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Indian scientists find unique movements on the Mars surface
The images of tracks left behind by Curiosity and the Perseverance rover on Mars are reminders of human ingenuity on another planet that has remained untouched for millenniums. However, the two rovers are not the only things leaving their marks on this uninhabitable world, there are natural forces at work as well.
Scientists at the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad have spotted thousands of tracks on the surface created by tumbling boulders. These boulder tracks can be used to pinpoint recent seismic activity on the planet as humans become more and more interested in the Red Planet with plans to develop colonies in the near future.
“Mars is currently active,” says Dr S Vijayan, Assistant Professor with the Planetary Science Division at the Physical Research Laboratory, who led the research.
MOVEMENT ON MARS
The study published last month in Geophysical Research Letters states that it takes about two to four Martian years (four to eight Earth years) for these boulder tracks to disappear, whereas on Earth they are rarely preserved. These ejections and tracks can be used to recognise very recent surface processes on planetary surfaces.
When a boulder falls, at each bounce the regolith (Martian surface material) on the surface is thrown out in a unique pattern. On Mars, these patterns appear V-shaped, with the spread pointing downslope and the spacing between each bounce is non-uniform. The spatial spread of BFE varies from bounce-to-bounce and boulder-to-boulder.
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What monkey fled with a bag containing evidence in it: Read full story
The court, generally, considers a person who commit a crime and the one who destroys the evidence, as criminals in the eyes of law. But what if an animal destroys the evidence of a crime committed by a human.
In a peculiar incident in Rajasthan, a monkey fled away with the evidence collected by the police in a murder case. The stolen evidence included the murder weapon (a blood-stained knife).
The incident came to light when the police appeared before the court and they had to provide the evidence in the hearing.
The hearing was about the crime which took place in September 2016, in which a person named Shashikant Sharma died at a primary health center under Chandwaji police station. After the body was found, the deceased’s relatives blocked the Jaipur-Delhi highway, demanding an inquiry into the matter.
Following the investigation, the police had arrested Rahul Kandera and Mohanlal Kandera, residents of Chandwaji in relation to the murder. But, when the time came to produce the evidence related to the case, it was found that the police had no evidence with them because a monkey had stolen it from them.
In the court, the police said that the knife, which was the primary evidence, was also taken by the monkey. The cops informed that the evidence of the case was kept in a bag, which was being taken to the court.
The evidence bag contained the knife and 15 other important evidences. However, due to the lack of space in the malkhana, a bag full of evidence was kept under a tree, which led to the incident.