How to protect Mars from contamination by germs from planet Earth

#planetmars #curiosityrover #astronauts #apollomission The search for life on the Red Planet Mars has been taken up by various agencies and the time has now come to work out methods of how to protect the environment of Mars from contamination by germs from our planet Earth. This is a major task as reported in space.com dated 11 February 2015 because life on the alien plane would be mostly of microbes and contamination could prove disastrous.
The questions that would naturally arise are - how can it be ensured that microbes from Earth do not hitchhike to the Red Planet and spread there? Obviously, it would be necessary to ensure that once a spacecraft is there on the surface of Mars, there must be mechanisms to protect the environment from changes that could hurt any existing Martian life.
At the other extreme is the question – if we do come across some form of life on Mars, how would it affect us humans? As biologist John Rummel, currently a visiting scholar at McGill University, has put it – no one would want to contaminate what we want to study. And, in case there is any life out there, how safe would it be to bring it back to Earth either robotically, or through Mars astronauts returning to Earth.
The problem would mostly arise in habitable locations on Mars - Curiosity rover mission, which landed on Mars in 2012, has come across a probable site around Gale Crater. There was ample evidence of past water in the form of an ancient stream bed. Obviously, these are danger prone areas where contamination could occur and which must be kept in check.
Incidentally, during the Apollo missions, when astronauts returned to Earth, they were placed under quarantine for 21 days.

Don’t be afraid of the potato – it can help you control weight

#eathealthy Don’t be afraid of the potato because, the concept that potatoes contribute to the bulging waistline, appears to now be a thing of the past. That can be discarded because scientists have, now, arrived at the decision that the potato, believed to be the nightmare of dieticians, is actually a great help to reduce a few kilos.
The vegetable is being labeled as "the miracle ingredient to fight obesity".
It seems extract of Irish potatoes, which are rich in polyphenols, have been found to reduce weight gain from a diet that is high in fat and refined carbohydrates – this is based on research conducted by scientists at McGill University. The researchers were surprised at the findings and, hence, repeated the experiment just to be sure.
Based on this study it can be sad that potato extracts could be a solution to prevent both obesity and type 2 diabetes. The investigators feel that the potato extract could be made available as a dietary supplement or simply as a cooking ingredient to be added in the kitchen.