Cherry Electrical Products has introduced its J84-2800 Series washable keyboard for the healthcare/medical market. The keyboard helps control the spread of infections in medical facilities, an issue critical to the healthcare industry. A keyboard can always be a source of infection and dirt. Cherry’s J84-2800 Series keyboard features a fully-sealed rubber casing rated to NEMA 4. This makes it suitable for rinsing and total immersion in cleaning fluids, allowing healthcare providers and other users to wash the keyboard with hospital-grade disinfectants and commercial anti-bacterial wipes. It is suitable for areas with strict hygiene demands, such as operating rooms, medical carts, ward stations, intensive care units, and dialysis centers, as well as other locations susceptible to cross-contamination. Moreover what’s cool about this keyboard is that it is like the awesome roll over keyboard that you can roll up and put it in your pocket.
9. Dynamic Pixel LED Keyboard
Sure we’ve seen illuminated keyboards before, but then we saw the Luxeed Dynamic Pixel LED Keyboard and stopped looking. With 430 LEDs it is capable of individually lighting each key in your choice of color. It can do some amazing tricks like an animated rainbow across all the keys, or make each key light when you press it. You get four “preset” buttons above the arrow keys you can use to instantly choose between different customizable lit skin presets. Set-up a glowing skin for your favorite game with different colors to indicate each key action… or create illuminated patterns and designs.
8. Customizable Keyboard
Most of us have wondered as kiddies that the keyboard should be in ABCD layout.. Well, now, there is a solution for those who are sick of QWERTY keyboard layout. There is a customizable computer keyboard for you which is called DX1 keyboard. Everyone has his own hand size and shape and a distinct pattern of dodging monsters in a game, thus to no surprise this awesome keyboard was invented by a game enthusiast.
“These keys are like blank tapes,” said Pankaj Garg, a software architect at Mountain View, Calif.-based Ergodex, which developed the product. “You can make them whatever you want them to be.”
7. Optimus Tactus Keyboard
This is not your ordinary keyboard. The difference between optimus tactus and others is: no physical keys. It has a programmable keyboard surface which is much similar to customizable keyboard, the entire keyboard becomes a touchscreen. No more size, color or layout constraints, just a clean keyboard slate. And the good news is that it can be switched from typing mode to video mode.
6. Handwriting Recognition Keyboard
This full-size USB keyboard with handwriting recognition has a Fashionable super thin design. The keyboard has a very sensitive handwriting recognition system and is very useful for digitizing your handwriting. The writing pad of this A1Pro keyboard doubles as a mouse.
5. Virtual Laser Keyboard
The Virtual Laser Keyboard (VKB) leverages the power of laser and infrared technology and projects a full-size keyboard onto any flat surface. As you type on the laser projection, detection technology based on optical recognition enables the user to tap the images of the keys, complete with realistic tapping sounds, which feed into the compatible Bluetooth-enabled PDA, Smartphone, laptop
or PC.
4. Logitech G19 Gaming Keyboard
Sophistication reaches new levels with the Logitech G19 Gaming Keyboard. 2 USB ports allow data transfer to and from peripherals at unprecedented speeds. Upto 5 keys to be simultaneously pressed, thereby allowing execution of multi-key complex moves. The G19 Keyboard has Tiltable, 320 x 240 px, color GamePanel LCD which shows unprecedented levels of information—both in- and out-of-game—including game stats, system information, VOIP communication data, video playback, image slideshows, and many other items. User-selectable back lights allows playing in the dark.
3. Senseboard
Senseboard is based on tools that will translate your finger movements. The idea is now working well and can be used. This is one step ahead than the laser projection keyboard. A prototype was created in 2001 and now it is a reality! The Virtual Keyboard is used with the QWERTY touch typing scheme
2. Optimus Maximus
This keyboard, called the Optimus Maximus, is the dream of any heavy computer user. The Optimus Maximus keyboard contains a small organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display behind each key so that each keys appearance and mapping can be changed at will. Optimus’s customizable layout allows convenient use of any language—Cyrillic, Ancient Greek, Georgian, Arabic, Quenya, hiragana, etc.—as well as of any other character set: notes, numerals, special symbols, HTML codes, math functions and so on to infinity which means this allows you to ultra customise your setup to your taste like changing QWERTY keys to someother layout like the Optimus Tactus but the difference lies in the uber awesome OLED magic. It looks stunning and the minute you see it, you realize that you are looking at a device that has some actual richness of personality and could provide a richer experience.
