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2 páginas.- 1 figura.- 16 referencias, To the Editor — 2021 is the International Year of Caves and Karst. To honour this occasion, we wish to emphasize the vast potential embodied in planetary subsurfaces. While researchers have pondered the possibility of extraterrestrial caves for more than 50 years, we have now entered the incipient phase of planetary caves exploration....

During the Apollo era of lunar exploration, mysterious albedo patterns, called swirls, captured the imagination of the scientific community. A key aspect of this interest was due to the discovery that the swirls are associated with localized relatively strong remnant magnetic fields. Analysis of returned soil samples revealed that solar wind, galactic cosmic rays, and micrometeorite impacts change the albedo of surface soil grains, a process known as space weathering that reduces regolith reflectance over time. Thus it was natural to invoke local magnetic structures as shields that retard space weathering resulting in relatively less space weathering of the regolith in regions with the strongest localized magnetic fields. However, the origins of the magnetic anomalies and associated swirls remain enigmatic to this day. We designed the Swirl CubeSat to determine the nature of remnant lunar magnetic fields and investigate their role in moderating space weathering of the regolith and assess their suitability for radiation protection of surface assets. Swirl has one focused observational objective: characterize the magnetic field associated with the Reiner Gamma Swirl (RGS) at sub-kilometer spatial sampling, with 0.5 nTesla accuracy and 100 m spatial precision. In the Swirl mission concept, the Swirl spacecraft, a 6U CubeSat, would deploy as a secondary payload from a vehicle on a deep space trajectory. A series of maneuvers would then place the spacecraft in a low orbit that would then be modified to have a periapse of 5–10 km for thirty orbits passing over RGS. Prime Swirl observations were designed during these low-altitude passes and consist of high-resolution vector magnetic field measurements and monochrome navigation imaging.

High-resolution images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) reveal the landing locations of recent and historic spacecraft and associated impact sites across the lunar surface. Using multiple images of each site acquired between 2009 and 2015, an improved Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) ephemeris, and a temperature-dependent camera orientation model, we derived accurate coordinates (

