New Scientist reports on plans to microwave lunar soil to release water molecules trapped within, allowing vapor to rise, condense as frost on a metal plate placed above the soil, and then collected by thirsty astronauts. The theory, put forward by Edwin Ethridge of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and William Kaukler of the University of Alabama, could give astronauts drinking water or, more impressively, be used as the first stage in a process that would then split the water into hydrogen and oxygen to make rocket fuel, dropping launch costs as each launch would be lighter without the need to carry enough fuel for the ride home. Paul Spudis of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas, is excited by the possibilities:

It completely changes the spaceflight paradigm... It's like building a transcontinental railroad to space.

All that's required now is a coherent plan to return to the moon and start the process. That'll be the easy part, right...?

How astronauts could 'harvest' water on the moon [New Scientist]

R.R. Lunt's microscope image of organic solar cells is probably my favorite of this year's Art Of Science competition contenders, because it's so vivid, and because it holds out the promise of cheap, renewable solar power thanks to the use of organic materials in the future. But for now, there are still some flaws to work out, and luckily for us, those flaws look gorgeous.

Other images in the contest include a mouse retinal ganglion that looks like an alien creature, collisions of clouds of plasma in space, embryonic fruitfly neurons, and an artificially induced vortex that looks like a superhero emblem. Here are more of our favorites.

See, and admire, the rest at the link. [Art Of Science 2009 via Nanowerk]

A researcher named Steven Reiner at University of Pennsylvania proved that the human body fights disease with two kinds of immune cells (called T-cells): some that fight the invading microbes, and some that exist just to keep a record of how to fight those microbes in the future. Those "memory" cells are what this researcher revealed, and their mysteries are still being unlocked.

Writes Avril:

The University of Pennsylvania physician electrified his field last year by showing how the immune system generates two types of the sophisticated tools known as T-cells: one to fight invaders to the death, the other to remember the battle plan for the next time the same enemy shows up.

Reiner's finding, made with John Chang, Vikram Palanivel and colleagues, was named one of the top 10 breakthroughs of 2007 by the journal Science. Using mice, the team provided evidence that T-cells arise from a self-renewing process a bit like that used by stem cells. Without it, we'd fight off a bug once, and the next time we'd be dead.

"It's an amazing system," Reiner marvels. "You do use these cells, but you don't deplete them. That's how we can live long lives with short-lived cells."

Making Immune Memories [via Knight Science Journalism Tracker]

Images by Stephane De Sakutin for AFP/Getty Images

Above is an artist's image of the next-generation Mars rover, and below is a model of the Mars rover which engineers call the Scarecrow, because it's missing its computer brain. Mobility engineers are using the headless rover to test its mobility and suspension performance. The next Mars rover faces development problems and skyrocketing costs, which could threaten its 2009 launch date. Images by AP/NASA.

Image of the Venus Express from the European Space Agency. [MSNBC]

Image of camera by Elisfanclub Undersea image by SCINI.

Just check out the image of a fungal growth attacking another snapdragon seed pod: its tentacles pulsate with a slick malevolence.

The old basketweaver dude in Ravi's plans represents the local supplier, who provides the car seats wherever Ravi's Globetrotter car is sold. The 21-year-old Ravi also included airless tires, a zinc-air fuel cell and nano-paper battery in the Globetrotter, which won the Young Designer of the Year Award from Australia's Wheels.

Tomorrow's City Car [Rambodoc, via Ecofriend]