As the world looks at Mars, an American scientist has produced the best images ever obtained from the surface of a rather different planet - Venus.

Interesting and very cool article. Apparently the Soviets landed 10 probes on Venus 'tween '75 & '81, all of which survived and sent back digital photographs. No easy feat, considering the surface of Venus runs at three or four hundred degrees Farenheit and about ninety atmospheres of pressure (meaning, for those who just went 'huh?', that atmospheric pressure runs about ninety times what you've got here on Mother Earth; more than enough, really, to squish you like a grape). But the photos kinda sucked, not real surprising given the state of Soviet electronics at that point in history (or any, really), the low pixel number of the photos and the fact that the probes were broadcasting though static-charged windstorms and across space. So this guy ran everything through a big fat processor, cleaned 'em up and spit 'em back out. Very nifty shit. you should check it out.