Using lasers to communicate at planetary distances is something that may sound like sci-fi, but it is a real technology being developed by NASA as a means of communicating with spacecraft faster and more efficiently than can be done now.
Using lasers to communicate at planetary distances is something that may sound like sci-fi, but it is a real technology being developed by NASA as a means of communicating with spacecraft faster and more efficiently than can be done now.
There is new evidence from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft for an ancient Martian lake that may have been an ideal habitable environment, it was announced yesterday.
Read MoreNew evidence for ancient Martian lake: possible subsurface biosphere?
The Curiosity rover is almost ready to drill into its first rock in a matter of days, and in the meantime has found more evidence that this region in Gale crater was once much wetter than it is now.
Read MoreCuriosity finds more evidence for watery past and prepares to drill first rock
The new year has barely begun, and already it has been a good one for exoplanets. In a previous update, it was reported that the Kepler space telescope has added hundreds of exoplanet candidates to its rapidly growing list. That is exciting enough, but another new study now, similar to other ones, estimates that there are billions of other planets in our galaxy alone.
Apart from being composed of liquid methane instead of water, the rivers, lakes and seas of Saturn’s moon Titan are amazingly similar in appearance to those on Earth. The hydrological cycle is also very similar, with Titanian rain replenishing them.
Read MoreIce on Titan’s lakes and seas: implications for possible life?