1. Xynergi Keyboard
The Xynergi keyboard is part of a desktop media production center package. These $28,000 keyboards from Fairlight aren’t made for you, they’re designed for media professionals who need different keys for different tasks. It’s the world’s first “Self Labeling Illuminated Computer Keyswitch Technology,” beating the full-sized Optimus keyboard. Fairlight designed Xynergi to meet the needs of small, professional media editing studios. With Xynergi, engineers can capture audio, manipulate individual tracks, add effects, mix multiple tracks together and edit video files. While the device’s complexity and price tag mean the average consumer isn’t going to buy it, Xynergi might be a good choice for someone with a small recording studio or media companies that need an interface that will let them edit audio and video quickly.
Q-Teleportation has been successful on smaller objects according to a Study. “We were able to perform a quantum teleportation experiment for the first time ever outside a university laboratory,” said Rupert Ursin, a researcher at the Institute for Experimental Physics at the University of Vienna in Austria. In q-Teleportation it is the quantum states of the objects that are destroyed and recreated, and not the objects themselves. Therefore, q-Teleportation cannot teleport animate or inanimate matter (or energy) in its physical entirety. The device thus creates a replica of an original thing at a new position and the original thing ceased to exist once the replicas were created. (via National Geographic.)
2. The Sixth Sense Technology
The conference TED (the name stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design) the guys from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology revealed something unbelievable, a working prototype of a multifunctional device that can become part of our lives in five years to ten. Set named “sixth sense” consists of only wearing colorful caps, perceived by a multifunctional device. See the video to understand how it works. Seeing is believing!
3. 360º 3-D Holographic Displays
The ZCamTM is a video camera that can capture depth information (which is used to build the 3D model) along with video and is produced by 3DV Systems. The technology is based on the Time of Flight principle. In this technique, 3D depth data is generated by sending pulses of infra-red light into the scene and detecting the light reflected from the surfaces of objects in the scene. Using the time taken for a light pulse to travel to the target and back, the distance can be calculated and used to build up 3D depth information for all objects in the scene. (Via 3dvsystems)
4. Lightsaber
And we thought they were just sci-fi! The lightsaber consists of a polished metal hilt which projects a blade of energy (plasma) about one meter long. The lightsaber’s blade cuts through most substances without resistance. It leaves cauterized wounds in flesh, but can be deflected by another lightsaber’s blade, or an energy shield or wall. HowStuffWorks has a detailed tutorial on how to create a lightsaber. It also verifies that lightsabers have been sold on ebay. There are some more theoretical explanations on the existence of light-saber technology, however we couldn’t actually discover more details about the actual product in existence. We still added it to the list because we wanted it to be real so bad. After all who wouldn’t want to see lightsaber battles as part of Olympics?
5. JetPack
Jet pack, usually worn on the back in sci-fi, that use jets of escaping gases (or in some cases liquid water) to allow a single user to fly. TAM is the first and only company in the world that produces a complete package of a custom designed Rocket Belt using the most advanced technology and aerospace materials with the special distillation machine to produce your own rocket grade fuel hydrogen peroxide. (Via TAM)
6. Military exoskeleton prototype
The Military exoskeleton is a completely un-tethered, hydraulic-powered anthropomorphic exoskeleton that provides users with the ability to carry loads of up to 200 lbs for extended periods of time and over all terrains. Its flexible design allows for deep squats, crawls and upper-body lifting. There is no joystick or other control mechanism. The exoskeleton senses what users want to do and where they want to go. It augments their ability, strength and endurance.
7. Flying Car
It’s called “The Highway in the Sky,” and here’s how it works: Every time you’re stuck in traffic, you can flip a switch and swoop into the sky (via CBS News).
8. Flying Saucer
Last time I saw a flying saucer being engineered to take to the skies was with a Moller’s prototype. Since then and till very recently – perhaps till the moment I came across this, I never thought lethal drones could also take a leaf from the extraterrestrial flyers. A British drone company called Aesir, however, thinks it’s feasible, and is thus creating models of unmanned aerial vehicles in the shape of flying saucers. (Via gizmowatch).
9. Virtual Goggles
Technology has brought virtual worlds into our computers for many years. Now, virtual reality (VR) will be in our living rooms. The underground effort that has been an experimental fantasy for decades has become reality now (Via Softpedia News).
