Mars rover finds first evidence of water - a river of it

NASA's Mars rover, Curiosity, dispatched to learn if the most Earth-like planet in the solar system was suitable for microbial life, has found clear evidence its landing site was once awash in water, a key ingredient for life, scientists said Thursday. Curiosity, a roving chemistry laboratory the size of a small car, touched down on August 6 inside a giant impact basin near the planet's equator. The primary target for the two-year mission is a three-mile (five-km) -high mound of layered rock rising from the floor of Gale Crater. Scientists suspect the mound, known as Mount Sharp, is the remains of sediment that once completely filled the crater. Analysis of a slab of rock located between the crater's north rim and the base of Mount Sharp indicate a fast-moving stream of water once flowed there.Images taken by Curiosity and released on Thursday show rounded stones cemented into the rock, which rises like a piece of jack-hammered sidewalk from the planet's surface. The stones inside the rock are too big to have been moved by wind, Curiosity scientist Rebecca Williams, with the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, told reporters on a conference call. The rock is believed to be from the floor of an ancient stream which was once between ankle- and knee-deep. The analysis is based on telephoto images taken by the rover, which is en route to a patch of land named Glenelg where three different types of rock intersect.(Reuters)

Miley Cyrus Flashes on First Red Carpet With Liam Hemsworth Post-Engagement

At Wednesday's Australians in Film Breakthrough Awards in Century City, Calif., Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth made their first joint red carpet appearance since announcing their engagement last month.

And 19-year-old Cyrus, naturally, wore yet another eyebrow-raising ensemble: A skintight black mini-dress featuring unmissable cutouts, plus platform shoes, and newly straitened hair.

"It's called Zimmerman," the former Hannah Montana star told reporters. "It's from Australia. I love a little built-in corset, every girl does!"

Cyrus gushed that she was happy to be the supportive wife-to-be that night for honoree Hemsworth, 22. "I just wanted to wear something simple because tonight is all about him . . . "I'm super stoked for him. He's really happy and it's great!"

Although she wouldn't give any details on their future wedding, Cyrus, did explain what drew her to Hemsworth, whom she's been dating on and off for about three years. "I like when men work hard, I think it's important," she explained. "I always work really hard so it's good to have someone who is as passionate about what they do and wants to be great at what they do instead of just being OK. We always strive to have our 130%."

Hemsworth's Australian background doesn't hurt, either. "I think there's a masculinity about [Australian men] that's like growing up in the South, like I did. It's very respectful and they are a little bit more respectful."

Added Hemsworth of their engagement: "We're very, very excited, very happy!"

First pictures of Emma Watson as a burleque dancer in The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Miss Watson, 22, plays the subject of an adolescent boy’s affections in a film adaption of the coming-of-age novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

A trailer of the film, released last night, shows the former Harry Potter series actor dancing in lingerie during a burlesque show to a song from the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

"I was very nervous to that stuff," Miss Watson told a cable television channel at the MTV Movie Awards yesterday. "It was tough."

"I think Harry Potter fans will love it because it has so much heart, like the Harry Potter stories do," she added. "I feel like it's the perfect transition from Harry Potter to kind of a more adolescent movie. It's a little bit of an older tone. It's darker."

Stephen Chbosky’s book is among those that have prompted most complaints to the American Library Association, for its treatment of drugs, homosexuality, nudity and offensive language.