http://polyscience.org/2005/07/there-a-mars-hoax/ Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:15:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://polyscience.org/2005/07/there-a-mars-hoax/comment-page-1/#comment-223 polyscience.org » The fury of a brightening Mars Thu, 22 Sep 2005 19:47:16 +0000 http://polyscience.org/?p=7#comment-223 [...] Back at the beginning of July, I wrote about the Mars hoax, which stated that Mars was to come closer to the Earth than it has in recorded history. This, of course, isn’t true, but as with almost every rumor, there is a grain of truth behind the absurdity: Mars is getting closer to Earth. On October 13, Mars will be within 69 million kilometers of Earth, which isn’t the closest it’s ever been, but it’s closer than normal, and is the closest the two planets will get for the next 13 years. (In August of 2003, Earth and Mars came within 56 million kilometers of one another.) [...] [...] Back at the beginning of July, I wrote about the Mars hoax, which stated that Mars was to come closer to the Earth than it has in recorded history. This, of course, isn’t true, but as with almost every rumor, there is a grain of truth behind the absurdity: Mars is getting closer to Earth. On October 13, Mars will be within 69 million kilometers of Earth, which isn’t the closest it’s ever been, but it’s closer than normal, and is the closest the two planets will get for the next 13 years. (In August of 2003, Earth and Mars came within 56 million kilometers of one another.) [...]

]]> http://polyscience.org/2005/07/there-a-mars-hoax/comment-page-1/#comment-67 polyscience.org » The problem of static Mon, 15 Aug 2005 15:55:03 +0000 http://polyscience.org/?p=7#comment-67 [...] Mars has been in the news quite a lot lately, especially with the success of the recent Sojourner landing and “Mars hoax“. Well, the red planet is back in the news again due to an issue that most people — unless you’re in the electronics sector — much on earth: static electricity. On Mars, though, it’s a much bigger problem for two reasons. Firstly, the potential to create an electrical charge is much greater on Mars, than it is on Earth. When certain pairs of unlike materials, such as wool and hard shoe-sole leather, rub together, one material gives up some of its electrons to the other material. The separation of charge can create a strong electric field. [...] [...] Mars has been in the news quite a lot lately, especially with the success of the recent Sojourner landing and “Mars hoax“. Well, the red planet is back in the news again due to an issue that most people — unless you’re in the electronics sector — much on earth: static electricity. On Mars, though, it’s a much bigger problem for two reasons. Firstly, the potential to create an electrical charge is much greater on Mars, than it is on Earth. When certain pairs of unlike materials, such as wool and hard shoe-sole leather, rub together, one material gives up some of its electrons to the other material. The separation of charge can create a strong electric field. [...]

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