We may be able to grow asparagus on Mars

NASA scientists say that first analysis of Martian soil appeared to contain the requirements to support life.

Scientists
working on the Mars Phoenix Lander mission said preliminary analysis by
the lander's instruments on a sample of soil scooped up by its robotic
arm had shown it to be much more alkaline than expected.

"We basically have found what appears to be the requirements, the
nutrients, to support life whether past present or future," said Sam
Kounaves, the lead investigator for the wet chemistry laboratory.

"It is the type of soil you would probably have in your back yard,
you know, alkaline. You might be able to grow asparagus in it really
well. ... It is very exciting for us."

The 1 cubic centimeter (0.06 cubic inch) of soil tested was taken
from about 1 inch (2.5 cm) below the surface of Mars and had a pH, or
alkaline, level of 8 or 9.

"We were all flabbergasted at the data we got back," Dr Kounaves said.

The scientists would not go as far as saying they now believe that
life, even mere microbes, definitively existed on Mars, saying the
results were very preliminary and more analysis was needed.

"There is nothing about the soil that would preclude life. In fact
it seems very friendly.... there is nothing about it that is toxic," Dr
Kounaves said

Phoenix landed on Mars on May 25 after a 10-month journey.

Phoenix Lander finds Ice on Mars

Scientists with the Phoenix Mars mission yesterday declared for certain
that there is ice on the Red Planet, putting them an essential step
closer to answering the question that has driven three decades of Mars
exploration and centuries of Earth-bound speculation: Could there have
been life there?

Pictures beamed 170 million miles to Earth from the Phoenix lander atop Mars's northern polar plain erased any doubt about the presence of ice, they said.

But the evidence came in a roundabout way. Last Sunday, several
dice-size solids were observed at the bottom of a trench that had been
dug by Phoenix's robotic arm. On Thursday, they were gone.

The only reasonable explanation, the scientists said, is that the
objects were pieces of ice that evaporated into the dry Martian
atmosphere through a process called sublimation. And the presence of
ice means that Mars might once have had liquid water, which is
essential for life -- at least as it is known on Earth.

It is too soon to know whether the entire astrophysical community
will accept the disappearing objects reported yesterday as proof, but
the Phoenix researchers said they do not need any more convincing.

The rocket thrusters that slowed Phoenix to a soft landing revealed
a white, hard substance in the ground beneath it -- and tantalizingly
out of reach -- when the lander touched down on May 25. Similar white
material was visible when the robotic arm began to dig below the top
few inches of Martian soil.

One possibility was that it was salt of some sort. But ice was always the more likely explanation.

"Salt does not behave like that," said Mark Lemmon, a scientist at
Texas A&M University who is in charge of Phoenix's stereo
surface imager. "We found what we were looking for. This tells us we
have water ice within reach of the arm."

IT Salaries are feeling the crunch

IT compensation has been flat for 12 months and cost-cutting measures might speed the offshoring of IT jobs.

IT departments, with the exception of those that serve the housing and credit sectors, have been so far immune to the effects of the economic slowdown. But new data suggests techies are feeling the squeeze as well—and significantly so.

IT compensation remained flat in the first two quarters of 2008, found the 2008 Mid-Year IT Salary Survey from Janco Associates, a management consultancy.

Staff-level IT professionals at large enterprises saw only a .12 percent increase in their median compensation between June 2007 and June 2008, according to the survey, while in midsize enterprises, salaries grew only slightly more, by .49 percent.

Middle managers in IT saw similar salary stagnation, with a 1.18 percent growth in mean income in large enterprises in the last 12 months and an essentially nonexistent .01 percent growth in midsize organizations.

"I've talked to 40 different organizations in the last few weeks and they're very concerned," said Janco CEO Victor Janulaitis. "They don't know what's going to happen to the economy and they're putting things on hold."