Worldwide Telescope Now In Your Browser

A while ago now, I shared with my readers my visit to Microsoft Research headquarters here in the Silicon Valley, where I witnessed the “unveiling” of a new application called “the worldwide telescope”.
(please see, The WorldWide Telescope: An amazing app)

IMHO, this is simply the best exploration and education tool for astronomy (though you can explore our Earth quite impressively too) available.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Worldwide Telescope Now In Your Browser“, posted with vodpod

So, I was rather pleased to read on C/Net’s News that this terrific program has been ‘ported’ for use via a Silverlight-enabled web browser (Internet Explorer). Download the “client” (a plug-in) and you can now browse the heavens anywhere, anytime.

Instead of Copy > Paste-ing, I’ll just refer you to the C/Net article, for details.

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Explore the galaxy with the Worldwide Telescope*

Yesterday A few weeks ago I attended an event at Microsoft’s Silicon Valley Research Center and learned about the technologies of the future.

Well, sort of. What I saw was an overview of what Microsoft is doing in the area of R&D– research and development.
Microsoft is planning on sticking around for a while, and they understand that technology is innovation… not a stagnant build-it-once-sell-it-a-million-times type thing, like a paperclip.

This from their Website: “Microsoft Research is dedicated to conducting both basic and applied research in computer science and software engineering. Its goals are to enhance the user experience on computing devices, reduce the cost of writing and maintaining software, and invent novel computing technologies.”

It was an interesting and informative event, and I want to take a minute and thank those folks involved.

* The keynote technology displayed was a program that is available now, and it is pretty amazing — especially when one considers the amount of data that must be accessed — it’s a virtual picture of the universe. And the best part is, you can explore it.
Yes, you can fly to Mars… or Rigel.. or the crab nebula.. or the top of Mt. Rainier here on earth (Virtual Earth is one data source).

“A state-of-the-art combination of software and Web 2.0 services, WorldWide Telescope offers terabytes of high-resolution images, astronomical data, and guided tours that bring the universe to your fingertips.” (again, from Website.)

This isn’t just pictures folks, when you right-click on Mars (for example) and select Properties, you will be offered practically every known fact about Mars. This is an unparalleled learning tool!

The engine behind this is kind of hard to explain; maybe.. real-time, super-advanced PowerPoint? Infinite MSN Maps?
But I don’t have to try to explain it. You can see it for yourself, and I highly suggest you do. Simply stunning.

To read more about the project, click here.
To download it for yourself, click here.

I found this clip which was a “sneak peak” presented by Roy Gould and Microsoft’s Curtis Wong. It will give you some idea…

*Original posting May 23, 2008.

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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