15
THE WORLD AROUND US
Mountain Views News Saturday, October 3, 2015
LIQUID WATER FLOWS ON TODAY’S MARS
New findings from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter (MRO) provide the strongest evidence yet
that liquid water flows intermittently on present-
day Mars.
Using an imaging spectrometer on MRO,
researchers detected signatures of hydrated
minerals on slopes where mysterious streaks are
seen on the Red Planet. These darkish streaks appear
to ebb and flow over time. They darken and appear
to flow down steep slopes during warm seasons,
and then fade in cooler seasons. They appear in
several locations on Mars when temperatures are
above minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23
Celsius), and disappear at colder times.
“Our quest on Mars has been to ‘follow the water,’
in our search for life in the universe, and now we
have convincing science that validates what we’ve
long suspected,” said John Grunsfeld, astronaut
and associate administrator of NASA’s Science
Mission Directorate in Washington. “This is a
significant development, as it appears to confirm
that water—albeit briny—is flowing today on the
surface of Mars.”
These downhill flows, known as recurring
slope lineae (RSL), often have been described as
possibly related to liquid water. The new findings
of hydrated salts on the slopes point to what that
relationship may be to these dark features. The
hydrated salts would lower the freezing point
of a liquid brine, just as salt on roads here on
Earth causes ice and snow to melt more rapidly.
Scientists say it’s likely a shallow subsurface flow,
with enough water wicking to the surface to
explain the darkening.
“We found the hydrated salts only when the
seasonal features were widest, which suggests that
either the dark streaks themselves or a process that
forms them is the source of the hydration. In either
case, the detection of hydrated salts on these slopes
means that water plays a vital role in the formation
of these streaks,” said Lujendra Ojha of the Georgia
Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta,
lead author of a report on these findings published
Sept. 28 by Nature Geoscience.
Ojha first noticed these puzzling features as
a University of Arizona undergraduate student
in 2010, using images from the MRO’s High
Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE).
HiRISE observations now have documented RSL
at dozens of sites on Mars. The new study pairs
HiRISE observations with mineral mapping
by MRO’s Compact Reconnaissance Imaging
Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM).
The spectrometer observations show signatures
of hydrated salts at multiple RSL locations, but only
when the dark features were relatively wide. When
the researchers looked at the same locations and
RSL weren’t as extensive, they detected no hydrated
salt.
Ojha and his co-authors interpret the spectral
signatures as caused by hydrated minerals called
perchlorates. The hydrated salts most consistent
with the chemical signatures are likely a mixture
of magnesium perchlorate, magnesium chlorate
and sodium perchlorate. Some perchlorates have
been shown to keep liquids from freezing even
when conditions are as cold as minus 94 degrees
Fahrenheit (minus 70 Celsius). On Earth, naturally
produced perchlorates are concentrated in deserts,
and some types of perchlorates can be used as
rocket propellant.
For Ojha, the new findings are more proof that
the mysterious lines he first saw darkening Martian
slopes five years ago are, indeed, present-day water.
“When most people talk about water on Mars,
they’re usually talking about ancient water or
frozen water,” he said. “Now we know there’s more
to the story.”
“Liquid water is a key requirement for life on
Earth,” Ojha added. “The presence of liquid water
on Mars’ present-day surface therefore points
to environments that are more habitable than
previously thought.”
*******
EARLY RESPONDERS to the news from Mars
included poet Eido Boru, who sends this piquant
commentary in verse from Brisbane, Australia:
KEEP LOOKING AROUND
Red planet Mars
The fourth big rock
From our bright star
What a shock
Just discovered water
Mars isn’t dead
And made out of mortar
Like lots have said.
Found a summer sea
An astronomer’s wish
Said to be briney
Are there any fish?
Keep looking around
Is what I recommend
To find a town
Of little green men.
You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@
MtnViewsNews.com.
WHAT HAPPENS TO
FORMER FOSTER YOUTH?
Highlights from an Interview with Donjaleigh
by La Quetta M. Shamblee
There was plenty to celebrate on May 15, 2015 when 23-
year old Donjaleigh heard her name as she strolled across
the stage at California State University Dominguez Hills
to receive her B.A. in Sociology. She had completed the
first major educational step toward her career goal of
becoming a Licensed Clinical
Social Worker. An amazing
accomplishment considering
this former foster youth has
basically had to figure out how
to navigate life on her own
since she exited the foster care
system at age 18 and moved in
the dorms. Donjaleigh was 15
when her mother died, and with
a father who was in and out
of prison, she was placed into
foster care.
