OK so it’s not a new gadget or consumer electronic but so what? Something pretty incredible happened to Jupiter between 3 and 9am PST on July 20th (OK.. I can’t help but think of this as “something wonderful” right now – yes, I’m a 2001/2010 fan). A new dark “scar” appeared near the south polar region which appears to have been caused by some sort of object impacting on Jupiter.

The scar was first noticed by amateur astronomer, Anthony Wesley of Australia, who then notified NASA about the finding. The above picture was taken using NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility in Mauna Kea, Hawaii,

And yes.. there’s a part of me that can’t help but think of thousands and thousands of monoliths…

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: NASA, Jupiter impact

Happy Earth Day everyone! Do something green today?

In commemoration of this day, NASA released the results of a week long online voting survey of the top accomplishments the agency has performed with Earth observations from space. The overall winner with 3280 votes? “Finding your way with GPS”. Here’s NASA’s description of this accomplishment:

“Behind the power of today’s GPS units to get you where you need to go is a huge body of scientific knowledge about our spinning, shifting Earth. We live on an active planet where every piece of real estate moves relative to each other. Precise navigation with GPS satellites would be impossible without ultra-precise knowledge of Earth’s shape and how it rotates. NASA pioneered much of this work with a global network of laser ranging satellites and super-charged GPS receivers to monitor daily changes in Earth’s surface. Oh, and there are side benefits like tracking the movement of tectonic faults, measuring sea level rise, and making air travel safer.”

The above picture is of the Laser Geodynamics Satellite (LAGEOS I), which was launched back in 1976.

The other winners (ordered by votes) were:

2. Diagnosing Our Ailing Ozone Layer (2408)
3. From Storm-Spotting to Next Week’s Weather (2313)
4. Warming and Rising Seas (1443)
5. Global Reach of Air Pollution (1321)
6. Ice Sheets on the Move (1151)
7. It’s a Big Green World (1102)
8. Predicting Feast or Famine (856)
9. A Lively Water World (631)
10. Ultimate Home Energy Audit (543)

[Check it out via News.com]

Technorati Tags: NASA, Earth Day

A U.S. and Russian satellite collided over Siberia yesterday in what is being described as the first ever crash involving these kinds of objects at orbital speeds (approximately 17,500 miles per hour). According to this Bloomberg report, the collision occurred at 11:55am EST above Siberia and involved a defunct Russian Comos 2251 satellite and an Iridium Satellite LLC communications satellite.

The crash created a debris field of between 200 and 300 objects. However, Russia’s space agency stated that the debris field posed no threat to the International Space Station which orbits at around 220 miles above the Earth. An upcoming shuttle mission to the space station will also not be affected by this incident. However, NASA is concerned with the Earth Observing Satellites which orbit closer to the crash zone at an altitude of 439 miles.

Iridium, which uses 66 satellites to provide wireless phone and data services, stated that customers might experience “limited disruptions” as a result of the collision in space. The company will replace the satellite in 30 days with a spare that is already in orbit.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Space, Satellite collision, Iridium satellite

Because it’s Friday and because it’s the opening night for “X-Files, I Want to Believe” (which didn’t get very good reviews unfortunately), I thought it would be appropriate to post a link to this story entitled “Apollo Astronaut Says Gov. Is Covering Up UFOs.”  Yup – that’s right. Apollo 14 veteran, Edgar Mitchell, believes the U.S. government has been covering up the truth about UFOs for more than 50 years. The ironic thing is – if these comments were being made by your average Joe, no one would care.. but because this is coming from a man who made a mark on history by spending nine hours and 17 minutes walking on the moon, it’s certainly raising eyebrows.

