Links 01/02/13

'Foster + Partners were responsible for the design of the base’s modular living units. These structures, pressured, inflatable capsules containing various living spaces, would be transported along with the 3D printer aboard a space rocket. Once landed, the tubular modules would be unpacked and inflated; the robot-controlled-printer would then print a regolith shell layer by layer directly over each lodging, effectively burying it in a thick protective crust of lunar soil.'  Beats shovelling lunar dirt over your inflatable hut by hand.

Talking of lunar dirt, NASA plans to use its Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot to extract water, air and fuel from the lunar regolith. Kind of like Moon, without the Helium 3.

The Road To Endeavour blog, which has been following the Opportunity rover's progress across the surface of Mars, has posted a nice piece on the 9th anniversary of its landing, 9 years on Barsoom.

 Meanwhile, out at Saturn, the Cassini spacecraft has been watching a gigantic planet-girdling storm choke on its own tail.

And back on Earth, we have to contend with a coffee apocalypse and the possibility that we've reached peak genius.