Mars is one of the planets in our solar system that humans know most about, and for good reason. The “Red Planet” has been lauded by scientists because of its similarity to Earth. The similarity convinces many that humans may be able to fashion a second home out of it. Especially considering near-apocalyptic warnings about the devastation of climate change, the idea of a possible escape plan seems tantalizing. And nothing has taught us more about Mars than visiting it ourselves … in the form of rovers.

Opportunity (nicknamed “Oppy”) launched July 07, 2003, and from the outset, it wasn’t expected to last long. The original mission length was just 90 Martian days, but the little rover has stayed alive for more than 15 years. NASA is expected to make a big announcement concerning the fate of the rover this Wednesday at 11 am. But first, let’s talk about what makes Mars so special.

The Red Planet

According to Universe Today, it’s impossible to know when Mars was “discovered.” People have observed it for over 4,000 years, since it is bright enough to be seen by the naked eye. You don’t need a telescope or even binoculars. In Roman mythology, it is the god of war, borrowed from the Greek god Ares. And ancient Mesopotamian texts refer to Mars as “the “star of judgment for the fate of the dead.”

However, Nicolaus Copernicus is credited with a wholesale shift in science in 1543. Because of his published findings, astronomers seriously considered that the Earth might not be the center of the solar system. And that was the beginning of discovering Mars as a planet.

Later down the line, Galileo Galilei was the first person to see Mars via telescope in 1610. Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens was first to draw a map of Mars that displayed terrain features in 1659.

He also observed light and dark spots on the surfaces of Mars and Jupiter, and thought it to be evidence of water and ice (we now know that he was very correct about that).

According to NASA, Opportunity scored a “hole-in-one” by landing in a crater where it found hematite, a mineral that usually forms in water. However, the water was acidic, and therefore made it more difficult for life to thrive.

Reddish Tint

Mars is known for its reddish tint, and according to Space.com, there’s a good reason for that:

“The simple explanation for the Red Planet’s color is that its regolith, or surface material, contains lots of iron oxide — the same compound that gives blood and rust their hue.”

However, the more complex answer is that during the formation of the planet, iron, a heavy element, would have naturally gravitated toward’s the planet’s core. But given Mars’s small size (and therefore weaker gravity) much of it would also stay up top, mixed with gas and dust. As it was exposed to oxygen, it would gain its famous reddish color. So if you wind the clock back a couple 4.5 billion years, you might see a more charcoal color.

Water

Water is the signature feature we look for in a potentially habitable planet is water. And no planet gives us hope for water like Mars.

PBS Nova explains that scientists used radar from orbital spacecraft to penetrate Mars’s polar ice caps with electromagnetic waves. These waves provide a reading, and every material reflects back with varying brightness. Knowing what water looks like on radar, scientists believe they found it underneath those ice caps — a mile beneath Mars’s surface. High salt content can keep the water liquid even at -90 degrees Fahrenheit, and NASA’s research suggests Mars once had more water than the Earth’s Arctic Ocean.

The presence of water is the linchpin in three main questions about Mars:

• Could we live there?
• Did something else live there?
• Does something else live there?

And questions like that are exactly what the Mars rovers were sent to the planet to explore.

The Little Rovers That Could

The Mars Exploration program began in 1993. The program was spearheaded by NASA with the intent to explore as much of Mars as possible. Specifically, the mission was the investigate Mars’ habitability. To accomplish this, they’ve used orbital spacecraft, landers, and of course, the lovable rovers.

How Opportunity survived this long is something of a mystery, with a combination of luck and engineering genius. Opportunity’s twin, Spirit, got caught in a sand trap in 2009 and couldn’t recharge its batteries, putting it out of commission. But Opportunity has traveled more than 28 miles in its time on Mars. However, scientists argue that the important thing is not how long it lasted, but what it did with its time.

In an oddly emotional Twitter thread, science reporter Jacob Margolis laid out the last moments of the rover’s life. The team had lost communication with Opportunity since June 2018, and hadn’t received word since. NASA says that since the loss of signal, over 835 recovery commands have been radiated to Opportunity.

The last message they received was basically, ‘My battery is low and it’s getting dark.’ — Jacob Margolis

In its life, Opportunity was responsible for taking more than 217,594 raw images of Mars. According to Margolis, it shares credit with all the rovers for expanding our understanding of water on Mars, and of environments that could be hospitable to life.

With Opportunity and Spirit gone, that leaves only Curiosity to explore the Red Planet. Launched in 2012, its design will serve as a basis for a planned Mars 2020 rover. However, it might be wiser to base your design on a rover that outperformed your expectations nearly 60 times over.