According to Mitchell, the “deception began after the alleged alien landing in Roswell, N.M., in 1947. Mitchell states “Unfortunately, you the press show no interest whatsoever. The giggle factor has been too high. But the science behind it and the research behind it, among the people I know, is accepted. It’s real,”

Now whether I believe him or not – it certainly does not matter. I think it’s important for us to continue exploring.. to wonder what is both here on Earth and what is out there.. and to be open about what we find. It’s also important to consider.. that perhaps… just perhaps.. we are not alone out there and that we’re not as important as we think we are.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Edgar Mitchell

If you or your kids are into astronomy, then you’ll definitely want to check out the new public beta of Microsoft’s WorldWide Telescope web application. WorldWide Telescope stitches images together from a variety of sources including the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Center, the Spitzer Space Telescope and others. Users can even choose which telescope they want to look through! The application itself utilizes Microsoft’s Visual Experience Engine which provides “seamless panning and zooming around the heavens with rich image environments.” 

I took the application for a spin and I must say, it’s a pretty nifty app. I loved the Guided Tours section of the application which as the name implies provides a guided visual learning experience of the heavens above. Perhaps the best part is simply taking the application for a spin on your own. Pan across the sky, zoom in on a section of space and discover what’s there.

Also – make sure to check out Ars Technica’s first look at the WorldWide Telescope application here on their website. They had this to say:

The greatly expanded catalog of objects to look at, along with the guided tours, makes the WorldWide Telescope much more along the lines of what I was looking for in a Google Earth/Virtual Earth equivalent of the entire universe. Kudos to Microsoft Research for a compelling product.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, WorldWide Telescope,

Know anyone really into astronomy? You might want to show them Living World’s 3D model of our very own Milky Way Galaxy. Yes.. this is our very own galaxy “suspended” in a glass cube. Around 80,000 stars were etched using a laser based off of three-dimensional data collected by Japan’s National Astronomical Observatory.

The cube measures 12 cm square and is available for 80,000 Yen. Very cool stuff if you ask me.. and certain to raise eyebrows if it’s sitting on your desk.

[Check it out via DVICE.com]

Technorati Tags: Living World, Milky Way Galaxy

OK.. this has absolutely nothing to do with technology or gadgets or consumer electronics, but hell.. I thought it was an interesting story nevertheless. Astronomers have discovered a giant hole in the Universe that’s completely devoid of galaxies, stars, or even dark matter. The empty space in space (ha.. like that one?) was discovered by a team at the University of Minnesota and apparently measures a billion light years across.

The discovery was made after Lawrence Rudnick, Shea Brown, and Liliya Williams were examining a cold spot uncovered by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe Satellite. Astronomers already knew the area had a different property to it (being colder than the rest)  thanks to a survey of the Cosmic Microwave Background – the faint radio buzz supposedly left behind by the Big Bang.

It’ll be interesting to see if scientists and astronomers can explain this patch of nothingness – so much nothingness that supposedly dark matter doesn’t even exist. Dark matter cannot be seen directly but is usually inferred by measuring gravitational forces in the area.

[Check it out]

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NASA successfully launched their latest Mars bound probe – the Phoenix Mars lander. Phoenix will be the first probe to touch down using thrusters since the Viking 1 and 2 missions over 30 years ago. The Phoenix lander’s mission is to determine whether the icy ground near the planet’s north pole could have ever supported life.

Phoenix blasted off this morning from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, on a Delta II rocket at 5:26am EST. If all goes well, Phoenix will land on Mars in May of 2008. Phoenix will use a 2 meter long robotic arm to collect and analyze soils samples. Scientists expect to find water ice buried just a few centimeters beneath the surface.

Read more about this mission at the New Scientist.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: NASA, Phoenix, Mars

So who here wants a floating globe? I sure do.. but are you willing to spend $140 dollars for this electromagnetic globe? Yeah.. I’m not sure I would either. Nevertheless, it’s a pretty cool little globe that floats in the air. Now if elementary school science class was this cool.. I might have stayed awake a little longer.

[Check it out via Geekologie]

Technorati Tags: Electromagnetic Floating Planet Earth Globe, Globae