The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 9

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD THURSDAY, JULY 10, 1997 9 Dusty rock reveals more signs Mars may have been waterlogged Wfeather fine, but no pyramid so far r. 1 Ifefr mmiii (i 'ifii. By JANE ALLEN in Pasadena, California There may have been abundant water on Mars at the time the now dusty planet was formed a requirement if the red planet was to develop life as Earth did. This intriguing possibility has emerged from the first chemical analysis of a rock on Mars sent back by the Mars Pathfinder mission. Geologists already know that water once existed on Mars.

On Monday, Pathfinder scientists presented evidence of massive floods 1 billion to 3 billion years ago. But the latest evidence hints that water may have existed there more than 4 billion years ago, the era when life began on Earth. The findings suggest that a football-sized specimen of rock nicknamed Barnacle Bill may be andesite, a type of volcanic rock common in the Andes Mountains. Such a rock could have been brought to the surface by volcanic activity or a meteorite impact. It is too early to tell for certain that Barnacle Bill is andesite.

But because some types of the rock form only in the presence of water, the new results may eventually demonstrate that early Mars had water, said Allan Treiman, a planetary scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston. makes mountains such as the Andes. But Mars is thought to be a "one-plate" planet that has never had plate tectonics. So this first analysis from Sojourner may lead to some rethinking of current interpretations. The rover will take more pictures of Barnacle Bill and then move two metres to a large rock that has been called Yogi.

While this edition of the Herald is being printed Yogi will be analysed. By the end of its fourth working day, Pathfinder had transmitted 1,575 pictures back to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. They show some light-coloured patches on the rocks and soiL These look like the salt crusts that form in deserts when puddles of water evaporate, or on agricultural land where salinisation is a problem. Analysis of these could reveal a great deal about the surface chemistry of the planet It is beginning to look like wishful thinking surely there must be life there. But conspiracy theorists and wild dreamers please not a single face or pyramid has been spotted not that you will believe me.

the busy robot, leaves its mark on Mars, and there is little as the limp windsocks show. Photographs by apreuters i. showed that it was minus 15 degrees outside, with weak winds out of the north-west. The lack of wind was confirmed by shots showing the wind socks on the atmospheric mast hanging limply. An Oregon State University scientist, Mr Jeffrey Barnes, said Pathfinder also found that dust in the atmosphere is deeply B320, L600 By DR MALCOLM WALTER, adjunct professor at Macquarie University and a consultant to NASA The weather at the Pathfinder landing site is fine and clear.

This is perfect for photography. So far the winds have not exceeded 1 5 kmh, and the dust storms that blanket Mars in autumn are still two months away. But it is freezing. From minus 14 during daylight hours right down to minus 76 at night Sojourner successfully manoeuvred the alpha proton x-ray spectrometer up against the rock Barnacle Bill and worked out its composition. Scientists have inferred from this, and the pictures, that it is a type of volcanic rock like that on Earth called andesite.

Much of Mars is probably covered by lava flows, to judge from the observations made on earlier missions. But they are thought to be basalt. The 12 meteorites from Mars that we know of on Earth are all basalt and related rock types. The possible presence of andesite is interesting because on Earth this type of lava forms where plate tectonics, "continental i i distributed, extending 29-40 kilometres from the surface. "The dust is deep and the dust is in a lot of places around the planet, not just Ares Vallis where the craft landed)," he said, but no thicker in the atmosphere than a smoggy day in Los Angeles.

Associated Press I IV The chemical analysis of Barnacle Bill also strengthens scientists' belief that 12 meteorites found on Earth and thought to come from Mars, including the famous Antarctic meteorite where some scientists think they see signs of life, are indeed Martian. Scientists said the latest weather report from Mars Now including fax models, L300 Child killer in on nan MMDiiL J-err 4 "It completely changes most people's views of Mars. Mars becomes a place that had water from the beginning and the water was very active in the planet," Treiman said. After the Sojourner rover robot spent 10 hours pressed against Barnacle Bill, scientists said the rock appears to contain the quartz. i on John Lewthwaite at the time of his arrest in 1985.

She would be pleased if Lewthwaite was denied a parole hearing until 2000 because she believed no Government would be willing to release a notorious murderer while the State was preparing to host thousands of" international visitors at the Olympics. The Opposition spokeswoman on corrective services, Mrs Kerry Chikarovski, said she supported the Government's decision to push for the deferral of Lewthwaite's parole rights. "Despite all the criticism levelled at me over this case, my objective has always been to keep Lewthwaite in jail because he is still a risk to the community," she said. Lewthwaite became eligible for parole in 1994 after his life Making tracks Sojourner, wind to disturb the soft soil, v- US Hinder new o) mm JJ Rebate Offer 4 I aoooii (S Do "This is a real surprise. We were not expecting a rock of this composition," said Mr Hap McSween, a University of Tennessee specialist in meteorites.

