Science Thursday: tigons, ligers and sleep tight little rovers

Did you know that tigers and lions have been bred in zoos? Wow! Check it out here.

And here is the latest news on the Mars Rovers. Excerpt:

PASADENA, Calif. - The Mars rover Opportunity will be put into a "deep sleep" mode at night to save energy even though the step risks cold damage to one of its instruments, NASA said.
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The twin rovers have less solar power because of the advancing winter in Mars' southern hemisphere and the accumulation of dust on their solar panels.

Opportunity has a more serious energy decline because a switch that controls a heater on its instrument arm is malfunctioning, leaving the heater on overnight even when it's not needed.

The only way to turn the heater off is to use the "deep sleep" mode, but it carries the risk of damage to Opportunity's miniature thermal emission spectrometer, known as Mini-TES.

Both rovers completed their primary missions and are on extended missions that could last for several more months if they can withstand the brutal martian cold.

Since I'm a scientist by profession and personality, I find all areas of science pretty fascinating and as I find interesting items, I'll blog them up. Perhaps I'll have to have it as a regular feature!