Like so many foster youth
with aspirations for success,
Donjaleigh’s interest in going
to college was two-fold. She
expressed the sentiment of
many in her situation, “When
I learned there were dorms for
students, I was relieved that I
wouldn’t have to worry about
where I was going to live.” Also,
she understood the long-term career benefits of getting
a college education. She quickly learned that the cost
of living in the dorms was more expensive than tuition.
Her financial aid package covered tuition and books, but
left nothing for living expenses. Her part-time job was
definitely not enough to keep a roof over her head. As
a former foster youth Donjaleigh was eligible to receive
assistance through the government funded Transitional
Housing Program (THP), so she applied and the prospect
of being homeless was diverted. Finally, she was able
to focus on her studies while working her way through
school.
By September 2015, no one was more eager or
motivated than Donjaleigh to find a full-time job
after she’s graduated several months before her 24th
birthday. Every former foster youth understands 24 as
the milestone of being forever and unceremoniously
cut off from further financial assistance or support.
She swung into action, combed through employment
leads, submitted resumes, prayed for interviews
and kept her fingers crossed that something would
materialize.
Earlier this year in March she used her THP housing
benefits to move into another residential program
operated by a large nonprofit, which fulfilled its legal
requirement to assist with an “exit plan” by providing
her with a brochure filled with a list of homeless shelters.
She could almost hear the clock steadily ticking toward
her final “graduation” from the foster care system. Her
part-time job barely covered expenses for her to have a
reliable car, and with no solid job offers, she was getting
more nervous by the day. “Are you kidding me, I just
graduated with my B.A. and I’m about to be homeless?”
she thought. Her desperation translated into action and
she started surfing the internet to see if there were any
resources for former foster youth in her predicament.
That’s when she found Journey House, and on August
26th she called the Pasadena-based agency. Staff sprang
into action to determine how best to help, and it couldn’t
have been soon enough.
On September 13th, the day Donjaleigh turned 24, a
staff member knocked on her door, asked for her keys
and told her that she had five minutes to gather her
belongings. She was experiencing what it was like to
be evicted. However, she was informed that they would
store her other personal belonging until she could come
back and get them. It didn’t matter that she didn’t have
anywhere to go, nor that the agency hadn’t assisted with
facilitating any viable exit plan. They were aware that she
had recently graduated, was working part-time and that
she had been actively looking for full-time employment.
She was provided with a one-day reprieve since this all
happened on Sunday and they knew that she would not
be able to seek help from any other agencies until that
start of business on Monday.
This is a typical example of how the foster care
system funds programs that perpetuate unintended
consequences like homelessness. Once a former foster
youth reaches the age where there are no further
financial benefits for the agency, the youth is literally
kicked out. The current foster care system bears no
moral or ethical obligations in instances when it seems
that common sense and practicality should prevail.
“I am so grateful that I found Journey House,” says
Donjaleigh. Within a week of enrolling for services
under the agency’s Beyond Foster Care program that
targets former foster youth
in college (or those who have
recently completed college)
things began to fall into place.
She called Journey House to
share the good news. She had
just been offered a full-time
position at a group home in
El Monte for foster youth on
probation and several days
later received a phone call that
her application for a single
apartment in Los Angeles had
been approved. With financial
assistance from Journey House,
she was able to come up with
the balance of funds needed to
sign her rental agreement. She
was confident that she would
be able to crash on a couch or
floor at a friend’s house until
she moved into her new place.
Again, homelessness was
diverted and she was relieved that she was not going to
have to live in her car.
When she find out Journey House would be able to
provide her with a bed, mattress, microwave, dishes, lamps
and other furnishings, she was elated. The agency receives
and maintains an inventory of donated items for two, multi-
day fundraising yard sales that are very popular with local
residents. It got even better when she learned that a Journey
House staff member and volunteer would actually help her to
move into her new place. They would also be able to drop by
her prior THP residence to pick up her remaining personal
belongings. All she needed to do was to go to the agency
to select her furnishings on moving day, September 26th.
