mars

NASA said today that new data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has demonstrated that the amount of atmosphere on the Red Planet depends entirely on the tilt of its axis. This is significant, the space agency said, because that axis tilt may well impact the stability of any liquid water that exists on Mars, as well as the frequency and strength of dust storms.

In a release, NASA explained that by employing the MRO's ground-penetrating radar, researchers were able to identify a massive subsurface deposit of frozen carbon dioxide--dry ice--on Mars' southern pole. "The scientists suspect that … Read more

SkyView lets you use your iPhone camera view to create an augmented-reality view of the sky complete with constellations, planets, and satellites. Simply launch the app and point your iPhone camera skyward to see constellations and other celestial bodies where they are in real time. You also can touch planets, stars, and constellations to get more info and history at the bottom of the screen.

While you can spend plenty of time simply pointing in different directions and viewing celestial bodies, SkyView offers a few more handy features for finding what you want. You can use the search tool to … Read more

In an age of shrinking music sales and disappearing revenue, Atlantic Records is trying to put all of its resources to work.

Take Atlantic's Web site, AtlanticRecords.com, for example. Most label sites offer little more than a list of their acts and some promotional materials, but Atlantic is trying to give visitors a reason to stick around.

The label, part of Warner Music Group, dug into the vaults and began digitizing old photos, concert posters, and recorded interviews involving some of the iconic acts it has represented over 63 years. Managers unearthed signer Ray Charles' first contract (he … Read more

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Spotify and Shazam team up to help you find and purchase music

Sony may be announcing a new PSP soon

Facebook teams up with the Amber Alert system

Google will start selling ads on music videos in mobile YouTube

Google launches Google Places for iPhone

Microsoft launches a Web and app building site called WebMatrix

A new report in the Journal of Cosmology discusses the specifics of mating in space

We dissect Google's decision to drop H.264 support from Chrome and go with WebM, we mop up a little bit of the Verizon iPhone news, and more importantly, we eventually get this show on the road after yet another tech disaster. Also, and this is very important, people, the next version of Android will not be called Ice Cream. It's Ice Cream Sandwich, people. Keep up. --Molly

Engadget posted a story today about the Nook Color titled, "Nook Color getting Android 2.2 and Market in January, current hacks could make it blow up." The title is certainly catchy (whenever you write about mobile products blowing up, the traffic tends to go through the roof), but we were a little concerned with some info in the post.

After talking about the potential hazards of hacking the Nook Color to run Android 2.2 and linking to PC World and nookdevs articles, the writer went on to say, "Thankfully, there is a much easier way … Read more

Who says the NASA Spirit doesn't live on?

Those who mourned the Mars rover's failure to communicate with its earthbound operators will be heartened to know data from the plucky explorer continues to produce important findings--even as the rover itself remains stuck in a sand trap and out of contact. In fact, NASA says that trap has turned out to be a jackpot, announcing today that Spirit has detected evidence of water under the ground's surface.

Layers of soil with different compositions in the area where the rover became stuck more than a year ago led the … Read more

With Donald, Darren, and Benito at the helm, there's nothing stopping us from devoting a third of the show to outer space. After all, NASA has 19 billion dollars to burn, humanity has a new planet to play with, and space travelers now get their own special beer. Plan your space vacation now, because life on earth is getting creepy. Android apps are watching you, Groupon is launching a human breeding program, and the era of Minority Report "pre-crime" detection is nearly here.

This one is giving Orson Welles' 1938 radio production of The War of the Worlds a good run for its money.

For the seventh consecutive year, phony messages are filling up e-mail inboxes around the world warning that on August 27, Mars will approach Earth and grow to the size of a full moon. "NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN," the e-mail declares--all in capital letters.

And no, it's not true.

But the Mars hoax has reached such epidemic proportions that NASA saw fit to send out an e-mail late Tuesday night, reminding people … Read more