Barnacle Bill is more Earthlike than scientists had expected, which suggests Mars's rocks were heated and reheated many times in the planet's early history. laws sentence for the murder was redetermined under truth in sentencing legislation to 20 years, with life on parole. Lewthwaite wrote to the Herald recently, claiming he was being held in jail because of political pressure on the Parole Board and the Serious Offenders Review Council. "I am not an evil, coldblooded killer," he said. "If I knew 23 years ago the torture of uncertainty I would be put through when I finally was eligible for parole, the light at the end of what seems to be a tunnel that goes on forever and is all but extinguished whenever a politician who knows nothing about me except a 23-year-old crime decides to jump up and down for his votes, if I knew about the volume of hatred generated by talkback radio show hosts and the like, if I knew that I would be made to feel like the most despicable person alive by people who generate nothing but hatred, then I would never have applied to be released." Lewthwaite broke into the Hanns's home in Greystanes to abduct and sexually abuse Nicole's then nine-year-old brother, Tony.

His footsteps woke Nicole, whom he stabbed 17 times. He was on parole at the time after a short sentence for arson. diversity at the UNSW, Ms Nina Shatifan, said progress on increasing the number of women in senior positions had been "very Universities still had to come to grips with the whole issue of women's participation and participation of a broader range of groups, she. said. "We need to be more self -critical in terms of our performance in equity and diversity," she said.

"I think compared to other sectors, particularly some of the private sectors, universities have been diligent in consistently improving their procedures." Ms Shatifan said that in the past 10 years, fewer than 10 cases of harassment or discrimination had gone outside the institution, with the majority resolved internally. The equal employment opportunity officer at Macquarie University, Ms Sarah Levin, said a lot had been done to boost the number of women in senior positions but entrenched cultures did not change overnight She said that in the past 12 months she had dealt with only one serious incident of sexual harassment This had been resolved internally. According to figures published by the Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs, women hold about 1 1 per cent of senior academic positions, such as professor and associate professor. In some universities, the proportion of women above the rank of senior lecturer is only 3.6 per cent 2000 3 We are doing our best to fight sexism unis By MARK RILEY The Carr Government is set to ensure that the child killer John Lewthwaite remains in jail until at least 2000 by using new laws that will deny him access to parole. Lewthwaite, who has served 23 years for the murder of five-year-old Nicole Hanns in 1974, is now certain to be denied parole at a hearing on August 1.

The Parole Board has told the Premier's Office that it intends to reject Lewthwaite's application for release. Mr Carr has told the Solicitor-General to make a representation to next month's Parole Board hearing on behalf of Nicole's mother, Mrs Gwen Hanns, who has waged a long battle to keep Lewthwaite in jail. The Premier has also asked that the submission request the board to exercise its new powers to deny Lewthwaite a further parole application for three years if he is unsuccessful next month. Until the new laws were passed in May, most offenders had been able to apply for parole each year. The new laws were included in a number of legislative amendments aimed at keeping the worst category of murderer in jail for life.

Mrs Hanns said yesterday she was delighted that the Government had decided to support her case against Lewthwaite's parole. Top Uniting minister outs herself From Page 1 mocking God" if he did not long for people to be brought into relationship with others. While Ms McRae-McMahon said she would be saddened if the Church chose to turn its back on her, she indicated that she may retire after this assembly. "I love the Church, I have had a 63-year-long passionate love affair with the Church. My sexuality is a very small part of me mere is much more to me than my sexuality." During her 10 years as minister at Sydney's Pitt Street Uniting Church, Ms McRae-McMahon became known for her firm stand against 18 months of racist, homophobic attacks.

A uniformed neo-nazi National Action squad invaded the church during a service. It also covered it with graffiti, dumped rubbish on the doorstep, made death threats and set alight a "necklaced" dummy outside her home. The sexuality report has been described by a former Church leader as "the most divisive document in the Church's 20-year Today's vote is expected to be long and emotional and if consensus is not reached, the assembly will take a majority vote on the issue before the meeting ends on Saturday. The report also looks at how the Church should deal with sexually active adults, divorce and de facto couples, and what it should teach on matters such as masturbation and bisexuality. Conservative elements of the Church have threatened to leave if the report is passed.

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The University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales are already reviewing their sexual harassment guidelines for staff and students. The director of equity and Purchase any of these Canon products before July 31 and receive a rebate in the form of Canon Cash. This offer is strictly limited to the above models and only available while stocks last. Terms and conditions: 1. Applies to all purchases made before July 31, 1997.

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