An international team of 38 scientists has shown how large asteroid impacts deform rocks and possibly create habitats for early life on Earth and elsewhere.

Around 65 million years ago, a massive asteroid crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, causing an impact so huge that the blast and its aftermath wiped out about 75 percent of all life on Earth, including most of the dinosaurs. It’s known as the Chicxulub impact.

In April and May, scientists on an offshore expedition drilled deep into part of the Chicxulub impact crater. Their mission was to retrieve samples from the rocky inner ridges of the crater – known as the “peak ring” – drilling about 1,600 to 4,380 feet below the modern-day sea floor to learn more about the ancient cataclysmic event.

Now, the researchers have performed the first analysis of the core samples in a study published online Thursday in the journal Science. They found that the impact deformed the peak ring rocks, making them more porous and less dense than models had predicted.

“Chicxulub crater is the only crater on Earth that has such a well-preserved peak ring and since we can't get samples of peak rings from other planets yet, it's really our best window into understanding the formation of large impact basins anywhere in the solar system,” said Sonia Tikoo, an assistant professor in Rutgers University's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in the School of Arts and Sciences. “We really didn’t know the exact physical mechanisms behind how peak ring craters form until this study.”

Porous rocks provide niches for simple organisms to take hold, and nutrients would also be available in the pores from circulating water that would have been heated inside the Earth’s crust.

Early Earth was constantly bombarded by asteroids, and the team has inferred that this bombardment must have also created other rocks with similar physical properties. This may partly explain how life took hold on Earth.

The study also confirmed a model of how peak rings formed in the Chicxulub crater, and how peak rings may be formed in craters on other planetary bodies.

The asteroid that created the Chicxulub crater hit the Earth’s surface with such force that it pushed rocks – at the time about 6 miles beneath the surface – farther downward and then outward, the team’s work confirmed.

These rocks then moved inward toward the impact zone and then up to the surface before collapsing downward and outward again to form the peak ring. All told, the rocks moved about 18.6 miles in a few minutes.

Professor Joanna Morgan, lead author of the study from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, said: “It is hard to believe that the same forces that destroyed the dinosaurs may have also played a part, much earlier on in Earth’s history, in providing the first refuges for early life on the planet. We are hoping that further analyses of the core samples will provide more insights into how life can exist in these subterranean environments.”

Tikoo, who studies magnetic fields preserved in rocks, said, “It’s surprising that we have this possible habitat down there in an environment that experienced so much energy and heat and deformation. It’s incredible that a biosphere may be produced in that environment as well.”

In the next steps, the team will make detailed measurements from the recovered core samples to refine their numerical simulations.

Ultimately, the team is looking for evidence of modern and ancient life in the peak-ring rocks. They also want to learn more about the first sediments that were deposited on top of the peak ring. That could tell the researchers if a giant tsunami deposited the sediments, and provide insights into how life recovered and when life returned to this sterilized zone after the impact.

Tikoo has studied the physical properties of the rocks and the granite “basement” that makes up the much of the peak ring. That includes preparing and examining the samples, and making density, porosity and magnetic measurements.

“I have about 400 samples in my lab right now and in the coming months, I’m going to start looking in more detail at the magnetization of these rocks,” she said.

“Magnetism can be used to detect minerals created by impact-related hydrothermal systems,” she said. “You could potentially have hydrothermal systems forming in the Martian crust where you have warm water moving through and we’ve shown that life may be able to exist in those environments here. It’s possible that a similar process could have happened on Mars long ago. It’s another place to look for fossil evidence of life in the past.”

The expedition was conducted by the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) as part of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). The expedition is also supported by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Programme (ICDP). The expedition would not have been possible without the support and assistance of the Yucatán Government, Mexican federal government agencies and scientists from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán (CICY).

Colin Smith is with the Imperial College London and Todd B. Bates with Rutgers University.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – In response to a state appellate court ruling earlier this year, the Lake County Superior Court has moved forward with the process of modifying the sentences of two men convicted of a 2011 Clearlake shooting that killed a child and injured several others.

Late last month, Paul William Braden, 26, was in Lakeport for a resentencing while his co-defendant, Orlando Joseph Lopez Jr., 28, has not yet returned and may have to be ordered to do so by the court.

In 2012, Braden and Lopez were tried together but with different juries and found guilty of shooting into a crowd of people at a Clearlake apartment, killing 4-year-old Skyler Rapp, and wounding five others, including his mother and her boyfriend.

