Scientists from around the world have been bombarded with samples of Comet dust gathered from the Wild-2 comet as it recently flew by Earth.

A probe swept up particles from the comet back in January of 2004 and scientists are marveling at the tiny grains, about a millimeter in size, that were returned in a capsule.

The compounds found are very high in nitrogen and oxygen and definitely not inconsistent with theories that propose that the planet Earth may have been bombarded with comets, resulting in the deposit of an organic population of molecules made back when our solar system was formed at which time dense ice clouds were believed to be irradiated stimulating these molecules to create cell like membranes.  This irradiation of molecules has reproduced this action in laboratories and finding the ingredients in the trails of a comet helps to substantiate the possibility.

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This story is one of those great if your there but will make you forlorn if you are not.  This weekend actually in the wee hours of the morning Sunday morning approximately 8 hours from now, residents of Northeaster Wisconsin (can pin it down much better than that) will get a chance to see the planets Jupiter, mercury and Mars clustered together in the sky.

It will happen about 45 minutes before sun up and the planets will be very close together from the perspective of a person on the ground.

Jupiter and Mars connect a little more often, but Mercury rarely makes it into this planetary line up.  So if you are a astronomy lover and happen to be in Northeastern Wisconsin or you are in road tripping distance, You are definitely in luck!

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The fine folks at NASA are working on a new and improved Positron powered space ship for the future mission to Mars.

Typically, a Positron drive would create power through Gama ray emissions.

Gama rays are extremely dangerous, can pass through most any type of matter on Earth, and tend to break cells down, which is obviously not a healthy side effect.

Today NASA is working on a new and improved drive that would create less powerful Gama Rays with a less dangerous side effect.

NASA - New and Improved Antimatter Spaceship for Mars Missions

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