Starship Asterisk*

Chris Peterson wrote: Keep in mind that the first images showing canali were made only a bit over a century ago. And the first good photographs showing the surface (with no canali) were made within a few decades of that. Is it really reasonable that all these structures were completely covered with sand in such a short time?

JohnD wrote:

Chris Peterson wrote: Keep in mind that the first images showing canali were made only a bit over a century ago. And the first good photographs showing the surface (with no canali) were made within a few decades of that. Is it really reasonable that all these structures were completely covered with sand in such a short time?

Those early "images" were just that, artistic impressions drawn by hand.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannoli wrote:
Cannoli are Sicilian pastry desserts. The singular is cannolo (or in sicilian language cannolu), meaning “little tube”, with the etymology stemming from the Latin "canna", or reed. Originating in the Palermo area, cannoli were historically prepared as a treat during Carnevale season, possibly as a fertility symbol; one legend assigns their origin to the harem of Caltanissetta. The dessert eventually became a year-round staple throughout what is now Italy. As with Sicilian cassata, Sicilian cannoli probably date back to the time of Arab domination.

Cannoli consist of tube-shaped shells of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy filling usually containing ricotta cheese (or alternatively, but less traditionally, sweetened Mascarpone) blended with some combination of vanilla, chocolate, pistachio, Marsala wine, rosewater or other flavorings. Some chefs add chopped succade or chocolate chips. They range in size from "cannulicchi", no bigger than a finger, to the fist-sized proportions typically found in Piana degli Albanesi, south of Palermo, Sicily. Sometimes cannoli can be found with the shells dipped in chocolate, in addition to being stuffed with filling.

http://www.mars.com/global/News+and+Media/News+archive/Waco+Landfill.htm wrote:
Local landfill a green energy source for Mars
10 July 2008 - United States

<<As part of a company-wide effort to reduce its environmental footprint around the world, Mars, Incorporated is striving to make its operations more sustainable at every level. As a recent example, one of the company’s largest U.S. snack food plants located in Waco, Texas has converted 60% of its heating fuel source from natural gas to methane gas harvested from the city landfill. With enough supply to power the plant’s boilers for the next 25 years, Mars is significantly reducing its carbon footprint and production costs. Using renewable methane will save the company over half a million dollars a year. It will also reduce the plant’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by more than 10,000 metric tons. That is equivalent to removing 1,900 cars from the road.

“All Snickers made at Waco will be truly green,” said Todd Lachman, president of Mars Snackfood U.S., at the kick-off celebration in May, “not in color, but in the way in which they are manufactured. Snickers, Starburst and Skittles will all be made in a plant powered in large part by renewable energy.”

Replacing natural gas with methane rather than other green energy sources provides a double benefit for the city of Waco and the environment, since city landfills account for the second largest source of human-related methane emissions in the U.S. . “Using all the methane that the landfill produces solves a local and a global environmental problem,” said David Prybylowski, sustainability director for Mars Snackfood US. “Mars is removing methane emissions in the city, eliminating the risk of combustion and reducing powerful global warming gasses.”

The natural byproduct of decomposing organic matter, methane is 20 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and is also highly flammable. Because of these physical and environmental concerns, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandates that municipalities and counties capture and mitigate methane gases once landfills reach a certain size. Mars helps Waco do just that by recycling this material for fuel.

The project originally began as the idea of now-retired Mars associate Norm Burgess. As a Waco site engineer, Burgess developed a proposal for fueling the plant with landfill methane in the late 1990s. In time, all the necessary partners and pieces to make his idea a reality came together, culminating in May of this year when the methane-powered boilers were ignited. Methane is harvested through wells and piped from the city landfill to the Mars plant five miles away. At present, 56 wells supply 60% of the plant’s heating fuel needs, and there are plans to dig another 10 wells to increase capacity.>>

Chris Peterson wrote: Keep in mind that the first images showing canali were made only a bit over a century ago. And the first good photographs showing the surface (with no canali) were made within a few decades of that. Is it really reasonable that all these structures were completely covered with sand in such a short time?

neufer wrote:
“All Snickers made at Waco will be truly green,” said Todd Lachman, president of Mars Snackfood U.S., at the kick-off celebration in May, “not in color, but in the way in which they are manufactured. Snickers, Starburst and Skittles will all be made in a plant powered in large part by renewable energy.”

Chris Peterson wrote: Keep in mind that the first images showing canali were made only a bit over a century ago. And the first good photographs showing the surface (with no canali) were made within a few decades of that. Is it really reasonable that all these structures were completely covered with sand in such a short time?

aristarchusinexile wrote:Yes. But remember, I'm not saying "for sure there are canals" .. I'm only saying "it is my belief there are canals."

JohnD wrote:

aristarchusinexile wrote:Yes. But remember, I'm not saying "for sure there are canals" .. I'm only saying "it is my belief there are canals."

Well that's alright then.
You have faith.
No point in discussing it any more.

John