The separate juries found both Braden and Lopez guilty of first-degree murder, five counts of attempted murder, two counts of mayhem, six counts of assault with a firearm, a count of discharge of a firearm at an inhabited dwelling, and numerous special allegations for use of a firearm.

Calling the crime one of “the most callous and vicious and nonsensical” she'd ever dealt with, visiting Yolo County Judge Doris Shockley gave the men what local prosecutors believe to be among the longest sentences ever dispensed in the local courts.

Lopez receiving a 311-year sentence and Braden, who had a previous felony conviction, got an additional year for a total of 312 years.

In February, the First District Court of Appeal ordered that Braden and Lopez should either be retried on the first-degree murder charge or else have their convictions reduced to second-degree murder, with the two counts of mayhem stayed and the remaining counts upheld, as Lake County News has reported.

The reason for that ruling was due to a 2014 California Supreme Court decision, People v. Chiu.

Braden and Lopez successfully argued to the appellate court that their first-degree murder convictions had to be reversed “because the trial court’s instructions allowed the jurors to convict based on a theory that the premeditated murder was a natural and probable consequence of each appellant’s aiding and abetting of an assault with a firearm,” which is contrary to the Chiu ruling.

District Attorney Don Anderson, who personally prosecuted both men, said that in the 2012 trial's jury instructions, multiple theories for what drove the Rapp murder – aiding and abetting, natural probable consequences or a direct shooter – were offered.

He said that the Chiu decision requires that prosecutors must now give a specific theory of first-degree murder.

Although the Chiu ruling came two years after the Braden and Lopez trial, Anderson said it can be used retroactively.

Within weeks of the appellate decision, Anderson decided not to put the men on trial again for first-degree murder, noting there was nothing to gain by putting the family and witnesses through the lengthy process all over again. Instead, he chose to allow them to be resentenced for second-degree murder for Rapp's killing.

Anderson said that other recent changes to California law in the form of Proposition 57 will not impact the Braden and Lopez cases, because second-degree murder is a violent felony and therefore the new law doesn't apply.

Braden returns from state prison for resentencing

On Oct. 31, Braden appeared before Judge Andrew Blum for his sentence modification, Anderson said.

The changes to Braden's sentence from first-degree to second-degree murder bring it from a total of 312 years down to 248 years, Anderson said.

With neither Braden's nor Lopez's original attorneys being available – Braden's has left the county, Lopez's has died – new attorneys have been appointed to represent them in the latest proceedings.

Christina DiEdoardo said she was appointed to represent Braden, while Mitchell Hauptman now acts as counsel for Lopez.

“I was appointed very late in the game, originally for a very limited purpose,” DiEdoardo told Lake County News.

She said she was looking at doing a check of his DNA for further challenges to his sentence when the appellate court decision was handed down in February.

In March, Braden's and Lopez's appellate attorneys filed a petition for review of the case with the California Supreme Court, which denied that petition on May 25, according to court records. DiEdoardo said such denials from the state Supreme Court are common.

Braden was transported to Lake County this fall for the proceedings; DiEdoardo said she did not know where he was transported from or being housed.

Appellate court records indicated in the spring that, at that time, he was being housed in Kern Valley State Prison, located on 600 acres in Delano. A check of inmate records this week showed that Braden still resides there.

“In Mr. Braden's case, the modification is definitely appreciated. His sentence is pretty substantial,” DiEdoardo said.

DiEdoardo said Braden also has indicated that he will further challenge his sentence. “He's planning to continue to pursue federal remedies,” including federal habeas corpus, she said.

As for the basis of his plans for appeal, “He hasn't shared that with me because it's not relevant to what we're looking at here, but I know he wants to continue this proceeding,” said DiEdoardo.

DiEdoardo called the incident that led to Braden's prosecution “pretty horrific,” adding that from Braden's perspective, the sentence he's facing is likewise horrifying.

When Braden was sentenced in August 2012, he maintained his innocence, blamed his conviction on a jailhouse informant, blamed another man who had reached a plea agreement and testified against him and took issue with his then-attorney. When he used profanity in his statement to the court, he was upbraided by the judge who he then also criticized.

Shockley called him “cold and calculating” just as the victims had testified after giving him the 312-year sentence.

Court reschedules resentencing for Lopez

Still to receive his modified sentence is Lopez, whose case was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, also before Judge Blum.

Anderson told Lake County News that Lopez's sentence is to be modified from 311 years to 247 years.

Hauptman told the court during the brief hearing that Lopez previously had declined to be transported to Lake County for the resentencing.

