=== Here Comes the Sun ===
It’s winter, and the sun’s rays no longer shine directly on Rjukan,a small town in south-central Norway. While all of Norway has precious few sunlit hours in winter, Rjukan is tucked in a valley between two mountain ridges that completely block sunlight from late September to mid-March. Yet despite the mountains, an oval of afternoon sunlight bathes the market square, thanks to the Solspeil—“sun mirror.” After moving to Rjukan in 2001, the prolonged winter gloom alarmed artist Martin Andersen. He wondered if mirrors placed on one of the ridges above Rjukan could change the situation. redirect sunlight into the town. He learned that in 1913 local bookkeeper Oscar Kittelsen had proposed erecting mirrors for the same purpose, and instead Sam Eyde, the town’s founder, had considered the idea. However, Eyde did not follow through on construction of the mirrors, and he abandoned the idea.
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=== The Meteoric Rise of Meenakshi Wadhwa ===
Meenakshi Wadhwa was pursuing her PhD; when a professor asked her, if she wanted to see a meteorite from Mars. Wadhwa was struck by how similar the rock’s chemical makeup was to that of Earth rocks. Thereafter, the idea that she could learn about the composition of distant worlds by studying meteorites has driven Wadhwa’s career ever since. After graduating, Wadhwa became the curator of the meteorite collection at The Field Museum in Chicago, where she conducted research on meteorites, especially those from Mars. Wadhwa used a mass spectrometer to identify and measure the elements in meteorite samples. The mass spectrometer revealed the rocks’ age and identified the processes that created them. This information helped Wadhwa better understand the geological history of Mars. In 2006, Wadhwa became the director of the Center for Meteorite Studies at Arizona State University. With more than 1,800 space rocks, including samples from Mars and the asteroid belt, the meteorite collection Wadhwa oversees is the largest at any university. Because meteorites contain material that predates Earth, Wadhwa and her colleagues can learn about the elements that were present when the Sun, planets, and moons formed. Wadhwa’s research has shed light on the early history of the solar system. For example, a 2010 study she co-wrote found that the solar system is likely 1.9 million years older than the previous estimate. In 2013, Wadhwa and two colleagues discovered evidence that a supernova exploded before the planets formed likely seeded our solar system with many essential elements. At this point, the writer is considering adding the following sentence: Wadhwa has twice been to Antarctica to hunt for meteorites. Should the writer make this addition here? Of the many honors Wadhwa’s research has earned her, perhaps the most meaningful one came from astronomers, Carolyn, and Gene Shoemaker. After discovering an asteroid, they asked the International Astronomical Union to name it after Wadhwa. The asteroid’s orbit crosses that of the Red Planet meaning that one day, as Wadhwa put it, she “just might have an impact on Mars.”