The UA Lunar and Planetary Lab's HiRISE camera got some major coverage last week on this here blog via our very own Jim Nintzel with the latest findings that there's strong evidence of flowing water on Mars. And, they say, where there is liquid water, there could be life. And where there's life, there's pen pals...on Mars! I. Can't. Wait.

Speaking of water, here's a shot, courtesy of the good folks at HiRISE, of a Slope of Gale Crater, which is covered in hot water deposits, which formed to cool the crater billions of years ago. Alfred McEwen tells us:

This image covers materials near Gale Crater just north of the planned Mars Science Laboratory landing site.

It is possible that hydrothermal deposits formed here in association with the creation and cooling of Gale Crater billions of years ago. This material could then have been transported into the landing ellipse by fluvial processes. Hydrothermal deposits may represent evidence for an ancient habitable environment on Mars.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Mark H. Brain has ruled in favor of the state in the lawsuit over whether state lawmakers are obligated to fund the state's AHCCCS program to provide health care for low-income Arizonans.

As we've reported before, attorney Tim Hogan of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest, had sued the state, saying that cutbacks in coverage for adults below the poverty line were illegal because the program had been expanded by voters, so it was subject to the provisions of the Voter Protection Act.

But Brain said that the law does not require the Legislature to fund the entire program. Brain's central takeaway:

The Legislature does not have an enforceable duty to fund Proposition 204, and the scope (and limits) of defendent Belach's duty is to continue to ensure that his agency is providing healthcare to the extent possible under Proposition 204 within the limits of the funding provided to him.

Dr. Eve Shapiro, who was one of the original supporters of Prop 204, tells The Range that Hogan will appeal.

Here's the ruling: Ruling_8-10-11.pdf

I like Top Chef. I enjoyed the first season, and I think I've watched every episode since. I was given a Top Chef cookbook as a gift from which I've made a few delicious meals. The show seems quite successful. People talk about it. In the midst of a glut of cooking competition shows, Top Chef was the one that actually seemed to feature talented, generally sincere, chefs showing off what they do well. The formula was working, the judges were likable, intelligent and interesting.

So, of course, Bravo has to screw with the show and add Emeril Lagasse:

Bam! Emeril Lagasse will be kicking "Top Chef" up a notch. He has cooked up a judging gig on next season of the Bravo food competition.

Joining the Cajun-style chef, who has hosted cooking shows on the Food Network since the late 1990s, will be Hugh Acheson who competed on "Top Chef Masters."

But fans shouldn't worry. "Top Chef" staples Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons will remain on the Bravo competition when it returns in the fall.

Another aspect of the show which will change for its ninth season is it will travel between three Texas cities — Austin, San Antonio and Dallas — instead of usually remaining in just one.

Lagassee has already been spotted dining in local restaurants with Lakshmi, Colicchio and Simmons in San Antonio, where "Top Chef" began filming in late June.

I like Hugh Acheson a lot, and I don't have the general hatred for Emeril that some foodie types do, but why does the show need more people talking? Five judges all fighting to get a word in? That seems like a disaster, but then again, the show has decided to celebrate the food of Dallas and San Antonio (I'll give Austin a pass), so I guess disaster is part of the theme. Oh well.

From 8 p.m. to midnight, Arizona Public Media will present four programs about space exploration featuring UA scientists and missions.

More from Arizona Public Media:

The evening begins with Phoenix Mars Mission: Ashes to Ice at 8 p.m.

Phoenix Mars Mission, led by Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, is the latest mission seeking to unlock the secrets of the Red Planet. The Phoenix Mars Mission team seeks to verify the presence of water and habitable conditions in the Martian arctic.

NOVA: Is There Life on Mars? at 9 p.m.

More than four years after they landed on Mars, NASA's twin robot explorers, Spirit and Opportunity, have lasted 16 times longer and driven 20 times farther than expected. Along the way, they've endured the worst Martian storm ever recorded and survived near-fatal software glitches, a broken wheel and hair-raising climbs and descents on steep slopes.

400 Years of the Telescope at 10 p.m.

This visually stunning program chronicles a sweeping journey, from 1609, when Galileo revealed mankind's place in the galaxy, to today's thrilling quests to discover new worlds in the universe.

Phoenix Mars Mission: Onto the Ice at 11 p.m.

Phoenix Mars Mission: Onto the Ice follows the Phoenix Mars Lander's 422-million mile journey through space. The final destination is a carefully selected landing site in the northern Martian plains. But before the Lander can begin touching, tasting and sniffing Martian soil in search for signs of life, it first must land on the planet safely.

There are times when I think about mistakes I've made...foolish errors that I now regret. Next time I go to that emotional place, I'll just consider the guy who went outside to get his umbrella out of a lightning storm:

A 61-YEAR-old man has survived after being struck by lightning at his East Lancashire home.

Kevin Holden, of Deepdale Court, Barrowford, was thrown four feet into the air after being hit by the lightning bolt.

Mr Holden is thought to have survived after grabbing hold of a stainless steel sink which absorbed the charge. He had also been wearing trainers at the time.

However, he was left shaking, his right arm was tingling and he had a ringing headache after the lightning surge left his body.

