permafrost regions. The patterns on Earth are caused by seasonal expansion and shrinking of underground ice.

Engineers also have prepared a software patch to send up to Phoenix to fix a problem that surfaced Tuesday in the use of its flash memory. NASA said that because Phoenix generated a large amount of duplicative file-maintenance data that day, the mission team has been avoiding storing science data in the flash memory and is instead transmitting it to Earth at the end of each day.

"We now understand what happened, and we can fix it with a software patch," said Barry Goldstein, the Phoenix project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

Phoenix landed near Mars' north

Jamie Lynn Spears gave birth to a baby girl

JACKSON, Miss. - Jamie Lynn Spears gave birth to a baby girl Thursday morning at a south Mississippi hospital, according to a friend of the Spears family.

The friend, who asked not to be identified because the family had not yet announced the baby's birth, told The Associated Press that the baby was named Maddie Briann and weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces.

The 17-year-old Jamie Lynn was the star of Nickelodeon's "Zoey 101," a sitcom about prep school friends, and is the younger sister of pop star Britney Spears. The Spears family announced in December that Jamie Lynn was pregnant. The father is Casey Aldridge, a pipe-layer from Liberty, Miss. The couple is not married but announced an engagement several months ago.

Ellen Brannan, spokeswoman for Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center, in McComb, would not give out any details. "We understand everybody's interested, but we don't give out information on anyone. Everyone's entitled to their privacy," she said.

The younger Spears lives near Liberty with Aldridge, 19, and has been seen around the small south Mississippi town often as her pregnancy became more apparent. Her family owns a home across the state line in Kentwood, La.

Spears announced her pregnancy through an article in OK! Magazine and was expected to receive a large payday for exclusive pictures of the newborn.



Nickelodeon issued a statement about the birth on Thursday, saying, "We wish her and her family well." Nickelodeon spokeswoman Marianne Romano said that filming of the fourth and final season of "Zoey 101" was completed last summer before Spears became pregnant.

Spears portrayed Zoey Brooks, a student at Pacific Coast Academy, a campus that had been an exclusive all-boys boarding school until Zoey and a handful of other girls arrived. At the end of the series, Zoey gets the boy - longtime crush Chase (Sean Flynn).

Bunny War!

Unfortunately, this is not a post featuring cute pictures of little, furry bunnies dressed as soldiers with plastic guns. This is about a different bunny. A bunny with yellow polyester hair, robot eyes and fake chichis. The Playboy bunny! TMZ reports that it's war between Holly Madison and Kendra Wilkinson of "The Girls Next Door." A source said that everyone on the set of the show hates Holly, especially Kendra. Can't the robot and the dyke just get along?!

Holly and Kendra are fucking up shoots since they fight all the time. Producers are getting sick of trying to film around it. Uh....what's wrong with filming the fight itself! Who doesn't love a good bunny fight. Throw them in a cage with a couple of carrots.

Holly who is Hef's #1 bunny has even started showing her dick around the magazine. She apparently wants more and more editorial control and longtime employees are not having it.

The other bunny, Bridget, tries to keep the peace. Yeah, popping pills every 5 minutes can do that to a person.

Holly needs to stop the fighting and start the plotting! This bitch should be knocked up with Hef's spawn by now! She doesn't have much time before he goes off to the great, big bunny field in the sky. She should be trying to get oil out of his dry well, not fighting with Kendra's fake hip-hop ass.

I say, send them all back to wear they came from, the day-shift at Hooters!


Montreal Escorts

Montreal's 2008 Grand Prix

Canadian GP - As It Happened

Lying in his way, however, are the troubling matters of a 60 percent chance of rain, a disintegrating track surface with Robert Kubica, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso all ready to pounce.


Latest:
1. Kubica
2. Heidfeld +13.6
3. Coulthard +19.9
4. Glock +35.7
5. Massa
6. Trulli
7. Barrichello +46.5
8. Vettel +47.4

Lap 69: Kubica's on his final lap. The win moves him into the lead of the World Championship.

Lap 68: Massa moves up to fifth with some help from Glock. The German slows, blocks his team-mate allowing the Brazilian by. He's now right on the tail of Glock now with two laps left.

Lap 64: Coulthard is closing on the BMW Saubers in front of him. The gap is just six seconds at this stage. Vettel and Kovalainen are right on the tail of Barrichello, meanwhile. The Honda is struggling.

Lap 63: There is a lot of black brake dust on Kubica's car, and Trulli has just confirmed that he is struggling with his brakes. Seven laps remaining.

Lap 60: Rosberg tries to get by Vettel but fails and then loses ninth to Kovalainen after losing his momentum.

Lap 59: A mistake from Barrichello drops from fourth to sixth by running wide and leaving Glock and then Trulli by.

Lap 58: Coulthard slows around the hairpin, causing anxious looks in the Red Bull garage. He seems to be running up to speed again, however.

Lap 56: Kovalainen has dropped to 10th following his second stop. Massa is 7th after his third pit stop.

Lap 54: The marshalls are clearing his car with the help of a digger. No stop to the racing, however.

Lap 52: Fisichella has spun, so the Safety Car is on stand by. The Italian's race is over. Massa has raced into the pits, meanwhile.

Lap 49: Kubica took just seven seconds in the pit lane and comes out well ahead of colleague Heidfeld. It's on for a 1-2 here, with 21 laps remaining.