Cheers to Oppy, and may its mission lead to many more explorations of our vast cosmos.

Feature image provided via Jacob Margolis

The Exclusion Zone at Chernobyl covers an area of approximately 2,600 km² (1,000 sq mi)  immediately surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant where radioactive contamination from nuclear fallout is highest and public access and inhabitation are restricted.

Despite that, life has found a way.

A new study has found that Wildlife is proliferating in abundance in the area that has been off limits since the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident.

As explained by James Beasley, associate professor at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, scientists spotted ten mammal species and five species of birds during their one-month photo-hunting session at Chernobyl.

“These animals were photographed while scavenging fish carcasses placed on the shoreline of rivers and canals in the CEZ,” he said.

“We’ve seen evidence of a diversity of wildlife in the CEZ through our previous research, but this is the first time that we’ve seen white-tailed eagles, American mink and river otter on our cameras.”

The previous evidence Beasley was referring to come from a 2015 study that showed how wildlife—including Gray Wolves—exist in abundance in the exclusion zone.

The results of the new study were published in the journal Food Webs, and provide ample evidence how aquatic nutrient resources can flow to terrestrial landscapes where they become available to both terrestrial and semiaquatic wildlife in the region, like otter and mink, explains UGA.

Lead researcher Peter Schlichting said in a statement that previous studies have reported that waste collection activity can connect several food webs, but scientists do not fully understand how this happens.

In the current study, fish tanks were placed on the edge of the open water in the Pripyat River and in nearby irrigation canals, mimicking the natural activity that occurs when streams transport dead fish carcasses to the coast, according to Schlichting, who is now an associate of postdoctoral research at Arizona State University.

Surprisingly, the results of the study have shown that 98% of fish placed by experts were consumed in a week by a multitude of scavengers from the region.

“This is a high rate of scavenging, and given that all our carcasses were consumed by terrestrial or semi-aquatic species, it verifies that the movement of nutritional resources between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems occurs more frequently than often recognized, ” Beasley explained.

“We tend to think of fish and other aquatic animals as staying in the aquatic ecosystem. This research shows us that if a reasonable proportion of dead fish make it to shore, there is an entire group of terrestrial and semi-aquatic species that transfer those aquatic nutrients to the terrestrial landscape. “

YouTube Video Here: https://www.youtube.com/embed/I9QuO09z-SI?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1

It’s the 1990s. A group of archeologists in Mexico City had been excavating parts of an Aztec temple over 500 years old when they uncovered something exciting — a body.

But this isn’t just a random burial. This is the body of someone who was sacrificed.

The body has been very meticulously buried. Its head has been removed, and its arms placed carefully across its chest. In its hands are small objects with the images of skulls carved into them.

Most of the scientists believe these to be trinkets with some sort of unknown value, and they plan to store them at a museum along with similar objects that have been previously uncovered. One archeologist, however, brings up the object to his lips and blows.

The sound is shocking and sent a chill up the spines of everyone who was around to hear it. It is the sound of a human scream.

The Aztec Death Whistle’s Discovery and Disturbing Sound

Since the moment the terrifying sound of the Aztec death whistle was first heard, archeologists and common people alike have been obsessed with it.

How was this disturbing sound produced? And why would anyone want to make it in the first place?

Despite the intricate skull carvings on the outside of these whistles, it’s easy to assume that the inside is relatively simple due to its small size. In reality, the interior of this whistle is anything but.

Rather, the inside of the Aztec death whistle is a complex assortment of varying passages. These passages funnel several paths of air around so that they collide against each other, building up a pressure that leads to the creation of the terrifying sound of a human scream.

Since this discovery, archeologists have been obsessed with theorizing why these whistles were produced. Meanwhile, the Aztec death whistle has slowly gained a following among the common masses who likewise speculate as to its purpose and also seek to own replicas of their own. Mass attention was first brought about when a video was posted on YouTube of the sound back in 2013.

What was the Purpose of the Aztec Death Whistle?

So, what exactly could be the purpose of the Aztec death whistle?

We may never know for sure, but there are a few leading theories among the experts. The three most popular ideas about these strange whistles’ exact purposes are:

Marching to Battle

It is well-known that the Aztecs would often create ominous and imposing sounds when marching into battle in order to intimidate their opponents. They carried drums that they would beat at a steady rate, all together. The resulting sound of hundreds if not thousands of drums created a powerful and frightening sound.

There are accounts of the Aztecs employing the use of such drums when marching against the Spaniards. The Spanish records detail the terror that these drums could very easily create.

So what if, instead of using drums, the Aztec army blew the Aztec death whistles in unison?