When the Apollo astronauts collected samples from Tranquility Base in 1969, they provided an unprecedented window into the processes that shaped the Moon. Ever since, the Moon has served as a “keystone” for understanding planetary geological processes throughout the Solar System. Like all samples that have been returned from the Moon, the Apollo 11 samples were collected from the lunar regolith, a layer of jumbled and pulverized rocks that blankets and obscures the Moon's bedrock geology. When geologists reconstruct the history of the Moon, these samples are like scattered puzzle pieces, each representing important information, but removed from the context of their formation and isolated from the bigger picture of how the Moon's crust was formed. The goal of Moon Diver is to return to Mare Tranquillitatis, taking advantage of the discovery of a natural pit cave entrance exposing a deep cross-section through both the lunar regolith as well as tens of meters of bedrock lava layers. Collecting information on the chemistry, mineralogy, and morphology of these intact bedrock layers would allow us to investigate where rocky crusts come from, how they are emplaced, and the process by which they are transformed into the regolith layer that we see from space. In doing so, the mission would combine the deep knowledge gained by Apollo with the unprecedented in situ access to secondary crust granted by the lunar mare pit to understand these fundamental processes on the Moon, and to use this knowledge as a keystone for understanding the same processes across the Solar System. The success of the Moon Diver concept hinges on accessing the subsurface. The existence of the mare pit provides a cross-section through the lunar maria. Access to the record exposed in the wall of this pit is provided by two critical space technologies: pinpoint landing (allowing the delivery of the payload close to the pit) and extreme terrain mobility (allowing the delivery of capable instruments to the cliff wall). Pinpoint landing is a closed-loop guidance and navigation capability that repeatedly matches visual features from a downward-facing camera to a priori acquired terrain maps. This body-relative navigation is then used with closed-loop control to guide the spacecraft toward its landing target, yielding a tight landing ellipse. Once on the surface, an extreme-terrain robotic explorer, called Axel, would egress from the lander and traverse tens of meters to the pit. The lander provides mechanical support, power and communication to the rover through its umbilical tether. Anchored to the lander, the two-wheeled, tail-dragger rover would pay out its tether as it traverses toward the pit. With the aid of its 300-meter tether, the rover can traverse the steep slopes of the pit funnel and rappel its vertical walls. The rover carries a surface preparation tool together with a suite of three instrument types: (a) a trio of high-resolution cameras (Mars 2020's EECAMs) for acquiring context images of the near and far walls with the near-wall pair in a stereoscopic configuration, (b) an alpha-particle-X-ray Spectrometer (MSL's APXS) for elemental composition, and (c) a multi-spectral microscopic imager (MMI) that uses controlled lighting for minerology. The surface-preparation tool removes dust and patina that may be present on the rock wall by grinding a small area. The surface-preparation tool, the MMI and the APXS would be deployed from their instrument bays in one of the wheel wells. The rover would independently point each of its instruments at the same target of interest on the wall with millimeter-level repeatability. Confidence in the technologies of pinpoint landing and extreme-terrain access is based on helicopter testing of terrain-relative navigation and field testing of extreme terrain mobility respectively. The latter was tested using Axel rover prototypes with integrated science instruments at multiple terrestrial analog sites including a basaltic pit in Arizona. Landing shortly after sunrise, the surface mission timeline is just shy of a lunar day (14 Earth days). Upon landing, the rover would egress from the lander, traverse toward the pit, descend along the pit funnel and rappel down its wall. Throughout its traverse, the rover would acquire multiple measurements of both regolith and mare layers. After descending to the bottom of the layers, the rover will reach a significant overhang. This void space may open into a large cave or lava tube, which could someday provide a protected location for a lunar base. For these reasons, lunar pits provide an exciting new target for lunar exploration.

China’s robotic Chang’e-3 spacecraft, carrying the Yutu rover, touched down in Mare Imbrium on the lunar surface on 14 December 2013. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) imaged the site both before and after landing. Multi-temporal NAC images taken before and after the landing, phase-ratio images made from NAC images taken after the landing, and Hapke photometric techniques were used to evaluate surface changes caused by the disturbance of regolith at the landing site (blast zone) by the descent engines of the Chang’e-3 spacecraft. The reflectance of the landing site increased by 10 ± 1% (from I / F = 0.040 to 0.044 at 30° phase angle) as a result of the landing, a value similar to reflectance increases estimated for the Apollo, Luna, and Surveyor landing sites. The spatial extent of the disturbed area at the Chang’e-3 landing site, 2530 m 2 , also falls close to what is predicted on the basis of correlations between lander mass, thrust, and blast zone areas for the historic landed missions. A multi-temporal ratio image of the Chang’e-3 landing site reveals a main blast zone (slightly elongate in the N–S direction; ∼75 m across N–S and ∼43 m across in the E–W direction) and an extended diffuse, irregular halo that is less reflective than the main blast zone (extending ∼40–50 m in the N–S direction and ∼10–15 m in the E–W direction beyond the main blast zone). The N–S elongation of the blast zone likely resulted from maneuvering during hazard avoidance just prior to landing. The phase-ratio image reveals that the blast zone is less backscattering than surrounding undisturbed areas. The similarities in magnitude of increased reflectance between the Chang’e-3 landing site and the Surveyor, Apollo, and Luna landing sites suggest that lunar soil reflectance changes caused by interaction with rocket exhaust are not significantly altered over a period of 40–50 years. The reflectance changes are independent of regolith composition, indicating that they are caused by a change in the physical properties of the regolith, likely microscopic to macroscopic smoothing of the surface, and possibly a change in surface maturity by removal of highly mature very fine-grained regolith components.

