Professor Carl Agee at the University of New Mexico is conducting research on what is believed to be the first meteorite from the surface of Mars. The specimen is 2.1 billion years old and roughly the size of a baseball. It differs from each of the approximately 110 other Martian meteorites found on Earth. Not only is it believed to be from the surface of the planet, but it is much older than the majority and its water content is ten times that of the others.

An American collector purchased the find, originally discovered in the Sahara desert, in 2011 from a Moroccan meteorite dealer. Scientists hope it will enable them to learn unprecedented information about the Martian crust. Munir Humayun, cosmo-chemist at Florida State University, said of the space rock:  

"This opens a whole new window on Mars."

Read more on this story at the Los Angeles Times. Link

(Image credit: Carl Agee/University of New Mexico)

 (YouTube Link)

Xiao Liwu, the giant panda cub at the San Diego Zoo, is now 22 weeks old. He's close to being mature enough to be put on display at the zoo. In the lively cub's 20th medical exam, shown in the video above, Xiao Liwu's coordination and range of motion have increased. It seems as if he's ready to kick that medical checkup jazz to the curb and get on with full-time frolic. 

(YouTube Link)

Trevor Alyn has recently updated his Slit-Scan Movie Maker app for Mac OS. As in the video above, the slit-scan photography process creates distortions and lends a bizarre quality to every movement recorded. The resulting videos are disorienting and reminiscent of Salvador Dali's iconic melting clock painting "The Persistence of Memory," albeit an animated version in which objects melt horizontally as well as vertically.  

 

Stanford University researchers are working with NASA to design a spiked space apparatus capable of maneuvering efficiently across asteroid and moon surfaces, on which low gravity and rough terrain would bog down a regular rover.

Scientists nicknamed the robots "hedgehogs" due to their round, spiky appearance. Those working on the project hope to eventually land the 'hogs on Phobos, a Martian moon.

Read more about space hedgehogs at Stanford University News. Link -via CNET

(Image credit: Stanford University Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics)

This lioness reacts to the motions of a toddler on the other side of her glass zoo enclosure. She bats her paw at the window repeatedly as the child giggles and pounds back, joyfully oblivious of her power. 

(YouTube Link)

Artist Steve Thomas created this stylized series of Star Wars posters inspired by government-issued tourism promotions for national and state parks between 1930 and 1950. These renderings of memorable places in a galaxy far, far away use the classic fonts and sleek imagery of the vintage posters upon which they are based.   

See the collection at the artist's website. Link -via ComicBookMovie.com

(Image credits: Steve Thomas)

This photograph of star trails over Lake Tyrrell in Victoria, Australia was taken by amateur astronomer and astrophotography enthusiast Alex Cherney. His daughter's school project involving astronomy was the origin of Cherney's interest in the subject. Originally from the Ukraine, Cherney currently lives in Australia and regularly travels the country taking pictures of the night sky.   

See more of Alex Cherney's photography at his website. Link -via The World at Night (TWAN)
 
(Image credit: Alex Cherney/TWAN) 

This image is of the frozen Minnehaha Falls. Located in a Minneapolis park, Minnehaha Falls are near the point where the Mississippi River and Minnehaha Creek converge.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has scored a legal victory prohibiting the 19-year-old tradition of dropping a live opossum at midnight during a New Year's Eve celebration in Brasstown, North Carolina. PETA filed suit against the state agency that issued a yearly permit allowing store owner Clay Morgan to put an opossum in a Plexiglass cage and lower it from atop a high pole, claiming the practice was animal cruelty. A judge decided in favor of PETA in November. 

The event, which draws thousands of spectators annually, will be held again this year. Morgan said the drop would go on as planned, with the substitution of either a stuffed or a roadkill opossum. Senior Media Coordinator of PETA David Perle said of the court ruling:

"There are many ways to ring in the new year that don’t involve dangling a small, timid and terrified wild animal over a boisterous crowd and exposing him to bright lights, fireworks, and other frightening noises.”  

