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Date: June 30, 2010

Title: Wet Mars

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Podcaster: TecnoCasters

Organization: TecnoCasters: http://www.tecnocasters.com/

Description: Juan Guevara Torres, Host of TecnoCasters talks about how scientists have recently discovered that all of Mars’ surface was shaped by liquid water around four billion years ago.

Bio: TecnoCasters is the best technology podcast in Spanish. Hosted by Juan D. Guevara, Pedro Riveroll, Lorena Galan and Raul Mitre, TecnoCasters offers a funny and friendly point of view about the gadgets and technology you’ll come across in your ordinary day.

Produced simultaneously in the US and Mexico, TecnoCasters is an international podcast, specially created for the Spanish speaking audience in the world and or for all of those who want to improve their Spanish speaking skills and love technology at the same time.

Today’s sponsor: “Between the Hayabusa homecoming from Itokawa and the Rosetta flyby of asteroid Lutetia, 13 June until 10 July 2010, this episode of 365 Days of Astronomy is sponsored anonymously and dedicated to the memory of Annie Cameron, designer of the Tryphena Sun Wheel, Great Barrier Island, New Zealand, a project that remains to be started.”

Transcript:

Episode 365 Days Of Astronomy : By TecnoCasters

Publication June, 30 2010

Hello everyone and welcome to this Episode of 365 days of Astronomy. My name is Juan Guevara Torres , Host of TecnoCasters – the best technology podcast En espanol. You can be in touch with us our website www.tecnocasters.com, via twitter twitter.com/tecnocasters

We are very happy and thrilled to be here with you all once again. We want to thank Nancy Atkinson, Senior Editor of Universe Today and Producer of Astronomy Cast for letting TecnoCasters be a part of such a cool project like the 365 Days of Astronomy.

Please check out www.365daysofastronomy.com for more information about this podcast and the many ways you can support this effort.

The whole of Mars’ surface was shaped by liquid water around four billion years ago, said scientists to BBC News last week.

Signs of liquid water had been seen on southern Mars, but the latest findings reveal similar signals in craters in the north of the Red Planet.

The team made their discovery by examining data from instruments on board Europe’s Mars Express and Nasa’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

They report the findings in the latest issue of the journal Science.

John Carter, of the University of Paris, led the team of France- and US-based scientists.

“Until now, we had no idea what half Mars was made of in terms of mineral composition,” he told BBC News.

He explained that these instruments had revealed clay-type minerals, “the stuff you would find in mud and in river beds.”

“It’s not the species of mineral itself that’s important,” said Dr Carter, “it’s more the fact that the minerals contain water.

“This enhances the picture of liquid water on Mars.”

Previously, researchers have seen similar signs of water in the highlands of southern Mars in rocks that are up to four billion years old. But in the northern part of the planet, more recently formed rocks have buried the older geology.

The prevailing theory for why this is, is that a giant object slammed into northern Mars, turning nearly half of the planet’s surface into the Solar System’s largest impact crater.

The new findings suggest that at least part of the wet period on Mars, that could have been favourable to life, extended into the time between that giant impact and when volcanic and other rocks formed an overlying mantle.

This indicates that, 4.2 billion years ago, the planet was probably altered by liquid water on a global scale.

But Dr Carter said that the findings did not paint a picture of huge Martian oceans.

“It was probably a very dry place,” he said. “But we’re seeing signals of what were once river beds, small seas and lakes.”

Well, that is all for us today. Be sure to check www.365dayofastronomy.org to keep up with this podcast!!

Don’t forget to follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/g-u-e-v-a-r-a-j-d

My name is Juan Guevara Torres, host of TecnoCasters, and … thanks for listening!

Website: www.tecnocasters.com

End of podcast:

365 Days of Astronomy
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