The Clementine UVVIS camera returned over half a million images while in orbit around the Moon in 1994. Since the Clementine mission, our knowledge of lunar topography, gravity, and the location of features on the surface has vastly improved with the success of the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission and ongoing Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission. In particular, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) has returned over a million images of the Moon since entering orbit in 2009. With the aid of improved ephemeris and on-orbit calibration, the LROC team created a series of precise and accurate global maps. With the updated reference frame, older lunar maps, such as those generated from Clementine UVVIS images, are misaligned making cross-mission analysis difficult. In this study, we use feature-based matching routines to refine and recalibrate the interior and exterior orientation parameters of the Clementine UVVIS camera. After applying these updates and rigorous orthorectification, we are able generate precise and accurate maps from UVVIS images to help support lunar science and future cross-mission investigations.

Numerous spacecraft have impacted the surface of Moon during the last several decades of lunar exploration. These impacts fall into two categories: relatively high-angle impacts formed by spacecraft on direct trajectories from the Earth and low-angle impacts formed by spacecraft in lunar orbit. The craters produced by the Ranger spacecraft and the Apollo S-IVB boosters are discussed here. The Ranger spacecraft had a mass of ~370 kg (816 lb.), impacted at 2600 km s −1 and formed craters ~14–15 m in diameter. The S-IVB boosters had masses of ~14,000 kg (30865 lb.), impacted at ~2600 km s −1 and formed craters ~35 m in diameter. These impacts are relatively unique due to the low bulk-density of the impactor (28 and 700 kg m −3 , respectively the S-IVB and Ranger spacecraft). Craters produced by the impact of the Ranger spacecraft are similar to other lunar mare craters in which the excavation process was impeded by the underlying solid basalt. Craters produced by the S-IVB impacts are non-circular and exhibit an elongate central mound. It appears that the S-IVB crater excavation also interacted with the basalt but in a more complicated manner than for the Ranger craters. Ejecta and rays associated with these craters are asymmetric and indicate that the excavation flow field varied with time and was not symmetric about the trajectory direction.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera images acquired both before and after the formation of an 18.8 m diameter crater on 17 March 2013 reveal intricate details of ejecta distribution and the structure of the top two meters of the regolith. Our observations indicate that (1) the regolith is mature down to several tens of cm and immature below one meter, (2) surface reflectivity properties are affected for distances greater than fifty crater radii, and (3) large numbers of secondary impacts (splotches) formed up to 30 km distant from this new primary crater. These observations provide new knowledge of the distribution of ejected materials from small impact craters on the Moon, the modification of the top few cm of the regolith by micrometeorite impacts, and potential hazards to future explorers.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) consists of three imaging systems: a Wide Angle Camera (WAC) and two Narrow Angle Cameras (NACs). Since entering lunar orbit in June of 2009, LROC has collected over 700,000 images. A subset of WAC images were reduced into a global morphologic basemap, a near-global digital elevation model, and multitemporal movie sequences that characterize illumination conditions of the polar regions. In addition, NAC observations were reduced to meter scale maps and digital elevation models of select regions of interest. These Reduced Data Record (RDR) products were publicly released through NASA’s Planetary Data System to aid scientists and engineers in planning future lunar missions and addressing key science questions.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) consists of two imaging systems that provide multispectral and high resolution imaging of the lunar surface. The Wide Angle Camera (WAC) is a seven color push-frame imager with a 90∘ field of view in monochrome mode and 60∘ field of view in color mode. From the nominal 50 km polar orbit, the WAC acquires images with a nadir ground sampling distance of 75 m for each of the five visible bands and 384 m for the two ultraviolet bands. The Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) consists of two identical cameras capable of acquiring images with a ground sampling distance of 0.5 m from an altitude of 50 km. The LROC team geometrically calibrated each camera before launch at Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, California and the resulting measurements enabled the generation of a detailed camera model for all three cameras. The cameras were mounted and subsequently launched on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) on 18 June 2009. Using a subset of the over 793000 NAC and 207000 WAC images of illuminated terrain collected between 30 June 2009 and 15 December 2013, we improved the interior and exterior orientation parameters for each camera, including the addition of a wavelength dependent radial distortion model for the multispectral WAC. These geometric refinements, along with refined ephemeris, enable seamless projections of NAC image pairs with a geodetic accuracy better than 20 meters and sub-pixel precision and accuracy when orthorectifying WAC images.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera images reveal the presence of steep-walled pits in mare basalt ( n = 8), impact melt deposits ( n = 221), and highland terrain ( n = 2). Pits represent evidence of subsurface voids of unknown extents. By analogy with terrestrial counterparts, the voids associated with mare pits may extend for hundreds of meters to kilometers in length, thereby providing extensive potential habitats and access to subsurface geology. Because of their small sizes relative to the local equilibrium crater diameters, the mare pits are likely to be post-flow features rather than volcanic skylights. The impact melt pits are indirect evidence both of extensive subsurface movement of impact melt and of exploitable sublunarean voids. Due to the small sizes of pits (mare, highland, and impact melt) and the absolute ages of their host materials, it is likely that most pits formed as secondary features.