10. Contact Lenses That Change Color To Alert Diabetics of Glucose Levels
There is great news for diabetics. A revolutionary technology has came into being to help them measure blood sugar levels without drawing blood daily. It uses extremely small nanoparticles embedded into the hydrogel lenses. These engineered nanoparticles react with glucose molecules found in tears, causing a chemical reaction that changes their colour. Developed by biochemical engineering professor Jin Zhang at the University of Western Ontario. (Via ImpactLab).
The blackness of space and Earth's horizon provide the backdrop for this image of the docked Soyuz 13 (foreground) and the Progress 22 resupply vehicle. Astronauts photographed the Soyuz from a window on the International Space Station while space shuttle Discovery was docked with the station.
ISS Spacewalk
Astronaut Robert Curbeam works on the port overheard solar array wing on the International Space Station's P6 truss. Construction and repairs are an ongoing process on the ISS, which may be completed by 2010. When it's finished, the space station will be larger than a typical five-bedroom house.
ISS Construction
Discovery mission specialists Robert Curbeam (left) and Christer Fuglesang work on ISS construction during a spacewalk in 2006. Visiting astronauts typically live and work at the station for about six months before heading home.
International Space Station
This view of the International Space Station over a blue-and-white Earth was taken shortly after the space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the orbital outpost on September 17, 2006. During its six days on the space station, the Atlantis crew installed a pair of 240-foot (73-meter) solar wings, attached to a 17.5-ton section of truss with batteries, electronics, and a giant rotating joint. The new solar arrays were designed to double the station's onboard power.
Pirs Docking Compartment, ISS
A crew member aboard the space shuttle Endeavour snapped this image of the Pirs docking compartment of the International Space Station. The compartment has two primary functions: It serves as a docking port for transport and cargo vehicles and as an airlock for spacewalking astronauts.
ISS Over Miami, Florida
The turquoise waters of Miami, Florida, gleam underneath the International Space Station as it floats some 240 miles (390 kilometers) above the Earth's surface. The orbiting lab has hosted a rotating international crew since November 2000.
ISS Over Earth
The International Space Station has been under construction since November 1998. In that year the first piece of its structure, the Zarya Control Module, was launched into orbit with a Russian Proton rocket. Today the station features more space than the average three-bedroom house—and it's still growing.
Space Station Maintenance
When renovations or repairs are needed on the International Space Station, it's up to astronauts to do the job. Before donning a special pressurized suit and heading out on a spacewalk, though, they must first spend over two hours decompressing in order to avoid the bends. Once their spacesuits are on, the astronauts must spend another hour breathing pure oxygen before they can step outside.
Since the beginning of time, mankind has always been driven to design and build bigger, better, and faster. Examples of this can be traced back to ancient times with the construction of the Egyptian Pyramids. In today’s world, engineering has been taken to the extreme with all of the new technology and knowledge that we have gained over the years. Some of the buildings, dams, canals, and even roller coasters have pushed the engineering envelope to the limit by becoming bigger, stronger, wider, and faster than many people ever thought possible. Here’s a look at some of the most amazing structures in the world, and they show how we have continually taken engineering to another level year after year.
Rungrado May Day Stadium, Pyongyang
Rungrado May Day Stadium: The world’s largest stadium is the Rungrado May Day Stadium, a gigantic venue that can seat 150,000 people. They’ve squeezed up to 190,000 people into this stadium during a record-breaking professional wresting match in 1995. This 2.2 million square foot architectural gem consists of 16 arches that make up the roof and each reach over 197ft into the air. The Rungrado May Day Stadium hosts a variety of sporting events, but it’s mainly a venue for various celebrations and parades. Amazingly, 11,000 tonnes of steel was used to construct the roof alone.
The Panama Canal, Central America
The Panama Canal: Construction of the Panama Canal began in 1880 as way to connect the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean through Central America. This $375 million project consisted of the excavation of 268 million cubic yards of earth to form the canal. This excavated material was then relocated to various areas throughout Panama with some of it used to create a 500 acre town along the Pacific Ocean called Balboa. Thousands of workers fought through the humid weather, 105 inches of annual rain, mountains, and malaria/yellow fever epidemics in order to finish the canal in 1914, when the first ship sailed through the canal. In total, 5,609 people died during the construction of the Panama Canal. The canal is 50 miles long and features 17 artificial lakes, several channels, and 3 sets of locks. The 3 locks raise the water level a total of 139 feet, with each one takes about 8 minutes to fill-up with the proper amount of water. Ships must pay a toll to use the Panama Canal, which varies depending upon the size and type of ship and also the type of cargo on-board. The most expensive toll ever paid at the Panama Canal was $249,165 while the least expensive was $0.36 to a man who swam the canal!
