Just as NASA was about to solve the mystery of whether or not there is life on Mars, the world went broke and both NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) had to back off on their plans to send astronauts and rovers there to find out. Two NASA missions to Mars–one in 2016 and another in 2018–have been canceled.

In the March 13 edition of the New York Times, Kenneth Chang quotes Planetary Society director Bill Nye as saying, "The pipeline is being shut off, and that’s not what anyone wants. We are closer than anyone has ever been to discovering life on another world."
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Here’s one reason the Middle East is so unstable: In most Arab countries, it’s feast or famine. Between 15% and 25% of Arab children under 5 are too short for their age and between 5% and 15% are underweight. Almost half of pregnant Egyptian women are anemic, due to an iron deficiency often caused by poor diets. In contrast, a 2006 survey revealed that 30% of Egyptian adults were obese. Obesity estimates for Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were between 35% and 45%.
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If you could read an elephant’s mind, would he be constantly thinking about sex? It’s doubtful: Zookeepers in the US have a big problem–new elephant bloodlines are needed and it’s hard to get enough elephant sperm.

The solution? Elephant sperm banks. The Pittsburgh Zoo has established the first elephant sperm bank in the US, joining an international groups of zoos, including ones in France. Semen will be collected from wild elephants in South Africa and frozen, then shipped to zoos that need more variety in order to avoid inbreeding.
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