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has a low probability of success, but it would have a high impact if successful. Therefore it makes sense to widen the search as much as possible within the confines of the modest budget and limited resources currently available. To date, SETI has been dominated by the paradigm of seeking deliberately beamed radio messages. However, indirect evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence could come from any incontrovertible signatures of non-human technology. Existing searchable databases from astronomy, biology, earth and planetary sciences all offer low-cost opportunities to seek a footprint of extraterrestrial technology. In this paper we take as a case study one particular new and rapidly-expanding database: the photographic mapping of the Moon's surface by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) to 0.5 m resolution. Although there is only a tiny probability that alien technology would have left traces on the moon in the form of an artifact or surface modification of lunar features, this location has the virtue of being close, and of preserving traces for an immense duration. Systematic scrutiny of the LRO photographic images is being routinely conducted anyway for planetary science purposes, and this program could readily be expanded and outsourced at little extra cost to accommodate SETI goals, after the fashion of the SETI@home and Galaxy Zoo projects.

Random bombardment by comets, asteroids and associated fragments form and alter the lunar regolith and other rocky surfaces. The accumulation of impact craters over time is of fundamental use in evaluating the relative ages of geologic units. Crater counts and radiometric ages from returned samples provide constraints with which to derive absolute model ages for unsampled units on the Moon and other Solar System objects. However, although studies of existing craters and returned samples offer insight into the process of crater formation and the past cratering rate, questions still remain about the present rate of crater production, the effect of early-stage jetting during impacts and the influence that distal ejecta have on the regolith. Here we use Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) temporal ('before and after') image pairs to quantify the contemporary rate of crater production on the Moon, to reveal previously unknown details of impact-induced jetting, and to identify a secondary impact process that is rapidly churning the regolith. From this temporal dataset, we detected 222 new impact craters and found 33 per cent more craters (with diameters of at least ten metres) than predicted by the standard Neukum production and chronology functions for the Moon. We identified broad reflectance zones associated with the new craters that we interpret as evidence of a surface-bound jetting process. We also observe a secondary cratering process that we estimate churns the top two centimetres of regolith on a timescale of 81,000 years-more than a hundred times faster than previous models estimated from meteoritic impacts (ten million years).

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) consists of two imaging systems that provide synoptic and high resolution imaging of the lunar surface. The Wide Angle Camera (WAC) is a seven color push frame imager with a 90° field of view in monochrome mode and 60° field of view in color mode. From the nominal 50 km polar orbit, the WAC acquires images with a nadir pixel scale of 75 m for each visible band and 384 m for the two ultraviolet bands. The Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) consists of two identical cameras capable of acquiring images with a pixel scale of 0.5 to 1.0 m from a 50 km orbit. Each camera was geometrically calibrated prior to launch at Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, California. Using thousands of images acquired since launch in June of 2009, improvements to the relative and absolute pointing of the twin NACs were made allowing images on the surface to be projected with an accuracy of 20 meters. Further registration of WAC and NAC images allowed the derivation of a new distortion model and pointing updates for the WAC, thus enabling sub-pixel accuracy in projected WAC images.

The Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter provides direct imaging, at pixel scales of 0.5 to 1.0 meter, of anthropogenic equipment left on the Moon. We identified the descent stages of the lunar modules, central stations of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package, Laser Ranging Retroreflectors (LRRRs), and Lunar Roving Vehicles in each NAC image of the Apollo landing sites. The pixel coordinates of those objects were then converted to latitude and longitude coordinates using SPICE routines in the U.S. Geological Survey Integrated System for Imagers and Spectrometers. For images that contained an LRRR, pointing information was updated to match the well known LRRR coordinates. Final coordinates for each object are reported as averages from multiple images. NAC observations allow refinement of the locations of these objects and result in a more accurate geodetic referencing at these historic sites. Additionally, the anthropogenic coordinate analysis enables realistic error estimates for NAC derived coordinates for features anywhere on the Moon.

Typical flow thicknesses of lunar mare basalts were not well constrained in the past, because as craters and rilles age, downslope movement of loose material tends to mix and bury stratigraphy, obscuring the three dimensional nature of the maria. New Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera high resolution images unambiguously reveal thicknesses of mare basalt layers exposed in impact craters, rilles, and steep-walled pits. Pits up to one hundred meters deep present relatively unmodified, near-vertical sections of mare in three cases, and many young impact craters also expose well preserved sections of mare. Oblique views of each pit and many of these craters reveal multiple layers, 3 to 14 m thick, indicating that eruptions typically produced a series of ∼10 m thick flows (or flow lobes) rather than flows many tens to hundreds of meters thick. Additionally, these images unambiguously show that the floors of two pits extend beneath the mare surfaces, thus revealing sublunarean voids of unknown lateral extent. We also document the occurrence of pits that may be expressions of collapse into subsurface voids in non-mare impact melt deposits. These voids are compelling targets for future human and robotic exploration, with potential as temporary shelters, habitations, or geologic museums.

A novel method for detection and identification of specific alleles has been developed utilizing immobilized mismatch binding protein (IMBP). The assay involves the use of biotin-labeled probes, which are prepared by PCR amplification of cloned fragments with known sequence. The use of probes avoids many of the problems associated with the extreme sensitivity of IMBP assays to errors in PCR amplification. The method can be used to monitor PCR fidelity and to genotype both diploid and haploid organisms and has been used to distinguish rifampicin-sensitive and -resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and to detect and distinguish two alleles of the sheep prion protein gene involved in susceptibility to scrapie.

The ability of mismatch binding proteins, in particular the Escherichia coli MutS protein, to bind DNA containing mismatched base pairs or one to four unpaired bases makes them ideally suited to use in mutation/polymorphism detection assays. Several methods, including nuclease protection, band shift, and filter binding assays, have been employed with varying degrees of success. New assays, including genemic mismatch scanning, immobilized mismatch binding protein, and direct detection of mismatch binding protein, are being developed and appear promising. Mismatch binding protein-based assays have the potential for widespread use in both basic research and clinical applications.

An accurate and highly sensitive mutation detection assay has been developed. The assay is based on the detection of mispaired and unpaired bases by immobilized mismatch binding protein (Escherichia coli MutS). The assay can detect most mismatches and all single base substitution mutations, as well as small addition or deletion mutations. The assay is simple to use and does not require the use of either radioactivity or gel electrophoresis.