The sound of just one whistle is terrifying and loud all on its own. Now imagine thousands of them blown all at once. The resulting cacophony would be sure to cause panic in even the bravest and sternest of opponents.

The skull design on the whistles certainly seems to indicate a violent association. Plus, the small size of the whistles would make them more ideal for carrying into a battle over the bulkier drums.

Still, this is not the only possible explanation of the Aztec death whistle’s purpose.

Therapeutic Purposes?

One suggested alternative purpose is perhaps the complete opposite of the previous explanation. Rather than to strike fear and signal oncoming violence, it is possible that the Aztec death whistle was actually used for therapeutic and healing purposes.

The essential idea is that, rather than to inspire fear, the strange sound of the whistle was actually meant to put the listener into a trance. These trances and sounds would be part of healing rituals that would serve purposes both physical and spiritual.

So, rather than cause terror, the sound of the Aztec death whistle could actually have been meant to bring comfort.

If you listened to the sound created by the Aztec death whistle, you may have a hard time believing that this sound could ever be considered “comforting.” Still, there’s something to be said about the potential for the strange and unsettling to eventually lull a person into a different kind of presence of mind when repeated often enough.

While this theory has a decent amount of support, however, it is still not championed as the most likely purpose by scholars and archeologists alike. We’ll get into the most convincing argument directly below.

A Guide to the Afterlife

A third theory about the purpose of the Aztec death whistle is perhaps the most convincing, and it is supported by the most evidence.

This theory centers around the circumstances of the Aztec death whistles discovery — mainly, that it was found in possession of someone who had been sacrificed.

The placement of the death whistles with the body of the sacrificed individual was completely intentional. The crossing of the arms of the body would have had to been arranged, as well as the whistles placed in the hands. Also, the skull iconography of the whistles naturally link them to death, so the connection to human sacrifice is only a small leap from there.

Even more interesting is the placement of the body’s burial. Not only was the body buried in front of a temple, but it was placed directly facing an image of the god Quetzalcoatl — the wind god.

Wind gods and whistles? The connection is easy to see.

It is therefore believed that the Aztec death whistles were therefore meant to serve as an aid to the human sacrifices. Through blowing this whistle, the sacrifice victim would not only create a frightening noise associated with death but also summon Quetzalcoatl through the power of these sounds created by what is essentially a small amount of contained wind.

Quetzalcoatl would then theoretically guide the sacrificed individual safely through the afterlife.

In our modern mindset, human sacrifice is seen as particularly grisly. Yet there is some evidence to suggest that sacrifice was seen as an honor in some ancient cultures. The granting of such a piece of equipment that could potentially help the sacrificed person on their way through the afterlife supports the notion of goodwill through the otherwise unsettling process.

From Trinkets to Cultural Icons

The first blow of the Aztec death whistle would forever change the way these small objects were seen, not only in popular culture but in the archeological community.

These whistles were once viewed simply as trinkets, decorative in function. Now, they have garnered much speculation and attention as scholars try to piece together their purpose. What were once undervalued trinkets have become cultural icons inspiring greater thought and understanding of the Aztec traditions and ways of life.

Sensationalism and Capitalism

Of course, once something enters into popular culture, it is sure to be capitalized on.

The actual Aztec death whistles are naturally safely stowed away in museums and in the care of archeologists and otherwise qualified professionals. That hasn’t stopped the common masses from wanting to get their hands on these strange creations, though.

From its terrifying and unique sound to its unsettling and intriguing design, the Aztec death whistle has been in high demand over the past several years. So, naturally, people have taken to reproducing and selling them.

Nowadays, you can easily find and purchase an Aztec death whistle on sites like Etsy and Amazon. Though not the real thing, these replicas can be a fun addition to a display of knickknacks and novelties, becoming the exact trinkets that scholars once thought they were.

Some take on the classic design and colors of authentic death whistles, adding a tarnished look to the products in order to capture the ancient and foreboding impression. Other replicas ditch this and take to different stylings, opting for bright and comprehensive colors. Regardless of their exact stylings, they all have one thing in common: the design of a skull.

While some of these replicas are undoubtedly capable of producing strange and cryptic noises themselves, they’ll never be quite able to match up against the original whistles of the Aztecs. The long history and questions surrounding the Aztec death whistle make the originals all the more ominous and intriguing, their sounds all the more haunting.

We may never know the true purpose of the Aztec death whistle, but that won’t stop scholars from theorizing and continuing the search for greater understanding.

You can listen to the unforgettable sound of the Aztec death whistle here.

YouTube Video Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9QuO09z-SI

Featured Image via YouTube Video