Excerpts from science, technology, environment and health reports from around the web

NASA’s rover Curiosity begins extended exploration on Mars

NASA's Mars Curiosity rover is beginning a long-awaited, 5-mile-long journey across the terrain of the red planet to begin exploring a rocky area known as Mount Sharp, 11 months after the rover arrived on the planet's surface, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “With drives on July 4 and July 7, NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has departed its last science target in the 'Glenelg' area and commenced a many-month overland journey to the base of the mission's main destination, Mount Sharp,” NASA reported in a July 8 announcement.

Cellphone microscopes: a how-to-guide

Tiny microscopes that can be fitted onto any mobile phone with a camera and used to diagnose illnesses in remote areas may have the potential to revolutionise healthcare in developing world.

Just last month, an international group of scientists published a paper in which they showed how such a microscope can be used to detect worm disease in Tanzania.

Using your smartphone’s eyes and ears to log your every move



Researchers build 3-D structures from liquid metal

Researchers from North Carolina State Univ. have developed 3-D printing technology and techniques to create free-standing structures made of liquid metal at room temperature.

The researchers developed multiple techniques for creating these structures, which can be used to connect electronic components in three dimensions. While it is relatively straightforward to pattern the metal “in plane”—meaning all on the same level—these liquid metal structures can also form shapes that reach up or down.

How Dropbox could rule a multi-platform world



Mars 2020: NASA’s going bold – on a budget