[1] New geologic sketch maps and digital elevation models for King crater and the surrounding lunar farside highlands were created from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Wide-angle Camera (WAC) and Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) images. NAC images reveal that high volume impact melt accumulations exhibit evidence of dynamic processes during and following emplacement that resulted in downwarped zones, and other morphologic anomalies visible at the 50 cm pixel scale. Among the most significant of these forms are negative relief features, some of which may represent evidence for near-surface caverns, offering points of access to subsurface environments and possible shelter from surface hazards. Other negative relief features may represent regions of extension and separation in response to possible subsurface drainage, together with isostatic readjustments, contraction, and/or compaction, in the cooling impact melt. Crater counts on the continuous ejecta blanket suggest a Late Eratosthenian to Copernican age for King crater, which is older than the estimate of Young (1977), but consistent with those of others.

Galileo images of Gaspra make it possible for the first time to determine a main-belt asteroid's photometric properties accurately by providing surface-resolved coverage over a wide range of incidence and emission angles and by extending the phase angle coverage to phases not observable from Earth. We combine Earth-based telescopic photometry over phase angles 2° ≤ α ≤ 25° with Galileo whole-disk and disk-resolved data at 33° ≤ α ≤ 51° to derive average global photometric properties in terms of Hapke's photometric model. The microscopic texture and particle phase-function behavior of Gaspra's surface are remarkably like those of other airless rocky bodies such as the Moon. The macroscopic surface roughness parameter, θ = 29°, is slightly larger than that reported for typical lunar materials. The particle single scattering albedo, ω0 = 0.36 ± 0.07, is significantly larger than for lunar materials, and the opposition surge amplitude, B0 = 1.63 ± 0.07, is correspondingly smaller. We determine a visual geometric albedo pv = 0.22 ± 0.06 for Gaspra, in close agreement with pv = 0.22 ± 0.03 estimated from Earth-based observations. Gaspra's phase integral is 0.47, and the bolometric Bond albedo is estimated to be 0.12 ± 0.03. An albedo map derived by correcting Galileo images with our average global photometric function reveals subdued albedo contrasts of ±10% or less over Gaspra's northern hemisphere. Several independent classification algorithms confirm the subtle spectral heterogeneity reported earlier (S. Mottola, M. DiMartino, M. Gonano-Beurer, H. Hoffman, and G. Neukum, 1993, Asteroids, Comets, Meteors, pp. 421-424; M. J. S. Belton et al., 1992, Science 257, 1647-1652). Whole-disk colors (0.41 ≤ λ ≤ 0.99 μm) vary systematically with longitude by about ±5%, but color differences as large as 30% occur locally. Colors vary continuously between end-member materials whose areal distribution correlates with regional topography. Infrared: violet (0.99:0.41-μm) color ratios on Gaspra are strongly correlated with local elevation, being largest at lower elevations and smaller at higher elevations. No correlation was detected between elevation and the green:violet (0.56:0.41-μm) color ratio. Bright materials with a strong 1-μm absorption occur primarily in association with craters along ridges, while darker materials with 30% weaker 1-μm signatures occur downslope. The variations of color and albedo cannot be easily explained by grain-size effects alone or by differences in photometric geometry. The trends observed are consistent with those revealed by laboratory studies of the effects of comminution, glass formation, and segregation of metal from silicate components in chondritic meteorites and also in some silicate mixtures. The relative importance of these various processes on Gaspra remains to be determined.

