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Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is named after the Roman God of war. The planet is a distinctive shade of red and is the last of the rocky terrestrial planets. Mars is substantially smaller than Earth and Venus but larger than Mercury. The planet has been the subject of intense speculation about the existence of extra terrestrial life with evidence of water on the surface at the polar ice caps. While recent robotic explorations have shown that the presence of life is unlikely it has still not been conclusively ruled out.

Mars has a thin atmosphere, much thinner than Earth’s. It is kept this way by the solar winds stripping atoms from the top layer, Mars’s atmosphere lacks a magnetosphere to protect it. The surface pressure of the Martian atmosphere is less than one percent of that found on Earth. Despite the sparseness of the atmosphere however, it extends 5km higher than Earth’s due to lower gravity. Mars has a relatively low mass and the surface gravity is just 38 percent of Earth’s.

Mars is home to the largest mountain in the Solar System, Olympus Mons. It is three times higher than Mount Everest and the result of substantial volcanic activity with shallow slopes covering a massive area. Mars is also home to many other interesting geographical features such as canyons and valleys. Many of these features are attributed to running water, although it has been proved to no longer exist it is thought that at one time Mars may have had rivers on its surface. The Phoenix lander has found ice under the surface of the planet and Mars is the most water-rich location outside Earth that we have found so far.

Mars has two small moons, Phobos and Demios, both with irregular shapes. They are thought to be captured asteroids and the orbit extremely close to the planet. It is not fully understood how the moons have come to orbit Mars, however it is believed that Phobos is a relatively recent capture as it follows an unstable orbit and will collide with the Red Planet in around 50 million years.

Mars has been extensively explored by robotic spacecraft and probes by the USA, Russia, Europe and Japan. Probes began exploring Mars even before Man had landed on the Moon with the first flyby occurring in 1964. The Soviet were the first to successfully land objects on the planet, but they lost contact soon after arrival. In 1976 the NASA probes Viking 1 and 2 made it to the surface of Mars, spending several years there. They provided many images and helped to map the surface. The most recent probe to land on Mars is the Phoenix Lander. It arrived in May 2008 and began investigating the Martian soil, finding conclusive evidence of water ice. Phoenix landed much closer to the pole than any other spacecraft.

There are many future missions planned to Mars and in 2004 President George W. Bush announced that NASA’s vision for space exploration would be to launch a manned mission to the planet. NASA administrators believe that they will have successfully landed a man on Mars by 2037. Mars has been the subject of serious talk of eventual colonisation, as it is seen as the most suitable for life and the most habitable environment in the Solar System outside Earth. Mars has many of the elements needed for life present in its soil and with a carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere it is thought that with some terraforming that algae may be able to survive at the poles. Terraforming Mars is an area that is being looked into as a future destination for civilisation once the increasing heat of the Sun makes Earth uninhabitable.

Mars is a charismatic planet, inspiring countless works of fiction and a massive amount of speculation about the secrets it may hold. It has been a characteristic of our space exploration that many of the early romantic ideas of conditions on the surface have been dispelled and the planet has been found to be lifeless and largely barren. Martian thinking is now turning towards finding out its past and planning for its future.

Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in Luton airport parking, Birmingham airport parking and Gatwick hotels.

When a person mentions the word titration, a lot of blank faces will stare back at them, because many (unless you are scientist) do not know what this means! However, even scientists may struggle in explaining what titration maybe, because this is a term that is more commonly used in chemistry laboratories and medical centres. These have their important purposes for measuring dosages for medication and for essential chemical analysis.

The process of titration consists of using the reagent titrant to react with a solution of the analyte (substance used for titration in which the concentration is unknown). The idea is to determine the exact concentration of the analyte, which cannot be determined until the endpoint of the process, whereby the solution will return to its neutral pH level. Using a chemical indicator, the solution will change colour permanently at the endpoint giving the analyser more information about the solution.

Some acid based titration experiments use pH levels to determine the acidity levels in the solution, helping them to indicate closely the concentration levels of the analyte. Some processes do not need an indicator to determine the endpoint of the experiment, because the solution will change colour or turn colourless, based on how much the titrant has been reduced.

Concentration levels of the titrant and analyte must not be too high, therefore, like many chemical analysis processes, they are normally diluted. As the analyst will not know what the concentration of the analyte will be, the only other way of getting the process accurate is to make sure that the right concentration of the titrant is added. This requires a strong mathematical calculation from the analyst, ensuring that the precise amount is used in order to obtain the results needed. Furthermore, the end result will be multiplied by the dilution factor.

