FONTE: NASA



A NASA spacecraft in orbit around Mars has taken the first ever image of active avalanches near the Red Planet's north pole.

"It really surprised me," says planetary scientist Ingrid Daubar Spitale of the University of Arizona who first noticed the avalanches in photos taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Feb. 19th. "It's great to see something so dynamic on Mars. A lot of what we see there hasn't changed for millions of years.===>"

FONTE: CORRIERE E METEOGIORNALE

Almeno 4 persone sono state uccise in Austria (numerosi i feriti) per i forti venti da uragano collegati al passaggio della depressione "Emma". Il vento ha raggiunto, nelle raffiche più intense, verificatesi al passaggio del fronte freddo, i 141 km/h a Vienna/Schwechat e a Salisburgo.

Alcuni dati "numerici" della tempesta li abbiamo riportati in altro articolo. Riguardo alle grandi città dell'Austria, aggiungiamo che a Linz le raffiche hanno raggiunto i 126 km/h, mentre in Germania a Kiel si sono raggiunti i 119 km/h, a Potsdam e Augsburg i 112.

Un turista tedesco di 69 anni è morto in un campeggio a Walchsee, in Tirolo, dopo che la sua caravan gli è stata rovesciata addosso dal vento. Egli stava cercando di assicurarla, quando una raffica più forte la ha fatta capovolgere su di lui.

Un altro turista tedesco è morto, anche lui in Tirolo, presso la famosa stazione invernale di Kitzbuhel, per la caduta di un albero sul tetto dell'automobile che stava guidando. La moglie, che gli sedeva accanto, è rimasta seriamente ferita.

Più a est, nella Bassa Austria, i Vigili del Fuoco hanno comunicato che una donna è rimasta uccisa da un albero caduto sulla sua automobile, mentre un'altra donna è rimasta seriamente ferita in un incidente simile, visto che in questo caso un grosso ramo caduto ha sfondato il parabrezza. Il quarto morto è un passeggero di un taxi, colpito, nel centro di Salisburgo, da un albero fatto cadere dal vento.

Nell'Alta Austria, circa 10000 abitazioni sono rimaste senza corrente elettrica, ma ovunque nel paese sono stati numerosi gli alberi caduti e le linee elettriche abbattute. Molte anche le strade e autostrade che hanno subito interruzioni al traffico.===>

FONTE: ITN

An earthquake that struck the UK overnight is likely to have caused millions of pounds worth of damage.

The tremor, which hit at around 1am, was measured at 5.2 on the Richter scale.

Its epicentre was near Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, but it was felt as far away as Dumfries in Scotland and Swansea in South Wales.

The Association of British Insurers said the cost of damage to homes and property is likely to be in excess of £10 million.

The only confirmed injury has been that of 19-year-old student David Bates in Wombwell, South Yorkshire. He was watching TV when a chunk of masonry fell from a chimney stack into his room.

Mr Bates was taken to hospital with a suspected fractured pelvis.

His father said: "Of all the things that can happen - an earthquake. I could not believe it but when I think about it, it could have been worse."

In a separate incident, an ambulance was called out to a 31-year-old pregnant woman in Birmingham who had suffered a panic attack as a result of the quake.

Emergency services across the UK received calls from people who were frightened when they were woken up to find their home shaking.

Seismologist Brian Baptie of the British Geological Survey (BGS) said: "This is a significant earthquake for the UK and will have been widely felt across England and Wales."

The BGS said it records around 200 earthquakes in the UK each year - an eighth of which can be felt by residents.

Today's quake is the largest since 1984 when one measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale shook the Lleyn Peninsula of North Wales.===>

THE Indonesian Health Minister has said the United States and the World Health Organisation are part of a global conspiracy to profit from the spread of bird flu and the US may use samples to produce biological weapons.

The views of Dr Siti Fadilah Supari, outlined in her new book, threaten to undermine efforts to control the spread of avian influenza. With 104 deaths, nearly half the world total, Indonesia is the new hotspot for the virus.

Despite claims by the minister that she has agreed to share virus samples and allow all nations access to resulting vaccines, Indonesia is still blocking sharing samples from human victims.

Applications to send more than 200 samples from chickens to an Australian laboratory had also been refused, inquiries by the Herald have revealed.

In the book, Dr Supari writes that WHO laboratories forwarded influenza viruses to Western companies so they could profit by selling vaccines back to developing countries: "The system of world health management has been very exploitative. It has been controlled by inhumanly desires, based on the greediness to raise capital and to control the world."===>