A radar device aboard ESA's Mars Express orbiter has allowed scientists to peek beneath the surface from afar, and the success with this research is now prompting them to think up other spots in the solar system that would be ideal for this sort of examination.

In the aftermath of the Feb. 6 tornado, scientists at The University of Alabama, Huntsville have been analyzing radar images of the event, searching for signs that might help them issue faster warnings in the future. The radar signature from debris sucked up into the air is so distinctive that the group thinks it may be able to develop an automated detection system. Essentially, they’d program computers to automatically pick out these signs in the data, and raise a flag immediately.

We gadget editors were intrigued by the idea of RadarGolf, a new device that allows players to home in on special balls equipped with radar chips, but none of us actually knows how to play golf. Luckily, our esteemed general manager, Rob Novick (handicap 17), was willing to take a swing at reviewing it for us. Here's what he had to say:

I’m driving through eastern France, the blip-blip of the lane markers zinging backward through my peripheral vision at about 90 mph. I check the mirrors: nothing there. Pretending to doze off, I let the car drift gently to the left. Just as it begins to veer over the dotted line, the left side of my seat vibrates, activated by an infrared sensor looking at the road paint. Meander right, and it’s my right thigh that gets the warning.