Mr Holden had opened his back door to watch the lightning in Saturday morning’s storm when his house began shaking and the letter box was rattling with the intensity of the storm.

Remembering his large golfing umbrella was outside, he leaned out to grab hold of it and began opening and closing it to shake off the rain.

But within moments he saw a bright blue flash and was then thrown four feet backwards with the umbrella shooting off into the garden.

You might not feel a distinct need for more information about Community, TV's critically acclaimed (if you don't count Emmy nominations) but barely watched Thursday night comedy. Too bad. It's a great show and I'm going to keep blogging about it until everyone watches/loves it.

I'm already really excited about the next season, considering the second season featured one of the most creative string of episodes of a comedy that I can recall, but now that Senor Chang (played by Ken Jeong) will have a larger role, I can barely wait:

Harmon tells us that after drifting around a bit last season without a clear mission, "This season I hope to tell a more structured story about Chang." Specifically, Jeong's character will be a security guard when classes resume September 22. "We have a story line that will detail his rise to power," he says. "I wanted to tell a story of acquiring power and what it does to you. It's a little Macbeth or Scarface. Or maybe something from The Wire." Will Chang be a corrupt fake cop? "He's corrupt in the sense that the campus is less secure than if he wasn't a security guard. But he's mostly insane," Harmon explains.

I don't know how a thirty minute comedy is going to develop a character arc for a minor character about how power corrupts, but I'm definitely interested to see how it turns out.

The Seashell Radio gig at Che's Lounge (350 N 4th Ave.) Saturday night (Aug. 13) is more than just a chance to get what I call a Seashell fix. The band's cellist Esmé Schwall is leaving the desert for the Pacific Northwest, and this is her last show with her fellow 'Shells — at least for now.

One could say Seashell isn't Radio without Fen on drums, Cassie on keyboards, Courtney on guitar and Esmé rocking her cello — all singing their brand of heart-wrenching and cat-celebrating pop. Tucsonans don't easily embrace change, so this is going to go down as one of those "Hell no, Old Pueblo" moments.

Esmé told The Range that it's hard to leave the best band she's ever been in, but she's a Northwesterner at heart and it's time for her to go home where she has a teaching gig at a high school on Bainbridge Island, Wash., across Puget Sound from Seattle.

"It's been an extraordinary experience working with those guys. It's the best band I've ever worked with. I've had a few experiences, but (this band is the best because of) the creativity and humor and truly collaborative nature of what we do," she says. "Once I graduated from my MFA program (in creative writing) I didn't want to go yet, but I had an opportunity to go to Bainbridge Island and so, I'm Seattle bound. ... It's a big leap to just leave everything here to go there, but it feels right to be grounding my life."

Esmé has two weeks to find a place to live on the island, but before she goes she and the other 'Shells are going to try to record an EP and she suspects she'll continue to collaborate with her band members even after the move. "This is a perfect moment technology-wise to do long-distance collaboration."

"It is sad, too, but it hasn't hit me. I'm sure it will on Saturday night."

I'm sure it will for everyone else at Che's, too. Drink heavily and bring tissue.

The band's Facebook invite suggests wearing a black dress and bringing chains and locks:

With heavy hearts, we report to you that this will be our beloved Esmé Schwall's last show with us here for a long time (perhaps ever, but I hate the way that sounds). She's moving on to bigger and better things and departing for the Pacific NW in mere weeks. So, in the name of all that is good and holy, come out and celebrate the glory that is Schwallski-wallski and her mighty cello.

Wear your black dresses and bring your padlocks and ropes, because if she's locked up, she can't go anywhere.

For a certain generation, the moment when Lloyd Dobler stood outside Diane Court's window and played Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" on a boombox held over his head. Now you can corrupt that touching moment of cinematic history with LloydTube, a site that allows you to express your deepest sentiments via a Lloyd Dobler illustration (as long as those sentiments are contained in a YouTube video. Click on Lloyd for my special (totally safe for work, I promise) musical gift to you, reader of The Range.

Congressman Raul Grijalva has released an iPhone app to make it easier to keep track of his activities. We think it would be cooler if it you had some way of catapulting mustaches to crush the heads of tea-bag-protected Eric Cantors and Jon Kyls, but maybe that's coming in 2.0.

The press release:

Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, today announced the release of his new iPhone app, which allows constituents and interested groups to follow legislative updates, public events, press coverage and other activities in his office. The app is free to download at http://bit.ly/nZL2p1.

“Connecting with people is what good government should really be about, and this is an important way to connect,” Grijalva said. “Anyone who wants to know more about what’s going on, both for Southern Arizona and for progressives around the country, now has another free tool at her disposal. I believe making more information available to voters and interested citizens is a valuable public service, and that’s what we’re hoping to do with this announcement.”

The app was developed by iConstituent, a government internet services provider.

With absolute sincerity, I can say that seeing Tucson, Arizona, on the list of cities on the schedule for Being Elmo just made my day. It's almost like my blog post in January willed the movie to town.

According to Awards Season, Being Elmo opens at the Loft Cinema on November 25. A long time to wait, for sure, but based on everything I've seen, the movie looks like it's worth waiting for.