The mighty spaceship, which traveled to space and back 33 times over 26 years, is an awe-inspiring sight, especially when you're standing just feet away. The newas if she were in flight soaring over Earth, tilted at an angle with cargo bay doors open and robotic arm extended. The effect made me feel almost as if I was in space too.

Nearly 380 lakes have been discovered under , including one with microbial life. Radar and seismic studies that penetrate ice have revealed complex waterways that feed and drain the lakes. Researchers are keen to discover how the streams and floods affect ice flow, especially as modelers try to predict howwill respond to climate change.

"You're periodically getting these huge events beneath the ice sheet, these massive floods, and that sort of information will be useful to people who are building models of how the ice is responding to the environment," Malcolm McMillan, lead author of the new study and a geophysicist at the University of Leeds in the U.K., told LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet.

While scientists are still figuring out what triggered the recent flood, one of the largest ever seen, they know how much water flowed from thebecause of the giant crater it left behind. The surface of the ice sank as the lake water disappeared, a shift detected by the European Space Agency's CryoSat-2 satellite. The findings were published online June 23 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. [Video: ]

During an 18-month period starting in 2007, Cook subglacial lake drained with an outflow twice as fast as Britain's River Thames at its peak, McMillan said. The total water volume lost was about 1.5 cubic miles (6 cubic kilometers).

The crater left behind covers an area of about 100 square miles (260 square km), and is about 230 feet (70 meters) deep at its lowest point.

Since 2008, the crater's surface has slowly inflated, a sign that ice or water has occupied the space left by the flood. The researchers plan to figure out whether it's fresh or frozen water (ice) that's filling the void. They're also modeling whether ice or sediment may have dammed the lake, leading to the flood.

"There's a lot of mystery surrounding the continent still that we don't understand," said Hugh Corr, a study co-author and glaciologist with the British Antarctic Survey. "This will be modeled in terms of the ice dynamics and the thermal impacts of this feature, and that will add to the general knowledge of the continent."

As of yet, there are no signs that the floodwaters have reached the ocean. In the past, subglacial lake floods have lifted up the ice further downstream, while others showed no signs of disturbing the ice.

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The online blueprints for a fully functional 3D-printed gun have disappeared faster than a speeding bullet.

On Wednesday, the State Department ordered the company that posted the schematics, Defense Distributed, to remove them from the web. (Watch a Defense Distributed video explaining the gun above.) According to the State Department, publicly posting the instructions may have violated the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which governs the "transfer of, and access to" certain weapons and their technical details. By posting the files to the web where anyone in the world could download them, the company may have inadvertently violated those export restrictions.

"Please note that disclosing (including oral or visual disclosure) or transferring technical data to a foreign person, whether in the United States or abroad, is considered an export," the State Department  in a letter.

However, the State Department did not say that the instructions must remain offline for good. Rather, the department asked that Defense Distributed file the necessary paperwork for the government to determine if the blueprints are, in fact, a violation of ITAR. In the meantime, State wrote, the company "should treat the above technical data as ITAR-controlled."

That letter came just two days after Defense Distributed, through its open-source printing project DEFCAD, posted the instructions for its "Liberator" handgun to the Internet. In just three days, the instructions had already been downloaded more than 

Here's how it works, :

Fifteen of the gun's 16 pieces are constructed on the $8,000 Stratasys Dimension SST 3D printer, Forbes said. The final piece is a common nail, used as a firing pin, that can be found in a hardware store. []

And indeed, by Thursday evening, the webpage to download the instructions had been updated with the : "This file has been removed from public access at the request of the US Department of Defense Trade Controls. Until further notice, the United States government claims control of the information."

Still, the federal order does not mean all copies of the blueprints have been be wiped from the web. The instructions have been posted to the file-sharing sites Pirate Bay and Mega, among others, meaning they're still available for download.

Wilson, who claims to have been inspired by anarchist writings, himself made that point in an , saying he thought he would ultimately be free from the government's oversight.

"I still think we win in the end," he said. "Because the files are all over the Internet, the Pirate Bay has it to think this can be stopped in any meaningful way is to misunderstand what the future of distributive technologies is about."

Lawmakers at the state and federal level have already moved to ban printable firearms.

In California, Democratic state Senator Leland Yee said in athat he would soon introduce a bill to ban weapons that "are invisible to metal detectors and that can be easily made without a background check." At the federal level, Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have likewise called for legislation to ban such firearms.

"A terrorist, someone who's mentally ill, a spousal abuser, a felon can essentially open a gun factory in their garage," Schumer

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Research finds that music has become an important new ally for babies who are born too soon and struggle to breathe and eat.