Lap 48: Nakajima runs into the rear of a Honda and breaks his front wing. The Japanese racer then plants himself into the pit wall entering the garage area. Kubica is heading for pit road.

Lap 46: Kubica is now just over 20 seconds ahead of his team-mate in second. With another stop to come the Pole needs another few seconds as Heidfeld is not stopping again.

Lap 44: ALONSO IS OUT! The Spaniard slaps off a concrete wall, after losing his rear on the approach to the back straight. Disaster for Renault.

Lap 43: Alonso is stalking Heidfeld, and dives down the inside of the BMW. He cannot hold position though and the German gets back in front.

Lap 41: Alonso almost runs into the back of Heidfeld after the German's brakes early. The Spaniard swerves out to the left and misses his rivals though. Piquet's race is over.

Lap 39: Massa is into the points, taking advantage of a mistake by Nakajima. The Brazilian may need to pit again. Kubica is stuck to the rear end of Glock at the moment. Trulli has pitted.

Lap 38: Trulli leads from Glock at the moment. Both men still have to stop, with Kubica the leading runner otherwise.

Lap 36: Barrichello has headed for the pits, leaving Coulthard in front. The rest of the field are stopping now, moving Kubica closer to the race's lead. Vettel joins him on pit lane.

Lap 35: Barrichello is under pressure from Coulthard in the battle for the lead. Alonso is all over Heidfeld, in the big battle of those who have already stopped. Replays show Giancarlo Fisichella just grazing the wall, but he seems undamaged.

Lap 33: Kovalainen and Button are among those fueled to the end of the race. The latter was not penalised for entering pit lane while it was closed because he only changed his tyres and came in again for fuel.

Lap 31: Kubica has inched down the inside of his BMW colleague around Turn 1, but it seems the German is fueled until the end. Alonso is now behind Heidfeld and is the realistic threat to BMW Sauber's first potential race win.

Lap 28: Heidfeld is into the pits. He takes 12.4 seconds of fuel on board but emerges ahead of his team-mate. Kubica and Alonso are just behind. Officials have also announced an investigation into the incident that ended Hamilton, Raikkonen and Rosberg's race.

Lap 27: A spin has scuppered Piquet's race. He has kept his Renault going though.

Lap 26: Heidfeld is 11 seconds ahead of Barrichello and 20 ahead of colleague Kubica. The German will be coming in shortly though.

Lap 24: Kubica is only 15 seconds behind Heidfeld, so the advantage is the Pole's at the moment. How much fuel did Alonso get on board?

Lap 23: Robert Kubica is 10th, having escaped any damage from the pit lane incident. He is the lead driver to have stopped at this stage, while his team-mate Heidfeld leads the event.

Lap 21: More problems for Ferrari. Massa has come in again and is now 17th. With the fuss around Raikkonen, it seems the Brazilian might not have got any fuel on aboard when he came in originally.

Lap 20: Replays show that Raikkonen and Kubica stopped for a red light at the end of the pit lane but that Hamilton did not slow and ran into the rear of the Ferrari. Rosberg is also involved in the incident.

Lap 19: While trying to exit the pit lane, Hamilton has clashed with Raikkonen. Both men have suffered damage and are out of the race.

Lap 19: The pit lane is open and Hamilton, Ferrari and BMW all pour in.

Lap 18: Williams and Ferrari pit crews are on stand by. Button will be penalised for his stop unless he got into his garage before the pit lane closed.

Lap 17: The Safety Car is out. Hamilton's eight second lead is gone, with the field now bunched up again. Jenson Button is in the pits.

Lap 15: Raikkonen is now within half a second of Kubica. Sutil's car - his brake ducts - are on fire so the marshalls are out on track. The Safety Car is on stand by.

Lap 13: Raikkonen is starting to make a move in third. The Finn has just recorded the fastest lap of the event so far. Adrian Sutil's race is over, meanwhile.

Lap 12: Hamilton now has a five second lead over Kubica. Piquet is now up to 13th after nipped down the inside of Trulli and bounced off the tyres of the Italian for his troubles.

Lap 10: Piquet is now looking at 13th, currently claimed by Jarno Trulli. Not a good weekend for Toyota at the moment.

Lap 9: An interesting battle is developing for fourth, with Fernando Alonso and Massa tracking close behind Rosberg. Nelson Piquet has overtaken Glock to move to 14th. Big problems for the Toyota man it seems.

Lap 7: Kubica is now matching Hamilton's time. The Briton had been eeking out a tenth a lap, but the BMW Sauber driver could have slightly less fuel on board based on board according to Setanta Ireland's Gary Anderson.

Lap 6: The gaps are appearing now, with Hamilton three seconds ahead of Kubica. Raikkonen has no answer for the Pole, while Rosberg is struggling to keep up.

Lap 4: Heidfeld is down the inside of Barrichello at the hairpin. He moves up to eighth. Temperatures are rising, but it seems the field is taking it nice and handy at the moment.

Lap 3: Another loser off the grid is Timo Glock, who has dropped three to 14th. Nick Heidfeld is all over the back of Rubens Barrichello, who is likely to have a slightly heavier fuel load on board given his qualifying display.

Lap 2: Hamilton is the fastest man on track at the moment. No problems with the track surface so far.

Lap 1: Hamilton leads away safely. Alonso is the big loser with Nico Rosberg getting by. The field is safely away at this stage with Vettel and Button joining from the pit lane.