Rice physicists probe quark‑gluon plasma temperatures, helping paint more detailed picture of big bang
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The research described in this paper gives proof of the assumption, previously made by other researchers, that blocks of CO2 ice can play a role in the creation of dune gullies on Martian dunes. However, how these blocks carved the peculiar dune gullies remained unknown. Experiments performed by the authors showed, for the first time, how blocks of CO2 can indeed create such gullies – a process that does not occur here on Earth and that had never been observed before. One of the reasons that this research is so important is that it shows the importance of having facilities with which these kinds of phenomena can be studied – phenomena that we do not know on Earth and that may occur, in different forms, on other planets with conditions even more different from ours than those on Mars. Furthermore, by better understanding the seasonal processes that shape landscapes on Mars, we are also better prepared for future Mars missions.