Washington  - A NASA rover on Mars has discovered a toxin in soil on the north pole, diminishing the likelihood of finding life on the Red Planet, space agency officials said Tuesday.

The Phoenix lander several weeks ago scooped up the dirt samples and extensive analysis confirmed the existence of perchlorate, a highly oxidizing substance that would harm life.

"This is surprising since an earlier ... measurement of surface materials was consistent with but not conclusive of the presence of perchlorate," said Peter Smith, the principal investigator at the University of Arizona.

Washington  - Tropical Storm Edouard slammed into the Texas coast near the Louisiana border on Tuesday morning, pounding residents with with high winds and heavy rain.

The storm was expected to weaken as it moved inland, the National Hurricane Centre in Miami said.

The storm came ashore with 105-kilometre-per-hour winds, which had weakened to 95 kilometre-per-hour as Edouard moved inland. At 1500 GMT, it was located about 70 kilometres north-north-east of Galveston, the centre said.

Washington, Aug 5: When it comes to teaching sensitive subjects like sex, students learn more if taught by their regular classroom teacher, says a new study.

A strong student-teacher relationship can play a key role in learning health and sex education. Students feel more comfortable with regular teachers and are able to joke around and laugh with the teachers, but also take them more seriously, find researchers from Ohio State University and the University of Kentucky.

Washington, August 5: Tiny fossilized teeth discovered from an open-pit coal mine in Gujarat, India, could be the oldest Asian remains ever found of anthropoids, taking the primate timeline back by almost 10 million years.

The discovery was made by Sunil Bajpai, an earth scientist at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) who directed excavations at the Vastan lignite coal mine in western India that unearthed the fossils.

“It’s certainly the oldest anthropoid from Asia and India,” said Richard Kay, a Duke professor of evolutionary anthropology, who is corresponding author of a report to be published online during the week of Aug. 4 - 8 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Washington, Aug 5: A Pakistani female terror-suspect said to be having links with top Al Qaeda functionaries and who had gone missing around five years ago from Karachi along with her three sons, has reportedly been detained in Afghanistan and transferred to New York. She was caught while loitering outside a Governor’s compound under suspicious circumstances.

The female identified as Aafia Siddiqui and who is known to be an American-trained Pakistani neuroscientist, was on Monday charged with trying to kill American soldiers and FBI agents in a police station in Afghanistan last month, the Justice Department said.

She reportedly studied at Brandeis University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Washington, August 5: NASA’s Phoenix spacecraft has detected the presence of a chemically reactive salt in the Martian soil, a finding that if confirmed could make it less friendly to potential life than once believed.

Scientists previously reported that the soil near Mars’ north pole was similar to backyard gardens on Earth where plants such as asparagus, green beans and turnips could grow.

But, preliminary results from a second lab test found perchlorate, a highly oxidising salt, that would create a harsh environment.

On Earth, perchlorate is a natural and manmade contaminant sometimes found in soil and groundwater. It is the main ingredient in solid rocket fuel and can be found in fireworks, pyrotechnics and other explosives.