CURIOSITY: THE ANSWER’S IN THE SOIL
by Hazed
Curiosity has discovered some soil on Mars that is similar to what you would find in Hawaii.
The rover scanned its first soil sample this week, firing x-rays at the fine particles to determine their composition. This should give some information about the recent geological history of the planet.
The results are pretty much as scientists predicted: much of the sample consists of weathered “basaltic” materials of volcanic origin - just like you’d see on the islands of Hawaii.
No news on whether there are surfers and hula-hula girls, though.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20151789
Bonus link: Curiosity takes a self-portrait: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/02/curiosity_portrait_rocknest/
