Mars Life?

Can't definitively say anything yet, but this is the most promising indication of extraterresial life humans have found beyond Earth. To me it sure looks like the splotches lichens leave on rocks, but non living chemical origins have not been ruled out. Even if it is proof of ancient Mars life I suppose there is still the possibility that it originated on Earth and was projected over to Mars by an asteroid impact or some other exchange in the early solar system. Either way, scientists would Love to have this sample in an Earth based lab to do more extensive analysis. And as Edgar Mitchell,6th man to walk on the moon said in 1974: "You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do somethong about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quater of a million miles out and say, "Look at that,you son of a bitch."

Abortion Restrictions 2 Plus Years on...

"In Texas, the 2022 mortality rate for infants went up 8% to 5.75 per 1,000 births, compared to a 2% increase in the rest of the U.S., according to the study in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. Among causes of deaths, birth defects showed a 23% increase, compared to a decrease of about 3% in the rest of the U.S." "...its so-called Heartbeat Act went into effect banning all abortions after six weeks, with no exceptions for rape, incest or fetal abnormalities." "...the study looks at a period from 2021 to 2022 after the Texas ban went into place,but before Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, we should point out. And it found infant deaths in Texas rose nearly 13 percent compared to an increase of just 1.8 percent in the rest of the country.." ...Dr. Suzanne Bell: "Our findings regarding changes in the cause of death suggest deaths due to fetal anomalies that were incompatible with life were the largest source of the overall increase in infant mortality that we saw in Texas.Death due to birth defects increased by 23 percent in Texas from 2021 to 2022, while, in the rest of the United States, they decreased by 3 percent. And in the absence of an abortion ban, pregnant people that receive a diagnosis of a fetal anomaly would be counseled on the option to terminate, which is the choice many people make when the anomalies are incompatible with life or would cause significant suffering for the child." etc etc...So, rather than abort an embryo that likely would not feel the same pain as a fully developed baby... here we are ...The religious right had not, and often do not, fully analyze the implications and consequences of their views.