Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 15

APP.COM Asbury Park Press Tuesday, Nov. 29. 2011 Pag B3 Duo: Life existed on Mars Town Briefs if SmI a the final facility built through donations from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation. Attendees also will have the opportunity to view newly donated artifacts associated with President Ulysses S. Grant, who summered for many years at an Ocean Avenue cottage.

The newly acquired artifacts are currently on display in glass cases in the Long Branch local History Room at the library. The program is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Carol Gorga Williams School board seats available BERKELEY: The nine-member Board of Education is accepting resumes from candidates to fill seats of members Thomas Grosse and John A. Bacchione, the latter the board vice president, who will assume Township Council seats in January.

Grosse, Bacchione and Robert G. Ray earlier this month won election to the council, along with Carmen F. Amato who was elected mayor. Ray is on the Central Regional Board of Education, also based in Berkeley. Resumes should be sent to Laura Venter, the business administrator and board secretary, at the Board of Education office on Central Parkway, Bay-ville.

Deadline for receipt of resumes is 3 p.m. Friday Hartriono B. Sastrowardoyo Documentary to be aired ABERDEEN: Temple Shalom and New Brunswick-based Food and Water Watch will host a screening of the Emmy-winning documentary "Gasland" and a ques-tion-and-answer session on the process of hydraulic fracturing, or p.m. Tuesday at the temple, 5 Ayremont Lane, according to a prepared statement. "We hope people will come and learn about hydraulic fracturing and the risks it poses for our water, the environment and public health," Karina Wilkinson, regional organizer for Food and Water Watch, said in the release.

Alex Biese Board to hear townhouse plan NEPTUNE: The Planning Board will continue hearings at 7 p.m. Wednesday on an application by Wilkath LLC to convert the former commercial Bahrs nursery site off Wayside Road into townhouses. Members of a nearby homeowners association plan to oppose the development. Nancy Shields Library history subject of talk LONG BRANCH: The city Historical Association has scheduled a review of the history of the Long Branch Free Public Library for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the main library, 328 Broadway.

Librarian Janet Birckhead's talk will focus on the history of the library, which was if 1 George S. Haas, a former Jackson resident, points out a feature resembling a parrot on the surface of Mars, hartriono b. sastrowardoyostaff photo Two Shore researchers think they see remains of structures on Red Planet By Hartriono B. Sastrowardoyo Staff Writer HOWELL A group of researchers, including a planetary researcher from Howell and an image analyst formerly from Jackson, claim that there are constructs on Mars that cannot be explained as the result of natural forces. Referring in particular to one parrot-shaped geoglyph that is the focus of their studies, James Miller of Howell said, "Yes, it could be partially natural, but it had to be worked.

There would have to be six different geological events happening within a mile by a half-mile area for this thing to have happened naturally." Not so fast, said a professor with a specialty in planetary science. "Everything I see in those images can be explained by natural processes, primarily wind erosion of layered materials. Indeed, it is very easy for the eye to see what look like familiar forms in unfamiliar settings, and I'm sure that's what's happening here," said Steven W. Squyres, an astronomy professor at Cornell University, who has been an investigator on many Martian science robotic probe programs. Squyres added, "Carl Sagan once said 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary A hill on Mars that looks like a parrot to an imaginative eye does not in my opinion constitute extraordinary evidence." Miller, a member of the Cydonia Institute, and Haas, formerly of Jackson and founder of the Purcell-ville, organization, are calling for a "serious review" of what they see as a growing archive of anomalous formations in the shape of geoglyphs found on the surface of the red planet.

They discussed their findings Nov. il at the Howell Barnes and Noble bookstore. Geoglyphs are large designs found on the ground forming shapes or patterns. Perhaps the most well-known geoglyph are the Nazca Lines in Peru. Viewed from the ground, they appear to be a series of lines.

Viewed from the air, those lines take on the appearance of birds, a monkey, and other animals. The Martian parrot, found along the northwest rim of the Argyre Basin, mimics Mesoamerican art, Haas said. In the Mayan culture, there is a myth about the Hero Twins the sun and the moon confronting the principal bird deity named Seven Macaw, who not only had a legion of followers on Earth, but wanted to become the sun. One of the Hero Twins shoots at Seven Macaw, who is perched in the world tree, in an attempt to defeat him. The dart goes through Seven Macaw's beak and only wounds, not kills him.

It is Seven Maca'w that the geoglyph on Mars resembles, Haas said. Within that parrot-shaped geoglyph are what Miller and Haas claim are cell-shaped structures similar to foundations of buildings within its up-swept wing. And there are other geoglyphs I ed at various universities, including Princeton University. The society's website says its members study unusual and unexplained phenomena, often crossing mainstream boundaries. A 2005 Time magazine article bluntly states: "Pretty much anything that might have shown up on The X-Files (television show) or in the National Enquirer shows up first here." To be sure, one's mind making order of an unfamiliar situation is nothing new to those studying Mars.