[1] Basaltic mare materials extruded between ∼ 4 Ga and ∼ 1.2 Ga ago and formed large expanses on the lunar nearside. In contrast to the maria, volcanic shields, domes, and cones also occur but cover only a small area of the total lunar surface. One specific type of dome is characterized (1) by steep slopes, (2) by a high albedo similar to lunar highlands, and (3) by a strong absorption in the ultraviolet. Because of this latter feature they appear spectrally red and therefore were termed red spots. Their morphology suggests that these domes were created by much more viscous, silica-rich lava. Also, red spots which are believed to be possibly volcanic in origin are associated with light plains materials. In order to constrain the formation of these presumed volcanic features in context with the formation of the surrounding mare and highland materials, we carried out (1) geologic and morphologic mapping of high-resolution Lunar Orbiter IV and Apollo 16 frames and (2) measurements of superimposed crater frequencies on geologic units in order to assess stratigraphy and geological history in the following two volcanic provinces in which red spots occur: (1) the Hansteen region, dominated by the dome Hansteen α (also known as the Arrowhead), and (2) the Helmet region, dominated by light plains, possibly of volcanic origin, such as the feature called the Helmet and Darney χ, and the southern Montes Riphaeus. In the Hansteen region, the dome Hansteen α postdates craters Billy (3.88 Ga) and Hansteen (3.87 Ga) but predates most of the mare materials (3.51 Ga). Cratering model ages of the dome range from 3.74 to 3.65 Ga, placing its major activity as extending into the late Imbrian. In the Helmet region, presumed highland volcanism associated with red spots started in the Nectarian with Darney χ (3.94 Ga). Cratering model ages measured on the Helmet light plains range from 3.8 to 2.08 Ga. The origin of these light plains and local resurfacing processes in this unit, however (highland volcanism or impact), remains an open question. Locally, younger processes of Eratosthenian or even Copernican age, such as emplacement of mare materials or mass wasting deposits, could be dated in the higher-resolution Apollo 16 frame.

Cell death caused by arrested replication of damaged or structurally altered DNA can be avoided in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells by multiple DNA polymerases that are specialized to bypass DNA damage. Some of these polymerases perform such translesion DNA synthesis of specific types of damage with high genetic fidelity. However, they exhibit greatly reduced fidelity when they operate on undamaged DNA or on DNA with lesions that are (apparently) not cognate substrates. The low fidelity of some of these specialized polymerases when copying undamaged DNA may be physiologically functional, including generating immunoglobulin diversity.

We describe a novel assay capable of accurately determining the length of short tandem repeat (STR) alleles. STR genotyping is achieved utilizing RecA-mediated ligation (RML), which combines the high fidelity of RecA-mediated homology searching with allele-specific ligation. RecA catalyzes the pairing of synthetic oligonucleotides with one strand of a double-stranded DNA target, in this case a PCR amplicon. Ligation occurs only when two adjacent oligonucleotides are base paired to the STR region without any overlap or gap. RecA activity is required to overcome the inherent difficulty of annealing repeated sequences in register. This assay is capable of determining STR genotypes of human samples, is easily adapted to high throughput or automated systems and can have widespread utility in diagnostic and forensic applications.

In using either the x-ray or electricity in therapeutics, the inconvenience and loss of time required to time the length of treatment properly is an annoying feature of the work. More especially is this true when the x-ray is used, as the length of exposure is of the utmost importance. The safety of the patient requires great care in order that over-exposure be avoided, and safety to the operator requires that he should not remain present longer than necessary, even when ordinary protection is employed. I have devised a new automatic time switch which is very simple and positive in operation, and can be depended on to stop the treatment when the time is up by cutting off the current. This not only makes it unnecessary for the physician to be present during the time of treatment, but also relieves the patient from anxiety caused by fear of too long

If one examines the outline of a shadow from a light emanating from a large area—e. g., a gaslight—it will be seen to compare favorably with the outlines on a fluoroscope or on a picture, when the x -ray is used from a tube having the anode out of focus. On the other hand, the outlines of a shadow emanating from a small area—e. g., an are lamp—resemble the outlines on a fluoroscope or on a picture, when an x -ray tube having a sharply focused anode is used ( Figs. 1 and 2 ). The x -ray emanates from the molecular bombardment of the rarefied air in the tube on the surface of the anode. The structures of rarefied air are repelled from the concave disc or cathode forming the cathode rays or stream. This cathode stream striking the surface of the anode or disc in the center of the tube