The reason, said Hauptman, is that Lopez is now housed at Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad, and doesn't want to leave there until it can be guaranteed that he will be transported back. Otherwise, he will lose his job, housing and other programming, and likely will be sent to another facility.

Lopez wanted Judge Blum to order that he be returned Soledad, but during the Tuesday hearing Blum said it was up to the state prison system – not him – to determine Lopez's housing.

Hauptman said he could write Lopez back and explain that, and the court could attempt to order him to appear.

“I ordered him here before,” said Blum.

Blum said county correctional officers had responded to Salinas Valley State Prison to transport Lopez back to Lake County, but he refused to come. The state prison officers said they would only physically remove Lopez if Blum signed what's called an “extraction order.”

“I got the impression he didn't want to be here,” Blum said.

Lopez has since indicated that he is now willing to return so he can see his family at the holidays, Hauptman said.

Hauptman asked for the court's indulgence to continue the matter one more time to allow him to again ask Lopez if he wanted to come to Lake County or would simply authorize Hauptman to appear on his behalf.

Blum noted that, while defendants generally have to be present for sentencing, in this situation, “the sentence is merely being modified somewhat” and to Lopez's favor, so he questioned if Lopez even needed to be there.

Hauptman said Lopez wanted to be present for the resentencing if he can be assured he will be returned to the same housing.

“To my knowledge, I cannot guarantee such a thing,” Blum said.

Because Lopez had shown interest in being present for the matter, Anderson asked Blum to issue an extraction order to stop further delays.

“I don't want to keep dragging this out either,” said Blum.

Hauptman said they had about 100 years to sort it out, then added he didn't want to be facetious. He suggested enforcing transport could result in a public safety issue.

Blum agreed to hold the matter over. Lopez, he said, “either wants to be here or he doesn't,” and added he was willing to proceed without Lopez if Lopez does not wish to be there. That's something he wouldn't normally do on a felony case, but he pointed out that it is a modification directed by the court of appeal.

Hauptman said he read Lopez's response so far as conditional on being able to return to the prison where he's now living. “He's not being a jerk about it,” said Hauptman, noting Lopez's polite and respectful tone in the letter, and adding it was a reasonable response for someone serving life in prison.

He asked for the matter to be held over until December, and Blum agreed. “You can tell him I cannot guarantee where he will be returned to. That is entirely up to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,” said Blum.

The matter was continued until Dec. 6, with Blum ordering Lopez to be present.

“If he hasn't given something definitive at that time, I will order his extraction,” said Blum.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Homelessness continues to decline in the U.S, specifically among families with children, veterans and individuals with long-term disabling conditions, according to the latest national estimate by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD.

HUD’s 2016 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress found that 549,928 persons experienced homelessness on a single night in 2016, a decline of 14 percent since 2010, the year the Obama Administration launched Opening Doors, the nation’s first comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness.

Over this seven-year period, HUD estimates the nation experienced a 23-percent reduction among homeless families, a 47-percent drop in veteran homelessness, and a 27 percent decline in individuals experiencing chronic homelessness.

This national estimate is based upon data reported by approximately 3,000 cities and counties across the nation.

Every year on a single night in January, planning agencies called “Continuums of Care” and tens of thousands of volunteers seek to identify the number of individuals and families living in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs and in unsheltered settings.

In making the announcement, HUD Secretary Julián Castro noted that though the nation is making significant progress in reducing homelessness, the number of ‘doubled up’ or rent-burdened families remains a vexing problem.

“Every person deserves a safe, stable place to call home,” said Secretary Castro. “The Obama Administration has made unprecedented progress toward ending homelessness and today marks the seventh straight year of measureable progress. While we know that our work is far from finished, it’s clear we’re on the right track to prevent and end homelessness for good.”

“While our continued progress reinforces that we are on the right path, the data also makes clear that we must increase the pace of that progress,” said Matthew Doherty, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. “To do so, we must be unwavering in our commitment to strategies and investments that are working. Our communities and our citizens deserve nothing less.”

During one night in late January of 2016, tens of thousands of volunteers across the nation sought to identify individuals and families living on their streets as well as in emergency shelters and transitional housing programs.

These one-night “snapshot” counts, as well as full-year counts and data from other sources (U.S. Housing Survey, Department of Education), are crucial in understanding the scope of homelessness and measuring progress toward reducing it.

While, on the national level, homeless numbers are dropping, on the local level in Lake County, the number of homeless has nearly doubled over the past year.

