Bog butter
Scientists have finally revealed the source of a mysterious substance known as “bog butter,” a paraffin-like waxy deposit found in the ground in Ireland and Scotland. Farmers have been uncovering the stuff for centuries as they go around collecting peat for fuel. The fatty deposits are in fact the remains of meat and dairy treats that the Celts buried in the mossy earth, which they used as a kind of primitive fridge keeping the food cold and sterile. Some “bog butter” samples at Scottish museums are over 2,000 years old. Researchers are now trying to figure out if the Celts buried their food to preserve it or to induce some sort of chemical change in the meat, an ancient sort of “food processing.”
-Zoe Cormier
Source: Nature
“Life chip” to go to Mars
A mission to Mars in 2009 will hopefully carry a tiny chip that will be able to identify any chemical signs of life. The circular chip, four millimeters thick and ten centimeters across, will recognize any traces of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins that are common to all forms of life we know of. Amino acids can survive the harsh conditions of space for many thousands of years, unlike DNA which more easily degrades. The Viking mission to Mars in the 1970s also looked for amino acids using a different method, but found nothing, perhaps because the equipment was not sensitive enough. The new chip will be able to detect only a few parts per trillion in the soil. Moreover, the chip will be able to tell if the amino acids are “right-handed” or “left-handed.” Amino acids come in both forms, but on Earth life only uses the left-handed versions. If the chip finds right-handed versions on Mars, this would have very interesting implications for the evolution of life on that planet.
-ZC
Source: Nature
Robolympics held this weekend
The first international Robolympics took place in San Francisco this weekend. The event attracted 414 robot contestants and over 600 human guardians to compete in a variety of events, including robot soccer, robot sumo, and the robot triathlon for cash prizes, flashing circuit board medals, and gloating rights. Robot soccer is widely considered the toughest event, as contestants must be fully autonomous and not rely on remote control signals. The games give robotics engineers a chance to meet and share ideas, and will no doubt spurn practical robotics innovations, like the machines that sift through earthquake rubble for survivors. One event challenges robots to race up a carbon fibre ribbon, much like the one engineers dream of one day using as a space elevator.
-ZC
Source: Nature
