Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa Water, Sanitation Jan -Feb 2014 Vol.10 No1 | Page 42

Roundup Discovery of five new earth-like planets gives hope for discovery of water-based life Discovery shows that Earth-sized planets have formed throughout most of the time the Universe has been around — increasing the possibility of finding another planet like ours Five Earth-sized planets have been identified around a distant star in the Milky Way galaxy in a discovery that raises the possibility of eventually finding another rocky planet where water-based life may exist, scientists said. All five planets are too close to their sun and too hot to harbour life but the fact that they were formed many billions of years ago when the galaxy was still young suggests that rocky, Earth-sized planets could be more ubiquitous than previously thought. The planets in the distant solar system range in sizes between Mercury and Venus and were discovered by analyzing data gathered by Nasa’s Kepler space telescope which has so far identified more than 4,000 planetary “candidates”, of which 1,013 have been confirmed as true planets. Comets ‘did not bring water to Earth’ contains about three times more deuterium – a heavy form of hydrogen – than water on Earth. The discovery seems to overturn the theory that Earth got its water, and so its ability to harbour life, from waterbearing comets that slammed into the planet during its early history. Comet 67P is thought to have come from what is called the Kuiper belt, a broad band of frozen bodies that begins beyond the orbit of Neptune. The main asteroid belt contains more rocky objects that circle the sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Army cadet LICKS toilet to prove to baffled drill sergeant that it’s clean enough A tough Chinese drill sergeant furious that a squad of new recruits had not cleaned the toilet to his standards got a shock when one of them squatted down and started LICKING the loo. Sergeant Cai Peng had ordered the recruits to clean their dormitories and the bathroom, which included a porcelain hole Cadet training: Student Ho Liao knelt on the floor and licked the porcelain in the floor that was used surround leading down to the sewer where as a toilet. He told them to soldiers squatted to do their business make sure it was spotless when he returned but the strict military commander, from the Sichuan Vocational and Technical College of Communications in the city of Chengdu in Sichuan Province, was furious that it had not been done to his satisfaction. He was shouting at the students, detailing the punishment they would have to do, when one of them spoke out. The student, named Ho Liao, had apparently told the instructor: “Excuse me sir, but I don’t agree and with your permission I would like to prove it.” Scientists have dealt a blow to the theory that most water on Earth came from comets. Results from Europe’s Rosetta mission, which made history by landing on Comet 67P in November, 2014 shows the water on the icy mass is unlike that on our planet. The presence of water is not a surprise, but what has wrong-footed researchers is the makeup of the water, which is nothing like that seen on Earth. Measurements from Rosetta’s Rosina instrument found that water on comet 67P /Churyumov-Gerasimenko 42 Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • January - February 2015 The young cadet then knelt down and licked the floor of the bathroom including the porcelain surround leading down to the sewer where soldiers squatted to do their business. He then went to the dormitory and licked the floor there as well before standing back up to attention with a salute. Many Chinese colleges and universities include military training that encourages strict discipline, including keeping a clean bedroom and sanitation, and the drill masters have a reputation for being severe.