The techniques needed to extract fossil and climatic evidence from this lake bed, and to search for life forms that have adapted to survive in such hostile conditions, would also work on Mars so it is an ideal location to test robots and even to train would-be astronauts.
And what does that say about the moral probity of the New York Board of Regents when it deliberately eliminates or weaken exams in order to prop up test scores in a thinly veiled attempt to keep the philanthropic gravy train from corporations, nonprofits, and the federal government rolling right along?