Microscopic Fuzz May Be Best Evidence of Martians
by Dave Mosher
If Martian life existed a few billion years ago, scientists think any plant-like microbes would have left behind a stringy fuzz of fibers.
That's because here on Earth, researchers now say they have found such ancient fuzz, called cellulose, preserved in chunks of salt deposited more than 250 million years ago ? making it the oldest biological substance yet recovered. The announcement comes about a week after a team of planetary scientists announced discovering evaporated salt deposits on Mars and adds another element of hope to the search for alien life or signs of its past biology.
In fact, microscopic cellulose fibers might be one of the best signatures of any past life on the red planet, said Jack Griffith, a microbiologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
"These fibers are the oldest native, intact remnants of a living thing ever directly observed," Griffith told SPACE.com. "It's extremely fortuitous timing, as we've just discovered salt deposits on Mars' surface."
Phil Christensen, a planetary geologist at Arizona State University who helped identify the Martian salt deposits and was not involved in Griffith's work, said the new fuzz finding piques his interest.
"If the organic evidence of life's existence disappears at a site, it's hard to be certain anything was there," Christensen said. "I think finding cellulose in salt deposits on Earth makes an even stronger case for searching for life in Mars' salt deposits."
Griffith and his colleagues detail their salty cellulose discovery in the April issue of the journal Astrobiology.
Chapel Hill's new Senior Center is open
Growing old gracefully in the 'Southern Part of Heaven' is a lot easier now.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday, May 24, marked the opening of the new 25,000 square foot Robert and Pearl Seymour Center. Representatives from the Orange County Board of Commissioners and the Orange County Dept. on Aging helped mark the milestone. The new facility replaces the current Chapel Hill Senior Center on Elliott Road.
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Carroll Hall on the UNC campusThe History of the University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina was the first state University in America to begin construction and the only one to grant degrees in the 18th century. It was authorized by the State Constitution of 1776 and was chartered in 1789. In 1792, a state committee selected its site on New Hope Chapel Hill in Orange County. The site was rural, wooded andremoved from town distractions. Local landowners donated a total of 1,299 acres of land and enough cash to get construction under way.
The cornerstone of the first building, Old East, the oldest public university building, was laid on October 12, 1793. It was finished in time to serve the first students in February, 1795. By March of that year, there were 41 students and two professors. By 1859, several other buildings had been added and the student body was second only to Yale University.>>more
The History of the Town
The town of Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina began on the same day. Just as workers started putting up the first UNC building on Oct. 12, 1793, 30 lots were auctioned off to create a village to serve the University needs. The village name Chapel Hill was a shortened version of New Hope Chapel Hill, the name of a Church of England Chapel that stood on a small hill near the present location of the Carolina Inn.
By 1820 the small village had 13 small wooden houses, four stores, two hotels, a blacksmith shop and a town government. There were two streets: Main Street, now Franklin Street; and Hillsborough-Raleigh Street, now called variously Columbia Street, Raleigh Road, NC 54 and NC 86. >>more
