Berlin, September 24 (ANI): The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), carried by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is helping scientists make leaps forward in understanding both the ongoing and ancient processes that shaped the surface of Mars.

A study of the nature and distribution of ancient megabreccia, led by Professor Alfred McEwen, HiRISE's Principal Investigator, suggests that this bedrock was formed during the late heavy bombardment period.

Megabreccia consists of angular, randomly-orientated blocks that formed suddenly in energetic events such as meteorite impacts. It is thought to contain fragments of the oldest and deepest bedrock exposed on the surface of Mars.

According to McEwen, "We think that the megabreccia was formed during a period of heightened meteorite activity about 3.9 billion years ago. This is around the time life appears to have begun on Earth, but we have very little record of that era in our terrestrial geology because ancient rocks are heavily metamorphosed."

"Mars preserves a much better record of the heavy bombardment and, unlike the dry lunar surface, it shows the environmental effects in a water-rich crust," he added.

The HiRISE team has identified megabreccia in more than 50 locations consistent with the most ancient terrains on Mars. These include the central uplifts of large craters and deep exposures such as the floor of parts of Valles Marineris.

Well-exposed rock outcrops are needed to identify megabreccia, in particular from the diversity of colours and textures indicating diverse rock types.

Megabreccia contains rock fragments from the earliest geological period on Mars, the Noachian era, which is more than 3.8 billion years ago.

The megabreccia blocks vary in size from relatively small (1-5 metres) to larger than 10 metres in diameter.

The small blocks were probably formed by post Noachian cratering, particularly when found in material filling crater floors. The large blocks are only found in locations consistent with hard, deep bedrock, such as the central uplifts.

McEwen suggests that the blocks are largely cemented by melt from impacts and hydrothermal alteration.

"We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in understanding the Noachian crust of Mars, thanks to the high-resolution data from the Mars Express and MRO missions," said McEwen.

"The spectrometers on these missions found evidence of alteration due to water in the bedrock in many, if not most Noachian aged places. However, the younger Noachian era may have been relatively dry, so we may need to study the oldest outcrops of megabreccia to understand this era," he added.

McEwen will also be presenting results of processes that may be shaping the surface of Mars today. (ANI)

London, Sep 29 121(ANI): Actor-turned-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed the so called 'Paris Hilton' bill, which aimed at banning motorists from driving with pets in their laps.

Republican assemblyman Bill Maze had proposed the bill after he spotted a woman driving with three dogs on her lap.

The bill called for imposing a fine of at least 35 dollars motorists caught sharing the driver's seat with an animal.

"If you've got a live animal, which you're not able to control, and that thing gets between you and the steering wheel or underneath your brake pedal, you've got a problem," the Telegraph quoted Maze as saying.

Celebs like Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson have often been spotted driving with pets in their laps.

The driving-with-animals bill was backed by the 'Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' in L.A., but ridiculed as the "Paris Hilton bill" by critics who described it as unwarranted interference by the Government.

The bill was one of scores of measures vetoed by Schwarzenegger last week, after a state budget was finally approved after a record 85-day impasse.

The Governor had over 800 bills to review in a matter of days.

He said that he was only approving bills of the "highest priority for California" due to the curtailed signing period. (ANI)

Washington, Oct 4 (ANI): Almost half of the Pakistanis, or 45 percent, think that the US military presence across the border in Afghanistan poses a threat to Pakistan.

Only 17 percent said it was not a threat and more than a third, 38 percent of respondents, had no opinion or would not answer, according to a Gallup poll organized in June.

The poll found that one in three of the respondents said the US relationship with Pakistan in President George W. Bush's campaign against terror mostly benefits America. Only 7 percent -- fewer than one in 10 -- said Pakistan benefits more.

More than that, 10 percent said both sides get nothing from the partnership, Dawn reported. The findings were based on face-to-face interviews, in the first half of this year in Pakistan, with approximately 802 people.

Pakistanis are leery of their government's anti-terror cooperation with the US even before President George W. Bush authorized American military action inside Pakistan without their government's approval, the poll said. Bush's July approval of US incursions across the Afghan-Pakistani border came to light after reports appeared about American operations, mainly comprising drone missile strikes at suspected Taliban or al-Qaida sites on Pakistani territory. US and Pakistani forces exchanged gunfire last Saturday for the first time. At least 12 Pakistanis were killed on Friday in two suspected US missile strikes against villages near the border with Afghanistan.

Pakistani intelligence officials said most of the dead were militants. (ANI)

London, Sept 11 (ANI): The British Government's Health Protection Agency is urging people not to seek antibiotic treatment for cough and cold problems that are caused by viruses, warning that this may increasingly make bacteria resistant to drugs.

The agency said that a step to over-the-counter antibiotics could make the problem worse, for doctors are running out of medications for potentially deadly infections.

And rising resistance levels mean that some bugs are treatable only with antibiotics previously used as a 'last defence', the agency added.

The number of potentially fatal E.coli blood poisoning cases, which are resistant to a 'last' antibiotic have tripled in the last six years, and now make up 12 per cent of all cases.

In these cases, doctors are left able to use only less effective antibiotics, which can be toxic, and raises the prospect that a strain could become entirely resistant to antibiotics.

Dr David Livermore, the agency's top scientist, warned that the problem posed a major public health threat.

He suggested that patients should not request antibiotics from their GPs when they are simply suffering from a cough or a cold, for which the drugs are useless.

"Most common cough and colds are caused by viruses and therefore patients should not be asking their doctor for an antibiotic," the Telegraph quoted him, as saying.

"The doctor should also know that they are not necessary and the patient should know that they are not appropriate," he added.

Livermore also said that there was a concern that providing an antibiotic over the counter could increase resistance.

He also called for action to increase the amount of research into new antibiotics. (ANI)