Space Science

Animation of the Omega Nebula as seen through multiple wave lengths. Courtesy of @Flashcordon #space

A billion-pixel view from the surface of Mars, from NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, offers armchair explorers a way to examine one part of the Red Planet in great detail.

HAVANA (AP) — A State Department official says the United States and Cuba have agreed to resume bilateral talks on migration issues next month, in the latest evidence of a thaw in chilly relations.

  This full-circle view combined nearly 900 images taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, generating a panorama with 1.3 billion pixels in the full-resolution version. The view is centered toward the south, with north at both ends. It shows Curiosity at the "Rocknest" site where the rover scooped up samples of windblown dust and sand. Curiosity used three cameras to take the component images on several different days between Oct. 5 and Nov. 16, 2012. This first NASA-produced gigapixel image from the surface of Mars is a mosaic using 850 frames from the telephoto camera of Curiosity's Mast Camera instrument, supplemented with 21 frames from the Mastcam's wider-angle camera and 25 black-and-white frames -- mostly of the rover itself -- from the Navigation Camera. It was produced by the Multiple-Mission Image Processing Laboratory at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. This version of the panorama retains "raw" color, as seen by the camera on Mars under Mars lighting conditions. A white-balanced version is available at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA16918 . The view shows illumination effects from variations in the time of day for pieces of the mosaic. It also shows variations in the clarity of the atmosphere due to variable dustiness during the month while the images were acquired. Viewers can explore this image with pan and zoom controls at http://mars.nasa.gov/bp1/ . NASA's Mars Science Laboratory project is using Curiosity and the rover's 10 science instruments to investigate the environmental history within Gale Crater, a location where the project has found that conditions were long ago favorable for microbial life. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates Curiosity's Mastcam. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington and built the Navigation Camera and the rover. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Related articles Mars 'Curiosity' Landing Site --May Preserve Evidence of a Massive Ancient Lake NASA Selects 2nd Mars Rock in Search for Ancient Microbial Life NASA Curiosity Rover Heads Toward Mount Sharp --Will It Reveal History of How Mars' Climate Changed? NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover Nears Turning Point

NEW YORK (AP) — Apparently, Men's Wearhouse Inc. doesn't like the way its founder looks anymore.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Scattered street demonstrations popped up around Brazil Wednesday as protesters continued their collective cry against the low-quality public services they receive in exchange for high taxes and rising prices.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Illegal immigration into the United States would decrease by only 25 percent under a far-reaching Senate immigration bill, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office that also finds the measure reduces federal deficits by billions.

Stunning images taken on Nasa Cassini spacecraft's mission to Saturn #space

Look to the rocks to peer into a Martian past.

BERLIN -- In 2008, some 200,000 people packed the streets near this city’s Victory Column and listened raptly to candidate Barack Obama promise to lead a different America on the chaotic global stage – one that would embrace action to fight climate change, shutter the Guantanamo Bay prison for suspected extremists, seek to eliminate the [...]