Titration is used in medical analysis for determining the dosage given to patients. This is usually conducted by skilled and experienced analysts, under strict conditions and with failsafe accuracy. The lab worker will begin the process by using a measured beaker that will contain an exact measurement of the titrant and sometimes a small amount of the indicator. Normally a burette is used to provide a precise measurement for the transference of the titrant. How one determines that the right indicator has been applied is at the point in when the solutions change colour, making it possible to calculate the precise measurement of the reagent and reactant before they neutralise each other.

This process is especially important for the development of medical drugs, development of safe chemical house cleaning products and determining the right dosage of medication to each patient.

Anna Stenning is an expert on titration having studied this in the past.

The standard basic tools in a laboratory are usually test tubes, beakers, pipettes, Bunsen burners, Petri-dishes, clamps, callipers, thermometers and microscopes. These are a laboratory must-have, regardless of how big the lab maybe. In schools science teachers teach the students to use each instrument effectively for clear-cut and precise experimentation. Without these instruments it is near impossible to find accurate readings for any tests that are being conducted.

One of the smallest of the lab equipment is the pipette, it is a seemingly fiddly and flimsy tool but it plays a very important role when conducting any test. These are commonly used for chemistry and molecular biology, and in medical testing labs. They can be made from glass or a complex flexible fibre, which is good for holding large volumes of solution. The first most important function for all pipettes is its accurate ability to measure units or drops of fluid solutions. These are good for transferring a certain amount of liquid across from one area to the other without spillage or leaking.

These are shaped with a narrow tip and an enlarged belly which holds most of the liquid. At one end of the pipette is a plunger which provides the suction for drawing up and releasing the liquid through the neck and tip. The standard amount for transferring a volumetric measure of liquid ranges between 1 - 100 ml. Large quantities require a different style of pipettes that are measured in a volumetric way.

When using these for experimentation one should take care of handling the solution, by making sure they have gloves and eye goggles on for protection. Simply using a pipette with your bare hands will put you in danger in case of any spillage or accidents. Ensuring that the pipette is in good condition is also a good habit to get into before conducting any tests. As these are delicate and brittle, very often one will find that they are difficult to clean and are not strong enough to take any knocks or tiny scratches. Therefore, it is good to have a rack that will keep these standing upright and separated from each so they do not have contact with each other.

Any tips that have a small crack or damage to it means that the neck path has been compromised, which means you should discard it immediately. When attaching or using the bulb of the pipette, it is important to know how to attach it and detach it. Squeezing the bulb before attaching it onto the tip will help to draw the liquid more easily, will minimal to no air bubbles. When detaching the bulb, one should make sure that there are no liquids present in case of any leakages.

This may seem mundane and somewhat tedious to be putting in a lot of effort in keeping the pipettes in condition, however, as mentioned before these are extremely important for volumetric measuring. This allows for a more precise and accurate form of testing, provided they are calibrated at interval times, to ensure that they stay accurate.

Anna Stenning knows a lot about how to use pipettes in labs, having had plenty of experience working with these.

Earth is unique among all known planets, ones native to our Solar System or otherwise. It is the only planet that has liquid water on the surface and is also the only world containing life. Earth is the third planet out from the Sun and is the densest and largest of the four rocky terrestrial planets.

Formed at the same time as the rest of the Solar System the Earth would accrue enough mass to maintain an atmosphere, composed chiefly of nitrogen and carbon dioxide. It is believed that the Earth collided with another planetesimal early in its history, the remains of this collision would form the Moon. Earth’s moon is its only natural satellite with its gravitational effects having great effects on the planet. The Earth was also just the right distance from the Sun for liquid water to form on the surface, filling the oceans and eventually covering 71% of the planet’s surface.

Half a billion years after the formation of the planet the first self-replicating molecules were formed, and by a process of natural selection would go on to evolve into all life as we know it. The impact of life has been significant on the Earth, the oxygen in the atmosphere and the ozone layer are attributed to early plant life. The ozone layer protects the surface from many harmful rays from the Sun and has allowed colonisation of the land by multicellular organisms. Life would go on to evolve intelligence and humans. We are still the only known life in the universe, and most likely the only intelligent forms of life within millions of light years.

