Sun’s gravity could power interstellar video streaming

With the gravitational-lensing effect, a little power would go a long way towards transmitting data back to our solar system. “Around the nearest stars, a handheld laser pointer could do it,” says Michael Hippke. The data rate would be high enough that sending pictures and video is possible, although at present it would still take four years to receive any data stream from as far away as Alpha Centauri. - Jesse Emspak, New Scientist [via/web:http://streaming-tv.us]