NASA uses laser to beam Mona Lisa to the Moon

The Mona Lisa image, before being cleaned up by Reed-Solomon coding, and after.Credit: Xiaoli Sun / NASA Goddard
The Mona Lisa image, before being cleaned up by Reed-Solomon coding, and after.
Credit: Xiaoli Sun / NASA Goddard

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.

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New evidence for ancient Martian lake: possible subsurface biosphere?

Layers of sedimentary rocks on the bottom of McLaughlin Crater. Carbonate and clay deposits indicate this crater once contained a groundwater-fed lake.Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona
Layers of sedimentary rocks on the bottom of McLaughlin Crater. Carbonate and clay deposits indicate this crater once contained a groundwater-fed lake. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona

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.

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Curiosity finds more evidence for watery past and prepares to drill first rock

An area of bedrock called "Sheepbed" which contains many of the whitish, calcium-rich veins.Credits: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS
An area of bedrock called “Sheepbed” which contains many of the whitish, calcium-rich veins.
Click for larger version. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS

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

Billions of planets in our galaxy

Astronomers now estimate that there are billions of planets in our galaxy alone.Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
Astronomers now estimate that there are billions of planets in our galaxy alone.
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech

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.

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Ice on Titan’s lakes and seas: implications for possible life?

Artist's conception of possible ice floes on a Titanian sea.Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / USGS
Artist’s conception of possible ice floes on a Titanian sea.
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / USGS

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?