The federal report showed that Lake County had an estimated 332 homeless this year at the time of the count, compared to the 170 counted and reported locally in 2015.

Of those 332 individuals, 44 were sheltered and 288 were not. Most of those counted – 210 – were people on their own, while the remainder were homeless people in families.

Those numbers also included 31 chronically homeless people and 21 homeless veterans, the report showed.

Key findings of HUD’s 2016 Annual Homeless Assessment Report

On a single night in January 2016, state and local planning agencies reported:

– 549,928 people were homeless representing an overall 14 percent reduction from January 2010. Most homeless persons (373,571) were located in emergency shelters or transitional housing programs while 176,357 persons were unsheltered.

– The number of families with children experiencing homelessness declined 23 percent since 2010.

– Veteran homelessness dropped by 47 percent (or 34,616 persons) since January 2010. On a single night in January 2016, 39,471 veterans were experiencing homelessness.

– Chronic or long-term homelessness among individuals declined by 27 percent (or 77,486 persons) since 2010.

– The number of unaccompanied homeless youth and children appeared to decline in 2016 to 35,686 though HUD will launch a more robust effort to more accurately account for this important population in January of 2017.

The Obama Administration's strategic plan to end homelessness is called Opening Doors – a roadmap for joint action by the 19 federal member agencies of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness along with local and state partners in the public and private sectors.

The plan offers strategies to connect mainstream housing, health, education, and human service programs as part of a coordinate plan to prevent and end homelessness.

Family homelessness

There were 61,265 family households experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2016, a nearly 23 percent decline since 2010.

Meanwhile, the number of persons in families declined by nearly 20 percent during that time, due in large measure to the expansion of Rapid Rehousing Programs across the country and a concerted effort by local planners to reallocate scarce resources in a more strategic way.

Veteran homelessness

Since the launch of Opening Doors, several states and local communities have declared an effective end to veteran homelessness.

As a consequence of intense planning and targeted intervention, homelessness among veterans fell by nearly 50 percent since 2010.

This decline is largely attributed to the close collaboration between HUD and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on a joint program called HUD-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH).

Since 2008, more than 79,000 rental vouchers have been awarded and approximately 111,000 formerly homeless veterans are currently in homes of their own because of HUD-VASH.

Chronic homelessness

Long-term or chronic homelessness among individuals declined 27 percent since 2010. This reduction is due in part to a concerted effort to make available more permanent supportive housing opportunities for people with disabling health conditions who otherwise continually cycle through local shelters or the streets.

Research demonstrates that for those experiencing chronic homelessness, providing permanent housing, coupled with appropriate low-barrier supportive services, is the most effective solution for ending homelessness.

This “housing first” approach also saves the taxpayer considerable money by interrupting a costly cycle of emergency room and hospital, detox, and even jail visits.

While homelessness nationally continues to decline, some communities are reporting less progress.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – October proved another good month for Lake County real estate.

The Lake County Association of Realtors, or LCAOR, reported that the median sales price for October 2016 exceeded the September median by 10.6 percent.

On a year-over-year basis, the median sales price was 23-percent greater than the October 2015 median of $211,250.

The number of sales in October was 75, which was 23-percent higher than the 61 sales reported in September. In October of 2015 there were 72 reported sales, marking a 4-percent increase in year over year sales.

“Along with the Clear Lake Riviera we saw a number of sales in the Hidden Valley Lake, Clearlake and Lakeport areas,” said 2016 LCAOR President Erin Woodward. “This is very common given the density of housing in those locations.”

Financing mixes continued on a trend that has been prevalent for some time. Cash buyer purchased 32 percent of the homes and 60 percent of the homes were financed with loans.

The median sales price for the Clear Lake Riviera was $195,000, Hidden Valley Lake came in at $280,000, north Lakeport at $286,000 and the northwest section of Clearlake at $80,000. These prices demonstrate the diversity in housing cost in the county.

The California Association of Realtors reported that statewide existing, single-family home sales totaled 442,970 in October up 4.1 percent from September and 8 percent from October 2015. October’s statewide median home price was $513,520, up 1.2 percent from the revised September numbers and up 7.3 percent from October 2015.

The statewide median days to sell a home was 29.4 days compared to 69 days in Lake County.

LAKE COUNTY NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

October 2016
Median price: $260,000
Median days to sell: 69
Units sold: 75

September 2016
Median price: $235,000
Median days to sell: 91
Units sold: 61

October 2015
Median price: $211,250
Median days to sell: 78
Units sold: 72