A 450-million-year-old meteorite fragment discovered in Oman has been returned to Mars, Nasa said.
Sayh Al Uhaymir 008 was discovered in the Wilayat of Haima, Al Wusta province, in 1999.
The meteorite crashed to Earth 450,000 years ago.
Nasa's Arabic Twitter account announced the imminent return of the rock, detailing the history of its discovery and analysis, including the co-ordinates where it was found – a possible nod to aspiring space-rock hunters.
While the origin of the rock was confirmed through testing in a laboratory in Germany, researchers wanted to take the sample to an area of the Red Planet that is thought to have once hosted life.
The rock was kept in the Natural History Museum in London before it began its journey back to Mars.
Why is the Omani rock being taken back to Mars?
Researchers want to compare the rock to samples on Mars, using a device known as Sherloc, which combines a camera, a spectrometer and a laser.
It is hoped that a high degree of certainty about the composition of rocks on the surface of the planet can be obtained by testing the meteorite fragment at the site.
Nasa used the example of a picture of a room in yellow lighting to explain the experiment. We might know the walls of the room are white in daylight, but to fully understand the characteristics of the room, we need to see it in natural light, hence the rock must be examined on Mars, with its light and dust.
"Scientists will be looking for rocks that may have formed in water, possibly preserving evidence of the chemical building blocks of life," Lori Glaze, director of the Nasa planetary science division, said last year.
What is the Perseverance rover doing on Mars?
"What we're looking for is evidence of past life, either direct chemical or organic signs in the composition and the chemistry of rocks, or textural evidence in the rock record," Jim Bell, a professor at the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, told The Conversation podcast last month.
"The environment of Mars is extremely harsh compared to the Earth, so we’re not really looking for evidence of current life. Unless something actually gets up and walks in front of the cameras, we’re really not going to find that."
Jezero, the area of Mars where the Perseverance rover landed, is probably the "best place" to search for signs of life, he said.
"There are lots of things we don’t know, but there was liquid water there. There were heat sources – there were active volcanoes two, three, four billion years ago on Mars – and there are impact craters from asteroids and comets dumping lots of heat into the ground as well as organic molecules," he said.
"It’s a very short list of places in the solar system that meet those constraints and Jezero is one of those places."
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
CHATGPT%20ENTERPRISE%20FEATURES
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VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
About Tenderd
Started: May 2018
Founder: Arjun Mohan
Based: Dubai
Size: 23 employees
Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital
The Two Popes
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Pryce
Four out of five stars
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl
Power: 153hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: Dh99,000
On sale: now
MATCH INFO
Chelsea 4 (Mount 18',Werner 44', Hudson-Odoi 49', Havertz 85')
Morecambe 0
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What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
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