Pale Blue Dot

Today we can be fascinated by the prospect of seeing Earth from such a distance that it can be depicted by just a few pixels. The 'blue dot' image is a radical and though provoking summation of our planet, but there is an history behind the picture which can be traced back to an event 47 years ago.

Masers on Ice

 Potentially, nuclear powered masers could send a probe many kilometres through ice to putative oceans on Europa and Callisto.

The recent re-development of masers at the National Physical Laboratory in the U.K. has an interesting implication for the exploration of subglacial lakes.