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SO – THIS IS the neighbours’ gaff.
NASA’s Curiosity rover has sent back its first high-resolution photographs from Mars – giving humanity its first detailed look at the landscape of another planet.
The colour contrast has been adjusted by NASA – the original is covered with a yellow-orangey hue – in order to make the photo reflect what Mars would look like if it had the same level of natural sunlight as does Earth.
This is only a tiny slice of the image sent back by the $2.5 billion rover, which will shortly begin its trek to the top of the mountainous region seen in this photo. It’s from there that the rover will begin its more intensive work.
To give some sense of perspective: the mountain ridge at the top of the image is 16.2 kilometres away; the hilly region at the bottom is about 5.5 kilometres from where Curiosity took the photo last Thursday.
If you look really closely at the centre of the photo, you’ll see a small black dot on a flat area in front of the foremost hill. NASA says that dot is a rock which is about the same size as Curiosity itself – which is about the size of an average family car.
Anyone looking to see the original 1463-by-1928-pixel photo in all its 2MB, yellowish glory, click here.
Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
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3bn texts in a 3 month period in Ireland, 12 bn in a year..
a 2 cent text tax would have raised ?240 million, All of the ?26m needed to protect the carers respite grant & child benefit. If my sums are right.
(0.02 x 12,000,000,000
= 240,000,000
This would be a creative and some what optional tax that does not effect peoples ability to survive.
Correct but since the boys in the Dail have free phones paid by, as with everything else, the taxpayer, then we would be worse off and they would once again be untouched.
Why should mobile users pay for the carer’s allowance. A couple of percent tax increase for high earners would easily make up the millions the government took from them.
isn’t there already VAT on text messaging? so double taxation is your answer?
@Gamma, I’m just trying to think of less painful ways to help our country…
Do you have any better idea’s? We’d love to hear them.
Your response is what is wrong with us, all moan no solution.
You can call it what you want but it doesn’t take food out of peoples mouths.. and that’s the point.
tooooo much calculations, tooooo much percentages, all we care for is to bring down all this mobile nd landline broadband services nd make it moooore effective in using, it’s tooo expensive here in Ireland compare to other EU country
Does that include iMessages which are free?
Presumably this includes FREE SMS with Vodafone to Any Network for Life (I’m assuming 3, O2, Meteor, 48, Eircon etc. all do similar deals for RTG Customers?)?
Top of my head I sent 1152 in October. Think highest was 2,170 in November 2011. Averages out at Circa 1,300 ish during/across the year.
have your say