Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 2022)
THE BULLETIN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2022 A13 Biden signs law protecting gay, interracial marriages Mars rover captures 1st sound of dust devil on red planet BY CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — What’s a dust devil sound like on Mars? A NASA rover by chance had its microphone on when a whirling tower of red dust passed directly overhead, recording the racket. It’s about 10 seconds of not only rumbling gusts of up to 25 mph, but the pinging of hundreds of dust particles against the rover Perseverance. Scien- tists released the first-of- its-kind audio Tuesday. It sounds strikingly similar to dust devils on Earth, although quieter since Mars’ thin atmo- sphere makes for more muted sounds and less forceful wind, according to the researchers. The dust devil came and went over Perseverance quickly last year, thus the short length of the audio, said the University of Tou- louse’s Naomi Murdoch, lead author of the study appearing in Nature Com- munications. At the same time, the navigation cam- era on the parked rover captured images, while its weather-monitoring in- strument collected data. “It was fully caught red- handed by Persy,” said co-author German Marti- nez of the Lunar and Plan- etary Institute in Houston. Photographed for de- cades at Mars but never heard until now, dust dev- ils are common at the red planet. This one was in the average range: at least 400 feet tall and 80 feet across, traveling at 16 feet per sec- ond. The microphone picked up 308 dust pings as the dust devil whipped by, Andrew Harnik/AP Aparna Shrivastava, right, takes a photo with her partner, Shelby Teeter, after President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act on Tuesday. sistence and your patriotism.” Despite Tuesday’s excitement, there was concern about the nationwide proliferation of conservative policies on gender issues at the state level. Biden criticized the “callous, cynical laws introduced in the states targeting transgen- der children, terrifying families and crimi- nalizing doctors who give children the care they need.” “Racism, antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia, they’re all connected,” Biden said. “But the antidote to hate is love.” Among the attendees were the owner of Club Q, a gay nightclub in Colorado where five people were killed in a shooting last month, and two survivors of the attack. The suspect has been charged with hate crimes. “It’s not lost on me that our struggle for freedom hasn’t been achieved,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign. “But this is a huge step forward, and we have to celebrate the victories we achieve and use that to fuel the future of the fight.” Robinson attended the ceremony with her wife and 1-year-old child. “Our kids are watching this moment,” she said. “It’s very special to have them here e weed houS l t t i l e in t S Fine BUD, b be VAPES & EXTRACTS d! en Th e WASHINGTON — A celebratory crowd of thousands bundled up on a chilly Tues- day afternoon to watch President Joe Biden sign gay marriage legislation into law, a joyful ceremony that was tempered by the backdrop of an ongoing conservative back- lash over gender issues. “This law and the love it defends strike a blow against hate in all its forms,” Biden said on the South Lawn of the White House. “And that’s why this law matters to every single American.” Singers Sam Smith and Cyndi Lauper performed. Vice President Kamala Har- ris recalled officiating at a lesbian wedding in San Francisco. And the White House played a recording of Biden’s television in- terview from a decade ago, when he caused a political furor by unexpectedly disclosing his support for gay marriage. Biden was vice president at the time, and President Barack Obama had not yet endorsed the idea. “I got in trouble,” Biden joked of that moment. Three days later, Obama himself publicly endorsed gay marriage. The new law is intended to safeguard gay marriages if the U.S. Supreme Court ever reverses Obergefell v. Hodges, its 2015 de- cision legalizing same-sex unions nation- wide. The new law also protects interracial marriages. In 1967, the Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia struck down laws in 16 states barring interracial marriage. Lawmakers from both parties attended Tuesday’s ceremony, reflecting the grow- ing acceptance of same-sex unions, once among the country’s most contentious is- sues. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wore the same purple tie to the cer- emony that he wore to his daughter Alison’s wedding. She and her wife are expecting their first child in the spring. “Thanks to the millions out there who spent years pushing for change, and thanks to the dogged work of my colleagues, my grandchild will get to live in a world that respects and honors their mothers’ mar- riage,” he said. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the crowd that “inside maneuvering only takes us so far,” and she thanked activists adding impetus with “your impatience, your per- Ounces Starting At $50 Join our loyalty-points program for deals on everything in our shop! Transferable 10%-off coupon after every purchase. Visit us anytime for great prices, daily specials & our exclusive HDFresh flower! Elevated Cultivation Fine PRoDUCT FOR A FINE Price! 265 SE Scott St., Bend | 541.788.8478 | ecbend.com HOURS: Mon-Sat 10am-6pm SCAN THIS QR CODE TO JOIN OUR LOYALTY PROGRAM AND RECEIVE SPECIAL DEALS! and show them that we’re on the right side of history.” The signing marks the culmination of a monthslong bipartisan effort sparked by the Supreme Court’s decision in June to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that made abortion available across the country. In a concurring opinion in the case that overturned Roe, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested revisiting other decisions, includ- ing the legalization of gay marriage, gen- erating fear that more rights could be im- periled by the court’s conservative majority. Thomas did not reference interracial mar- riage with the other cases he said should be reconsidered. Lawmakers crafted a compromise that was intended to assuage conservative con- cerns about religious liberty, such as ensur- ing churches could still refuse to perform gay marriages. In addition, states would not be required to issue marriage licenses to same-sex cou- ples if the court overturns its 2015 ruling. But they will be required to recognize mar- riages conducted elsewhere in the country. A majority of Republicans in Congress still voted against the legislation. However, enough supported it to sidestep a filibuster in the Senate and ensure its passage. BY MARCIA DUNN Associated Press said Murdoch, who helped build it. Given that the rover’s SuperCam microphone is turned on for less than three minutes every few days, Murdoch said it was “definitely luck” that the dust devil appeared when it did on Sept. 27, 2021. She estimates there was just a 1-in-200 chance of capturing dust-devil au- dio. Of the 84 minutes col- lected in its first year, there’s “only one dust devil recording,” she wrote in an email from France. This same microphone on Perseverance’s mast provided the first sounds from Mars — namely the Martian wind — soon after the rover landed in February 2021. It fol- lowed up with audio of the rover driving around and its companion he- licopter, little Ingenuity, flying nearby, as well as the crackle of the rover’s rock-zapping lasers, the main reason for the mi- crophone. These recordings al- low scientists to study the Martian wind, atmo- spheric turbulence and now dust movement as never before, Murdoch said. The results “demon- strate just how valuable acoustic data can be in space exploration.” On the prowl for rocks that might contain signs of ancient microbial life, Perseverance has collected 18 samples so far at Jezero Crater, once the scene of a river delta. NASA plans to return these samples to Earth a decade from now. The helicopter Ingenu- ity has logged 36 flights, the longest lasting almost three minutes.
