David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor, reports Mars probe appears to have landed atop ice in today's SFGate, the Sunday June 1 online edition:

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"It's the consensus of all of us that we have found ice," said Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson, as he talked to reporters in a conference call only six days after Phoenix landed safely from Earth. "It's shiny and smooth - it's absolutely astounding!"

But Smith did add a note of scientific caution: "It's not impossible that it's something else," he conceded, "but our leading interpretation is ice. We are looking at an extended table of ice."

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Discovered by the orbiter itself after its retro-rockets blew away the top 3-6 inches of topsoil during landing, Smith and his fellow scientists have named the patch "Holy Cow."

From the Wall Street Journal,

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Global-Warming Study Weighs Impact of Human Action

By GAUTAM NAIK

May 15, 2008; Page A10

A new study says humans have changed the world's environment more by warming the climate than by directly encroaching on habitats.

The research, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, also establishes a link between climate change and narrower, continental changes such as the earlier spring flight of butterflies in California, the earlier release of pollen in the Netherlands and the increased growth of pine trees in Mongolia.
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An international team of over a dozen scientists, led by Cynthia Rosenzweig of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the Center for Climate Systems Research at Columbia University in New York, showed very strong indications based on studies done on a continental scale.

In other news,

Alicia Chang/AP Science Writer: Asteroid may hit Mars in next month
A newly discovered hunk of space rock has a 1 in 75 chance of slamming into the Red Planet on Jan. 30 . . Martians are advised to stay inside and duct tape their windows. That is all.
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Further evidence that spaced is the final cognitive frontier, the sadly defective minds at MSNBC have generated Do you remember?, a "50-question 2007 news quiz". If you consider stories on stranded or lost Boy Scouts, dying celebrities, and (my fave) some kid crying her eyes out while watching "American Idol" news, this is your quiz.