The neonatal intensive care unit in a hospital is filled with technology that helps keep the hospital's tiniest, most fragile patients alive. At New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell and others across the country the relentless beeping of monitors fades when the music takes over. The effect on preemies is dramatic and physical.

Studies conducted by Dr. Jeffery Perlman, chief of newborn medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian, Komansky Center for Children's Health, find that gentle music therapy not only slows down the heart rate of preemies but also helps them feed and sleep better. This helps them gain weight and speeds their recovery.

Apublished in May in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatric under the aegis of the Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, found that the type of music matters. Therapeutically designed "live" music -- and parent-preferred lullabies sung in person -- can influence cardiac and respiratory function. They also found that the melodies improved feeding behaviors and may increase prolonged periods of quiet-alert states among premature babies.

Another study published in February 2011 in the Arts in Psychotherapy by Jayne M. Standley of the National Institute for Infant and Child Medical Music Therapy at Florida State University suggests that babies who receive this kind of therapy leave the hospital sooner.

"When they hear something that is very soothing, they adapt to it," Perlman said.

For these tiny babies, music is medicine.

A pair of twins, Jessica and Joshua, were born three months premature. Their dad has been trained by a professional music therapist at the Komansky Center, and now sings to the babies in their NICU cribs in his native Turkish. And he says he has proof that it's working.

"I watched their heart rate," their father said. "You can really watch it go down, 165, 160, 155, 152. It's an amazing feeling."

Jessica Fernald's daughter Hazel was born eight weeks early. "You know babies like lullabies," Fernald said. "But you don't realize how important it is in their healing."

At Komansky, Rebecca Loveszy is the music therapist who sings to preemies such as Jadion, born with a heart defect.

When Loveszy serenades Jadion, I heard the background beeping from the monitor alarms hooked up to his tiny body almost disappear. The oxygen in Jadion's blood went up and his breathing calmed.

The effects of the music therapy appear to last lullabies echoing inside the intensive care unit often become the children's favorite songs and soothe them even after they leave the hospital.

Rachel Fitzsimons' son William now a year old spent 12 weeks in intensive care, and has taken a liking to the tune he listened to during his time there.

"I would sing 'Rock-a-Bye-Baby,'" said Fitzsimons. "It's the one he still responds to the most."

In an intensive care unit bristling with technology, this new field reminds us that medicine doesn't always come from a new drug or surgery sometimes it's as simple as parents connecting to their children with an age-old source of comfort. A gentle tune.

Sarah Guyard-Guillot was pronounced dead late Saturday night at a hospital after falling about 50 feet from the show's stage.

Witnesses told the Las Vegas Sun (http://bit.ly/14H3Te0 ) that the accident occurred near the end of the production Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

Visitor Dan Mosqueda of Colorado Springs, Colo., said the 31-year-old acrobatic performer was being hoisted up the side of the stage when it appeared that she slipped free of her safety wire and plummeted to an open pit below the stage.

"Initially, a lot of people in the audience thought it was part of the (show)," he told the Sun. "But you could hear screaming, then groaning, and we could hear a female artist crying from the stage."

The show momentarily continued, then stopped. Minutes after the accident, a recorded announcement informed audience members that refunds or vouchers to future shows would be offered, and the crowd was dismissed.

Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte issued a statement Sunday praising Guyard-Guillot and saying performances of "Ka" have been canceled until further notice.

Guyard-Guillot, a mother of two children, had been with the original cast of "Ka" since 2006, and had been an acrobatic performer for over 20 years.

"I am heartbroken. I wish to extend my sincerest sympathies to the family. We are all completely devastated," Laliberte said. "We are reminded with great humility and respect how extraordinary our artists are each and every night. Our focus now is to support each other as a family."

Cirque officials are working with authorities investigating the accident and have offered their full cooperation, he added.

The Clark County Coroner's Office will rule on the cause of death.

The MGM Grand also issued a statement concerning the accident.

"Our company is deeply saddened by the loss of one of the talented KA artists Saturday night," it reads. "The thoughts and prayers of our employees are with the performer's family, the cast of KA, and the entire Cirque family during this difficult time."

The accident occurred while Cirque's top executives, including president Daniel Lamarre, were in Las Vegas to celebrate the premiere of "Michael Jackson One" at Mandalay Bay.

On Wednesday night, a performer in a preview performance of that show suffered a mild concussion after missing the protective pad below an act and landing on the stage. That artist is expected to return to the show.

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Information from: Las Vegas Sun, http://www.lasvegassun.com

His humor and down-to-earth manner captivated many of 150,000 people who filled St. Peter's Square in Rome to overflowing, and he embraced the crowd in a way that had to give his security staff palpitations.

