Remote-sensing images of Mars contain rich information about its surface morphology, topography, and geological structure. These data are fundamental for scientific research and exploration missions of Mars. Prior to China’s first Mars exploration mission, data from six advanced optical imaging systems of different missions in the Martian orbit was used to generate Mars global/near-global image datasets with spatial resolutions better than 1 km.

However, in terms of global color images, the best version of Mars Viking Colorized Global Mosaic has a resolution of approximately 232 m/pixel. There is a lack of global color images of Mars at the hundred-meter scale and higher resolution.

New data obtained by the Tianwen-1 mission has laid the foundation for the development of a high-...

A WEHI study could help solve a long-standing mystery into why a key immune organ in our bodies shrinks and loses its function as we get older.

The thymus is an organ essential for good health due to its ability to produce special immune cells that are responsible for fighting infections and cancer.

In a world-first, researchers have uncovered new cells that drive this ageing process in the thymus — significant findings that could unlock a way to restore function in the thymus and prevent our immunity from waning as we age.

At a glance

The thymus is an organ essential for our immune defence but it shrinks and weakens as we get older. The reason for this loss remains a long-standing mystery.

A new study has been able to visualise, for the first time, how two cell types d...

Breakthrough in smart fabric for sensing and energy harvesting. Researchers have developed a smart fabric that can convert body heat and solar energy into electricity, potentially enabling continuous operation with no need for an external power source. Different sensors monitoring temperature, stress, and more can be integrated into the material.

Imagine a coat that captures solar energy to keep you cozy on a chilly winter walk, or a shirt that can monitor your heart rate and temperature.Picture clothing athletes can wear to track their performance without the need for bulky battery packs.

University of Waterloo researchers have d...

With 2D cameras and space robotics algorithms, astronautics engineers have created a navigation system able to manage multiple satellites using visual data only. They just tested it in space for the first time.

Someday, instead of large, expensive individual space satellites, teams of smaller satellites — known by scientists as a “swarm” — will work in collaboration, enabling greater accuracy, agility, and autonomy. Among the scientists working to make these teams a reality are researchers at Stanford University’s Space Rendezvous Lab, who recently completed the first-ever in-orbit test of a prototype system able to navigate a swarm of satellites using only visual information shared through a wireless network.

“It’s a milestone paper and the culmination of 11 years of effort by ...