Post #3

"The latest findings from the Martian Arctic offer more hints of a wet past but paint a very arid present, scientists reported Monday." This was the first line of a science article I read from The New York Times. The article talks about NASA’s Mars Lander, Phoenix, which spotted evidence of snow falling on Mars. This gives even more reason for believing in Mars’ wet past. The article also states that, “Instruments analyzing samples of dirt dug up by the Phoenix have now identified signs of clays and calcium carbonate, materials that on Earth form only in the presence of liquid water.” Phoenix has given us enough evidence now to come to the conclusion that Mars has liquid water on it and with water comes life. Thus, we are getting closer and closer to finding out if alien life actually existed on Mars before and if it still exists today. This article made me think about alien life and how it could be so close to us. Nowadays, scientists are always trying to find alien life outside our galaxy, but we should explore and study nearby planets more. If we can get enough Landers on Mars, we would probably find alien life considering the fact that there is ice and snow on the planet. Therefore, Mars is probably the closest ‘alien inhabited’ planet to us. And this means that we should explore and study it more than ever before.

The URL for this article is: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/science/space/30marsw.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin

Post Two

For my second outside reading, I found an article titled Pirated Arms Freighter Cornered by US Navy in the New York Times. It talks about pirates who hijacked an arms freighter near the Somalia coastline. The article also states that this vessel has “...33 battle tanks and large supply of grenade launchers and ammunition now in the hands of a band of pirates”, which could lead to a catastrophe in the wrong hands. The US Navy was also involved in order to seal off any escape for the hijacked ship. The Kenyan government was also stated to be involved in the transportation of the hijacked cargo. I think this story is very fascinating. Not only does it talk about the long-forgotten pirates, but it brings another possible conflict between African governments as well. I am also impressed that pirates still exist. As I grew up, pirates have always been something very interesting to me but I never thought they could survive in the modern day world. I’m also surprised that these pirates could have a big enough effect to bring the US Navy in. This armed freighter must be really important. The article also stated that, “The pirates holding the ship have said they are not interested in the cargo and will release it and the 20 crew members if they are paid a ransom of $20 million in cash.” Such a demand will probably not be paid, but for some pirates to demand such a ransom from all the other nations is impressing. I also predict that if these pirates succeed, other pirates will be motivated to do the same. Thus, this could be another age of pirates resembling the one in the sixteenth century.

The URL is http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/world/africa/30pirate.html?hp

Post One

"London taxi passengers have left more than 60,000 hand-held devices in the back of black cabs during the past six months, a survey has found." I find this hard to believe. Are taxi passengers really that ignorant? In only one city, this survey suggests that about 10,000 items are left in cabs every month. The survey also says that most of the forgotten devices have very valuable information on them which could become disastrous in the wrong hands. For instance, the survey shows that two discs were lost that contained the entire child benefit records of about 25 million people. Also, a memory stick containing key details on tens of thousands of prisoners was lost in August. Losing such crucial information in cabs just shows how careless people can get. The article also says "Print-outs don't need to be ferried from pillar to post, yet it seems too many people regard sensitive data with the same careless regard they have for their umbrella". I don't think the carelessness of some people will ever be fixed but at least we should try and use the best security for such valuable devices. Something needs to be done.

I found this article on BBC News; the URL is http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7620569.stm.