In the first half, Robert Zubrin, who founded the Mars Society, talked about the latest research on Mars, and his efforts to further the exploration and settlement of the Red Planet. "It's now becoming increasingly clear that Mars did have a warm and wet climate and a thick atmosphere for a long time in its early history," so we are likely to find remnants of life forms, or even currently living ones, he remarked. One of the Mars rovers found evidence for deposits possibly left by microorganisms, so it's important to get a crew there to investigate, he added. Zubrin is a participant in the National Geographic Channel's new series on Mars, which posits what Mars exploration will be like in the year 2033.

For exploring or even colonizing Mars, the kind of propulsion we currently have is viable (a trip there takes about six months), but for interstellar travel, a kind of fusion propulsion could be a good possibility, he said. Saturn's moon, Titan, might also be a feasible candidate for visitations, as it has an atmospheric pressure similar to the Earth, and helium-3 could be mined from Saturn as an energy source, he cited. Terraforming Mars is something that could take place once we have settlements there, and efforts to warm the planet could work within 50-100 years, he estimated. As technology and bioscience continue to develop, new methods for terraforming will arise, and there might be breathable air in the Martian atmosphere within 200 years, he postulated.

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In the latter half, a leader in mindfulness and empowerment, HeatherAsh Amara, talked about ancient Toltec teachings, shamanism, and how we can enhance our lives by working with the four nature elements. She studied under the renowned Mexican spiritual teacher Don Miguel Ruiz, who incorporates ancient wisdom teachings, and shamanistic techniques, similar to Don Juan who worked with Carlos Castaneda. Toltecs, who flourished in Mexico before the Aztecs, had teachings that looked at how perception creates reality, and considered humans to be in a dream state all the time, not just when sleeping, she noted.

Speaking of the 'Other Side,' she believes that spirits or ancestors continue to explore and evolve at a different level, but when we communicate with them, we can learn from them, and they in turn can learn from us. The four elements (air, earth, water, and fire) are the fundamental building blocks of the divine, and have their own kind of consciousness-- when we become more aware of them we can reconnect with the sacred, she suggested. Amara also talked about her work on the "warrior goddess" modality, as a way for women to come back into their power and authenticity.

News segment guests: John Curtis, Mish Shedlock, Dave Hines

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