Investigator Linda Moulton Howe (earthfiles.com(1)), the guest for the first half of Friday's show, offered reports on some of the strange findings of the Mars rovers. She interviewed Geology Prof. Ronald Greeley about puzzling filaments (2) found laying in the soil grains on Meridiani Planum. Greeley suggested they could be related to the "fibrous things that can form in minerals like asbestos."
Linda also played portions of her interview with Steve Squyers, thePrincipal Investigator on the Mars Rover Missions, who informed her that neither rover had any instruments aboard that were capable of detecting whether there were organic substances in the soil. The missions, were strictly to determine whether there was past water on the planet, said Squyers, who became irate when pressed with further questions about the possibility of organic elements. Read her full interview here(3).
One of Linda's next speaking engagements will be at the first annual X-Conference, an "exopolitics expo," being held in Washington DC this April.

1. http://www.earthfiles.com/
2. http://www.earthfiles.com/news/news.cfm?ID=662&category=Science
3. http://www.earthfiles.com/news/news.cfm?ID=667&category=Science

Martian Curiosities

Pictured (click on for larger) in this photo taken by Opportunity's camera are odd BB-sized spherical objects found on the Martian soil.

Bumper Music

Bumper music from Friday February 20, 2004