Giovanni Schiaparelli, an Italian astronomer, made a map of the Red Planet showing "canali," or channels. The word got misunderstood in English as "canals." In the late 19th century, Percival Lowell, an American astronomer, believing that there were indeed canals on Mars, took his belief a step further and concluded that such canals were artificially constructed. And if those canals were not natural, then there must be an civilization existing on Mars, Lowell extrapolated. Although many scientists did not believe him, Lowell died in 1916 without knowing later observations by orbiting spacecraft proved him wrong, that what he was looking at were really optical illusions caused by chance alignments and formed by Lowell's interpretations and beliefs. As for the parrot-shaped geoglyph, "if you look at this individually, you can say, well, OK, maybe nature made this.

But there's way too much details," Haas said. Hartriono B. Sastrowardoyo: 732-557-5705; hsastrowardoyonjpressmedia.com Lynn Patricia Ryan Shore researchers say photo shows a structure resembling a parrot on the surface of Mars, courtesy of nasathe CYDONIA INSTITUTE on Mars, including some similar to deer, they said. In the Popol Vuh, the Mayan Creation story, deer and birds were among the first animals created. "Everything we're finding on Mars has a direct correlation to Mesoamerica," Haas said.

"I think we're related to whoever built this stuff (on Miller and Hass, along with five other people geologists and veterinarians included recently published their findings in the Fall issue of the Journal of Scientific Exploration. The journal is a publication of the Society for Scientific Exploration, with many of its council members holding advanced degrees or professors engineering, physics and astronomy includ Share your Happy News by placing your baby's Birth Announcement on our "Special Delivery" Page to be published Saturday, March 3, 2012 Bom: KVV2011 Weight: 8 1 hi 2 oi Length: 20" Pwrmr John Cori Rymn Welcome to the Love, all your Aunts. Uncles Cousins Xo-Xo Tribute prompts boat ramp discussion All Special Deliveries must be received by Friday, February 24, 2012. (Photos not Returnable). Next publication date Saturday, July 14, 2012.

$42.00 Ad with Photo Put my ad online at no extra charge. LARGER SIZES AVAILABLE Call Jamie for more info: (732) 643-3626 Your Name: Address: City: State: Zip: Phone: Fax: Email: swer, because of the cost of disposing of that material that is removed, said Council President Jonathan Peters. The boat ramp issue would be discussed at a finance committee meeting, he said. The council fielded some questions from students, who weren't as inquisitive as in past meetings at the school. Some coaxing by Halfacre and other council members brought forth questions, mostly about traffic safety issues, followed by questions about recreation and an offer by the student council president to help out the borough's upcoming centennial in 2012.

Larry Higgs: 732-643-4277; lhiggsnjpressmedia.com Baby's Name: Date of Birth: Weight Height: Parent(s) Name(s): Message (1 5 words or less): By Larry Higgs Staff Writer FAIR HAVEN -Environmentalists want to honor the late Edward Pitts for his work on the environmental commission with a plaque at the borough boat ramp at the end of Batten Road, but officials said they'd like to spruce up the ramp first. The Borough Council held its meeting at the Knollwood School on Monday, with about 35 students attending. The school-day meeting gave students a first-hand look at the sometimes mundane workings of government, including an application by a Hance Road woman who wanted to keep pet chickens, which requires the council's approval. The council did approve Environmental Commission Chairman Ralph Wyndrum's request to honor Pitts, who died in April 2010 and who chaired the environmental commission. But the request sparked some discussion about the condition of the boat ramp.

"My concern is the boat ramp is in deplorable condition and I'd like to do something about it," said Councilman Jerome Koch. Wyndrum agreed, joking that "at this point, the plaque might be the best little thing there." Pitts served as chairman of the environmental commission for more than nine years. Wydrum said the commission wanted to honor Pitts for all the work he did "out of the public's eye" to preserve the Navesink River environment and recreational opportunities. "He was always in the background and always busy," Wydrum said. "The plaque would read, 'In memory of Edward Pitts, environmentalist, sailor, at home on the The issue with the boat ramp is that silt that has been carried from Fair Haven Fields, down Fourth Creek and into the Navesink River at the boat ramp, Mayor Michael Halfacre said after the meeting.

That sediment has filling in the area despite a construction of a small jetty as a preventative measure. "In 1999 the jetty was put in on the right side to block sediment. It didn't," Halfacre said. "It slowed it down. We have to figure out a way to stop the problem." Dredging isn't an an- Payment enclosed (make check payable to; Asbury Park Press) Credit Card Number Name on Card: Exp.

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