When she arrived at Journey House the staff transformed
into a moving crew and helped load the items into the
agency’s panel truck that was purchased with a grant from
the Margie & Robert E. Petersen Foundation.
This response to a request for help from a former foster
youth is indicative of the Journey House commitment to
assisting beyond the limitations of government-funded
programs. Donjaleigh is now a part of the Journey
House family, just one of the agency’s adult “kids” who
needed a helping hand, beyond foster care. She has
plans to apply to graduate school at CSULB to pursue
a Masters in Social Work and states, “I want to be a
social worker so that I can be sure that young people in
the system have someone who really cares about what
happens to them.”
As the only known agency of its kind in California,
Journey House is solely focused on what happens to
former foster youth once they begin to “age out” of
the system at age 18. The agency’s Beyond Foster
Care campaign is focused on assisting former foster
youth to complete their college studies and to make
a successful transition into living independently
as adults. For more information about this special
campaign and other
programs, please visit:
www.journeyhouseyouth.
org or call (626) 798-9478.
CHRISTOPHER Nyerges
HOW TO SURVIVE ANYWHERE
[Nyerges is the author of
“How to Survive Anywhere”
and has led wilderness
trips since 1974. He can be
reached at Box 41834, Eagle
Rock, CA 90041, or www.
SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com.]
A friend and I were talking, and he said, “I’d
really like to see a book that tells you how to survive
with next to nothing, as if you had just survived a
hurricane or a tsunami.”
“Really?” I responded. “Well,
I wrote that book, and it’s called
‘How to Survive Anywhere’.”
“Oh, that’s right,” my friend
responded. “I forgot that it tells
you how to start again if you’ve
lost just about everything.
And I’d also like to see a book
that just tells you how to live
more reliantly, and be more
self-sufficient.”
“Really?” I said. “Well, I
wrote that book too. It’s ‘How
to Survive Anywhere’.” My
friend laughed, and told me
that he had my book on his
shelf for 6 months but hadn’t
actually read it.
“Yeah, George,” I told him,
“the book is worthless if you
don’t read it. You want the
information in your head, not
in the pages.”
So the reason that “How to Survive Anywhere” can
be useful in the city when you’re trying to be more
self-reliant, and in the wilderness where you have
nothing, and in a rural environment, is because I
grouped the book by major categories, not specific
scenarios.
I address the major concerns with water and how
to store it and purify it. I address wild food in nature,
how to grow food and what to grow, and how to store
food. I deal with shelters, clothing, electricity, fire,
weapons, tools, and more, always focusing both on
high-tech as well as primitive.
I began to quiz my friend with some of the material
in my book. Here are some of the questions I asked
him:
Q: What is the Water Purification “Rule of Three”?
Q: What is the universal method of water purification?
Q: What is the most widely ignored “water source”
for urban dwellers?
Q: If your car breaks down in a remote area, what are
four EASY ways to make a fire?
Q: Aside from a butane lighter, what is the best single
device you can carry for making fire?
Q: What are the two simple
ways to make a fire from a
flashlight?
Q: How do you make a fire
from reading glasses?
Q: How can you sterilize water
in the sun?
Q: If you have no water and no
soap, what is the best way to
“stay clean”?
Q: What are the two items
everyone should ALWAYS
carry?
Q: What is the single worst
item of “men’s clothing”?
Q: What is the single worst
item of “women’s clothing?”
Q: What is a simple ways to
make a pack for carrying
things?
Q: What are the 3 common
kitchen foods that are fantastic
first aid medicines?
We had a great discussion with these and several
more questions, and it’s really the same material that
I teach in my college course.
Yes, I hope you get the book and read the answers,
but here they are in a nutshell:
Filter, settle, and boil. Boil. Rain. Use the battery
with jumper cables, the cigarette lighter, the flare, and
the reflector around the headlamp. A magnesium fire
starter. Use them like a magnifying glass. Put a quart of
water in a glass jar for four hours in the sun. Do a dry
wash with a soft brush. Knife and fire-starter. The tie.
High heels. Tie up a pair of long pants so that the legs
become the straps. Lemon, garlic, and vinegar. OK?
If you have questions or comments, please write.
Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com
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