Cat video from space travels 30 million kilometers per laser beam

About the episode

NASA broadcast a video of cats from space to Earth, via a laser beam. In this way, images of Taters’ cat chasing a laser pointer traveled about 19 million miles, or about 30 million kilometers. Technology Editor Joe Van Burek talks about this and more in this tech update.

This 15-second cat video shows a red calico cat chasing a laser pointer, traveling a distance equivalent to eighty times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. On October 13, this footage was transmitted aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, and on December 11, video was sent from space to the Hale Telescope near San Diego.

NASA researchers are excited about this experiment: Even though they were 19 million miles apart, this video was transmitted by the laser faster than most broadband Internet connections. This was part of the Deep Space Optical Communications mission, which is mapping out technology that could be used to communicate if we as humanity truly began to travel far into space.

Also in this technical update:

• The Public Prosecution confirms that the crime of “defamation” will be punished on January 1. To combat this, a law making this crime a punishable offense has been in the works for some time, and the House of Representatives has already passed it. The Senate adopted this proposal last summer. The Public Prosecution Service has now informed that this is no longer permitted under the law as of 1 January 2024. Those who do this could face a severe penalty: the first time you do it this way, it is often a fine or community service, but those who do That many times they can be sent to prison.
• X, the old Twitter site, has been sued by Brazilian “first lady” Rosângela “Ganja” Lula da Silva. The X account of the wife of the current president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was hacked last week, and she holds the platform itself responsible for that. She also calls for better regulation of social media in her country.

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