Read more on the story at the Asheville Citizen-Times. Link

(Image credit: Eliza Kern/reesenews)

This shot of an outdoor Jacuzzi near the Matterhorn at a resort in Zermatt, Switzerland is one of 100 photographs selected by Twisted Sifter as the best of their 2012 "Picture of the Day" features. From sleeping whales to knitted Mexican buses to meteor showers, this collection of spectacular photos challenges anyone who says life is mundane.

See the top 100 at Twisted Sifter. Link 

(Image credit: Iglu-Dorf GMBH)  

NASA has just finished performing tests on a new spacesuit that is a vast improvement over the old models. The astronauts may look a little Buzz Lightyear-esque, though. The new suit is called the Z-1. Astronauts walk into it from the back and it closes around them. The previous suits split at the waist. The astronauts are also likely to be safer, since this suit renders obsolete the time-consuming and possibly dangerous process of going through airlock. 

This Toy Story moment prompted Wired to put together an amusing look at spacesuits in films versus in real life. See the pictures there. Link 

(Photo credit: NASA/Pixar)

Researchers from the Tambopata Research Center in Peru think they've discovered a new type of spider from the genus Cyclosa. This genus is known to create distractions or attractions for predators or prey using collected debris placed in their webs. Pictured above is a "decoy" spider that the much smaller occupant of the web created using matter it scavenged from the rainforest. The spider then made its creation move when the web was approached. If this is indeed a new species of Cyclosa, it is the first variety known to construct a larger model of itself for protection. 

Learn more about this clever spider at the Tambopata Research Center blog. Link -via Geek.com

(Image credit: Phil Torres)

Phil Plait at Slate has compiled a best-of list of astronomy images from 2012 that are pretty spectacular. Included is this image of the sun, which depicts an event that occurred on August 31, 2012. An arch of matter was raised by the sun's magnetic field and then erupted, sending hundreds of millions of tons of plasma into space at a speed of 900 miles per second. The size of the arch was 200,000 miles wide; 25 times the size of the Earth.

See the rest of the images at Bad Astronomy. Link

(Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/SDO)

As the old song says, "Everyone wishes for silver and gold." Hardly anyone wishes for termites. Yet results of a recent Australian study found that termites collected gold as they searched underground for nesting material. Researchers also noted that metals accumulate in the bodies of termites, as shown in the photo above, using Zinc as an example. 

University of Georgia professor of entomology Robert Matthews agreed with the Australian findings, saying that scientists have known for some time that social insects living in colonies, such as termites and ants, have potential in the search for precious metals. Australian entomologist Aaron Stewart, who conducted the recent study, agreed that termites have promise as early prospectors:

"Drilling is expensive. If termites can help narrow down the area that needs to be drilled, then exploration companies could save a lot of money."

Read more on termites starring as tiny gold miners at National Geographic. Link

(Photo credit: Aaron Stewart, CSIRO)

Tikal, the ruins of Maya temples discovered in the Guatemalan rainforest in 1848, has been a longtime tourist attraction. The number of visitors increased, however, after George Lucas chose the location to film scenes from Star Wars in which the rebels fought the empire on planet Yavin 4.

The site was originally discovered when locals found human skulls with gemstone-studded teeth. Extending for over 200 square miles, Tikal's tall temples are surrounded by dense jungle. Tikal is one of the largest pre-Columbian Maya sites in the world. 

In spite of scientists and scholars rejecting the interpretation of the Maya calendar that targets this Friday as the "End of Times," record numbers of visitors are flocking to the ruins this month, according to Reuters.
  
The Reuters article also disclosed information on the upcoming film in the franchise, Episode VII, to be made by Disney. Apparently, Yavin 4 reappears in the new film, though Reuters cites information from fans that those scenes will be filmed in a studio rather than in Guatemala.

Read the entire Reuters article here. Link

(Photo credit Mike McDonald/Reuters)