"Brothers and sisters, 'Buon giorno,'" Francis said in Italian in his first welcome from the window of the papal residence, setting an informal tone that has become the defining spirit of his young papacy.

Earlier Sunday, he made an impromptu appearance before the public from a side gate of the Vatican that startled passers-by and prompted cheers as he shook hands and kissed babies. He then went back inside to deliver a six minute homily brief by church standards at the Vatican's tiny parish church, St. Anna.

Francis started speaking at the window even before the stroke of noon the appointed time for the weekly papal address when the window of the papal study in the Apostolic Palace is usually flung open. The shutters were opened for the first time since Francis' predecessor, Benedict XVI, gave his last Sunday blessing on Feb. 24. Four days later, Benedict went into retirement, the first pontiff to do so in nearly 600 years.

Francis, the first pope from Latin America, was elected Wednesday and has been staying in a hotel on the Vatican's premises until the papal apartment is ready.

"The pope is down-to-earth. He is a people person and it is amazing," said Emanuel Anatsui from Britain. "He is going to do wonderfully for the church."

After Mass, Francis again put his security detail to the test as he waded into an intersection just outside St. Anna's Gate. Francis stepped up to the crowd, grasping outstretched hands. The atmosphere was so casual that several people even gripped Francis on the shoulder.

"Francesco! Francesco!" children shouted his name in Italian. As he patted one little boy on the head, he asked "Are you a good boy?" and the child nodded.

"Are you sure?" the pope quipped.

At one point he glanced at his watch and turned to an aide as if to ask "How much time do I have?"

The pope then ducked back inside the Vatican's boundaries to dash upstairs for the address to St. Peter's Square.

Only occasionally looking at the text clutched in his hand, Francis told the crowd that he wanted to talk about mercy, saying he was inspired by a book about forgiveness that he was reading. Citing the author, an elderly German cardinal, and praising him as a "top-notch" theologian, Francis quipped: "Don't think I'm making publicity for my cardinals' books!" drawing a roar of laughter from the crowd.

Francis said mercy can "change the world" and make it "less cold and more just."

He spoke only in Italian ending with "buon pranzo" (Have a good lunch) a wish that triggered nods of approval from the crowd in Rome, where a leisurely Sunday family lunch is a cherished tradition.

But Francis did tweet in English and other languages, saying: "Dear friends, I thank you from my heart and I ask you to continue to pray for me.'"

Past pontiffs have used the Sunday window greetings to offer brief reflections and wishes in several languages.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said Francis would likely stick with Italian, a language he's comfortable with for spontaneous remarks. Lombardi left open the possibility the 76-year-old pope would use other languages in future public appearances.

During his window speech, Francis also talked about of his family's roots in the northwestern Piedmont region of Italy. He told the crowd that by naming himself as pope after St. Francis of Assisi, an Italian patron saint, he was "strengthening my spiritual time with this land, where, as you know, my family has its origins."

The crowd was cheering wildly when Francis appeared, but fell into rapt silence when he began to speak. Some people's eyes welled up. Many people waved the blue-and-white flag of Argentina, the pope's homeland. Some people held their children aloft or on their shoulders to get a better look.

"We are so proud. He is Argentine, but also belongs to the rest of the world," said Ivana Cabello, 23, of Argentina.

Angela Carreon, a 41-year-old Rome resident originally from the Philippines, ventured that Francis "looks like John Paul II. "

"I hope he is like him," she said. "He has a heart."

The globe-trotting Polish-born John Paul, who died in 2005, loved to charm the crowds.

Several hundred extra traffic police were deployed Sunday to control crowds and vehicles for Francis' first window speech as well as the annual Rome marathon. Bus routes were rerouted and many streets were closed off to channel the curious and the faithful up the main boulevard from the Tiber river to St. Peter's Square.

Giant video screens were set up so the huge crowd could get a close-up look at Francis, and dozens of medical teams were on hand for any emergencies. In the last hour before noon, a large backup had formed of people trying to squeeze through three openings in the fence ringing the front of the square. But by the time Francis appeared, all had calmly found a viewing spot.

Among Francis' first formal meetings is an appointment Monday with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez. That will provide an opportunity to see if the new pope's easygoing manner still holds the two have been on opposite sides for many years. As Buenos Aires archbishop, Francis had lobbied hard against the government's move to legalize gay marriage and make contraceptives available for free.

On Tuesday, Fernandez will join other world leaders and senior international envoys, including U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and the president of Jesuit-run Georgetown University, for Francis' formal installation as pope.

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Associated Press writers Daniela Petroff and Karl Ritter contributed to this report.