Are You Human ?

What makes you human ?
Online we can use captcha and some such technical marvels to prove that we are individuals as opposed to automated bots.
But we could, individually, still be masquerading as sock puppets.
Many people do, particularly on social media.
After all, it's far more impressive to score points during a debate with rapier-like wit against an unwitting Joe Bloggs type, when they are actually an extension of yourself .
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against it.
It would save all those sleepless nights due to suddenly remembering the perfect comeback!
Ah, the realms of the thwarted...

Not the image I was looking for, but - serendipidity, so...

At least, we could until now.
Recent developments (take a bow Behaviosec) in keylogging mean that your speed pressure and angles periodicity can all be read, thus profiling everyone with allegedly forensic accuracy.
As accurately as fingerprints.

Meanwhile, in the U.S.A, Jeb Bush asks if people can please stop encrypting and making life difficult for the NSA.
(cue canned laughter and occasional slow handclaps)

We seem to be moving into a time when encryption is second nature.
The whistle blowing of Edward Snowden and others has shown that we are being watched enmasse.
I am still ambivalent on this one, as I naively believe that it's just a combination of natural human voyeurism , the desire to know everything, and greedy commercial concerns who want our demographics, so that they can better target us with naff adverts for garbage we don't want.
On the other hand, what if the Apocalyptic believers are right, and none can buy or sell, unless he has the number of the beast?

Initially begun in the USA, the barcode has spread far and wide, and is now universal.
It is said that the numbers 6 appears three times as a 'divider' on every barcode , hence 666 ...
Luckily there was no internet to propogate the meme at the time, or there may have been a sudden downturn in supermarket purchasing and an increase in violent scenes at the meat counter.
The jury is out on whether there is some truth in the apocalyptic revelation of the barcode, but millenial madness is amplified by the interweb and its fondness for widespread panics and mass confusion.

A pleasant form of which, was the 'Flashmob' craze which seemed all the rage a few years ago.
I remember watching entranced as crowds of dancers, some in formal attire, but others looking for all the world like travellers who were caught up in the moment, waltzed silently on the concourse of a railway station I was passing through.
It was a surreal moment
Then they were gone, and normality slowly seeped back .
But I digress.

Facebook have filed a patent that allows them to log details of specific cameras, thereby identifying users of said cameras. At least, I think they have. Could be up there with the other, endless FB scams - did you know, Mark Zuckerberg went online to tell people to 'stop being so f**king gullible' ?
No ? Me neither, because he didn't .


Apparently the motion sensor on a smartphone can likewise be used to monitor keypad presses.
Recent developments even allow Smartphones to tell whether they have been picked up ! The mind boggles!
What a time to be alive!
Your next gen phone will probably be able to tell whether you're alive, anyway - and even alert medical help if there's a problem...so there is an upside to the micro-managing, surveillance culture we're in.
Honestly.

In the Wake of Water

So NASA 'found' water on Mars.
It means different things to different people, but for many of the scientists involved, it's not really 'news', I imagine - more a confirmation of generally accepted reality.
The only real  change in more populist perception is the move from bounteous surface water then (approx. 500,000 years ago) to seasonal trickles of water now.
Still, it raises the collective profile, and creates a buzz in the wake of the Pluto flyby, keeping the realm of space in the public eye, and hopefully generating further funding for exploration.

I learned a new technical term , as well - Recurring Slope Linae - RSL - lines which indicate (in this case) water flow on Martian slopes.

How will this news affect future Mars exploration ?

 It means that NASA will be honouring the 'Outer Space Treaty' of 1967, by choosing exploration sites well away from all evidence of water, and landers being free of contaminants as far as possible - after all, we don't want to follow the historic example of human colonists who wiped out native species by inadvertently introducing disease .


For some, the announcement merely means that yes, we should colonise Mars .
However, this conjures images of a wild frontier, with pioneering types staking claims to land in the ' Gold Rush of 2020 '.
Except there may not be gold as such.
There is certainly a wealth of citrine, olivine and feldspar.
It may be the case that claims have already been lodged with some Intergalactic Mining Body.
Which may lead to unpleasant scenes on Mars.
With angry locals staging sitdown protests, and suchlike.

This is also an extrapolation too far - that there are 'locals'.
Since H.G.Wells wrote 'The War Of The Worlds' in 1897, we've seen them (Martians) as undesirable interlopers, invaders intent on usurping our world, little green men with a penchant for invasion and genocide.
The initial invasion was almost parochial, with the Martians invading Woking, Surrey, in England.
Personally, I think it was evocative of the fears inherent as a new century approached - perhaps even a psychic window into the looming dark clouds of war - World War One was only a few years away.
Of course, the Hollywood interpretation is more global.
The latest remake of the 'War Of The Worlds' movie involves Mr Tom Cruise (who knows a few things about invading aliens).
The amount of sci-fi centred on encounters with Mars is vast, the most recent entry being 'The Martian', in which Matt Damon grows potatoes on the red planet.
It has fared well, considering the monumental thumbs down which greeted the recent John Carter movie. Eleven books of source material and three screenplay writers - yes, it's a mess.
Even the mythical Santa Claus had a battle with joyless martians, a film that lives forever in the minds of those unfortunate enough to see it...
Anyway, enough of the glib, potted reviews -

In terms of invading aliens , to coin a phrase - the shoe is on the other foot , and we are now the invaders.
We must tread carefully (literally).

In conclusion, we have 'Recurring Slope Lineae' in abundance on Mars - but we also see RSL on Ceres.
Many of its craters exhibit RSL , particularly on sunlight facing slopes
My question is this;
if the dark RSL on Mars are flowing water, what then, are the light - coloured streaks on Ceres' crater walls ?

The recent image below shows an odd hexagon-shaped crater, and mystery light - coloured streaks on the upper-left walls...click for larger view.

Hexagonal (!) crater on Ceres

I'm not even going to wonder how we have a hexagonal crater - instead, I offer a link to brand new and wonderful images of Ceres , and I say thanks to the tireless efforts of E Lakdawalla, and all at The Planetary Society.