The Earth is almost a perfect sphere, with a slight bulge at the equator due to its rotation. The planet is mostly composed of iron, oxygen, silicon, magnesium, sulfur, nickel, calcium and aluminum. The planet is formed from a mostly iron core, a molten mantle and a thin rocky crust, much like the other rocky planets. The surface of Earth is split into several continental plates which all move around on the surface. This geological activity gives rise to earthquakes, mountains, tsunamis and volcanoes.

Similar to Mars, the Earth has polar caps with ice at the Northern and Southern tips. The Earth has a strong magnetic field, which deflects much of the solar wind and protects the Earth from the harmful radiation. The Earth is tilted on its axis, meaning that some areas are closer to the Sun that others during orbit. This tilt gives rise the seasons.

The human population of Earth is expanding at an ever increasing rate and many concerns are being raised about the treatment of the planet and how long it will be until the finite resources are consumed. A lot of human activity is now going into finding alternative power sources and environmentally friendly methods of industry. The evolution of humans has been the first time in over four billion years that one species has had such a negative impact on the well-being of the rest of the planet.

Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in Luton airport parking, Birmingham airport parking and Gatwick hotels.

On the sea floor, over 10,000 feet below us, lies a world very different from ours. The sheer depth of the sea floor ensures that few can unravel the mysteries it contains, as even catching a glimpse is no simple task! Nevertheless, man’s desire to discover and explore our world is insatiable, and we have developed various ways to study and understand the world beneath us.

A quick peek into the depths of the sea reveals various tidbits of history here and there, as shown by the recent photographs released by the Irish National Seabed Survey, where scientists have been scanning under the waves since 1996. Most of the photographs are from deep water areas where the sonar-equipped ships can easily sail. The pictures show a 20 kilometer trench which is up to 30 meters deep, a possible indication of a geological fault.

There were also broad troughs carved into the sea floor during or soon after the last ice age, over 10,000 years ago. The sea floor sonar images also showed the large number of sunken German U-boats.

Even farther down, in the depths of the Pacific’s Marianna Trench, over 36,000 feet below sea level, lives a thriving ecosystem never seen before by the likes of man. Scientists have long thought that in the depths of the ocean, there can be no life due to the extreme conditions. The immense pressure, the lack of oxygen, the complete darkness and low temperatures of the sea bed have always been thought to lead invariably to a sea floor ecosystem dominated by bacteria.

However, recent studies have demonstrated that even as bacteria dominate the upper ten centimeters of the sea floor, simple organisms known as Archaea take over below this level, comprising of up to 87 percent of the deep sea biosphere. Contrary to popular belief, despite the extreme conditions, there exists a thriving ecosystem in the deep sea floor, with an estimated 90 million tons of biomass. The researchers believe that roughly 200 million cubic kilometers of mud just below the sea floor is inhabited by microorganisms.

In order to reach this conclusion, the scientists researched various samples of silt collected from hundreds of meters below the Atlantic and Pacific sea floor. The samples came from the research expeditions by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program. Following this groundbreaking discovery, the researchers, Drs. Inagaki and Morono, have clearly outlined their vision for the future. With the strong presence of Archaea in the deep ecosystem, they have stated that they “intend to study their lifestyle and metabolism, strategy for long-term survival, and ecological roles.”

They will use CHIKYU, the world’s only riser-equipped research vessel and drilling platform. By presenting and discussing their findings, it is hoped that scientists will be able to gain a more complete, reliable and accurate picture of the deep sea floor.
These microbes are literally dead by our normal standards, barely using any energy at all. Unlike bacteria, which reproduce rapidly, Archaea double themselves less than once a century.

Scientists believe that if there are any life on the other planets in our solar system, it will be like these Archaea, living at an extremely slow pace of life due to the similar conditions. Hypothetically, similar organisms may be living in the vents beneath the ice of Europa, or in the frozen water of Mars, so developing an understanding the Archaea is vital. Additionally, these microbes are likely to survive major Earth impacts by asteroids or a nuclear fallout, meaning that the this deep sea region is a likely refuge during extinction events.

Sara Jones was a fine student but science was a source of frustration she didn’t want her kids to suffer. She met Rick and Amanda Birmingham and realized their grasp of everyday science was the secret to making science fun. To learn more about the solution to science stress visit www.SuperFunScience.com