Kingda Ka Rollercoaster, New Jersey
Kingda Ka Rollercoaster: If you’re looking for the greatest thrill on earth, then you have to check out Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey. Thrill-junkies will love the tallest coaster in the world which towers above the theme park at 456 feet and features a drop of 418 feet. Although the ride is only 28 seconds long, it will give you the ultimate high as it shoots you 0 - 128 mph in only 3.5 seconds! This drag strip-like coaster shoots up to 18 people straight into the air at a 90° angle and return you to the ground before you even realise what just happened. This 3,118ft coaster was opened in May, 2005.
The Big Dig, Boston
The Big Dig: The Big Dig was a massive mega-project in the city of Boston whose purpose was to relieve traffic congestion along I-93. The plan was to build an enormous 3.5 mile tunnel underneath the city of Boston to help relieve some of this traffic which had gotten worse year after year. The project broke ground in 1991, and it became the most expensive highway project ever in the United States. As of 2006, the Big Dig project cost $14.6 billion. Workers encountered many obstacles while digging the enormous tunnel including glacial debris, buried homes, and even sunken ships. The tunnel had many problems with leaks as it neared completion, but they were eventually fixed. There is one death that is solely contributed to the Big Dig project, which occurred when a 3 tonne piece of concrete ceiling collapsed onto a car, killing the passenger of the car and injuring the driver. Work on the Big Dig project concluded on December 31, 2007. It was one of the biggest projects of its kind in the world.
Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, Kobe and Awaji-shima
Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge: As the longest suspension bridge in the world at 12,831 feet, engineers had no easy task erecting this massive bridge. Linking Kobe to Awaji Island in Japan, this bridge needed to be able to withstand high winds and even earthquakes. Because of this, engineers designed the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge with a two-hinged stiffening girder system. This technology allowed the bridge to withstand winds of 178 mph and earthquakes measuring up to 8.5 on the Richter scale. The flexibility of this bridge allows it to expand and contract up to 6 feet in one day. The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge was completed in 1998 at a cost of about $5 billion. Sounds like a lot of money, but when you factor in the $20 toll that you pay to cross the bridge and the approximately 23,000 cars that use it each day, that adds up to about $460,000 per day in revenue.
Hoover Dam, Arizona/Nevada
Hoover Dam: When the Hoover Dam was constructed back in 1935, it was the the world’s largest concrete structure and the largest electric producing facility although it doesn’t hold either of these titles anymore. The construction of this huge dam wasn’t easy. Engineers estimated that the concrete used to build the dam would take 125 years to fully cure if it were all poured at once, so they had to find a more efficient way to pour the concrete for the dam. They decided to pour 6 inches of concrete at a time, and they further sped-up the hardening of the concrete by cooling it with 1-inch pipes of cold water that ran through the concrete. The Hoover Dam used enough concrete to make a 2-lane road from San Francisco to New York (more than 2,500 miles). Construction of the Hoover Dam was hard work, and there were officially 112 deaths associated with the project from drownings to sickness. The hard work of these brave workers paid-off with a 726ft high, 1,244ft long, and 660 ft thick (at the base) dam that provides electricity to multiple cities (including Las Vegas) and produced Lake Mead which is enjoyed by many tourists each year. It’s the fifth most visited national park in the United States.
The Great Wall of China, China
The Great Wall of China: The Great Wall of China is the longest man-made structure in the world at about 4,160 miles long. The wall was constructed between the 5th Century BC and the 16th Century BC, and it’s purpose was to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire. During the long construction period of the wall, it’s estimated that between 2 and 3 million Chinese died while constructing the immense wall. The fact that these people were able to construct such a large structure without using the modern machinery we have today is just amazing. Initially, the wall was constructed of mostly wood, stones, and earth but later, bricks were used. The wall itself varied in height, but is typically about 25 feet high and 15 - 20 feet wide. Some people believe that you can see the Great Wall of China from the moon, but that’s a myth. You can however, barely see the wall from low-orbit space 100 miles up.
The Colosseum, Rome
The Colosseum: The Colosseum was the pinnacle of the Roman Empire’s engineering when it was completed in 80 AD. The 10 year project was constructed so well that some of it still stands today. Originally, this amphitheater seated 50,000 people and it hosted gladiator contests and other public events. This massive stadium is approximately 1,800 feet in diameter, and it sits on a 6 acre lot. The height of the outer walls measure about 160 feet high, and it was made out of travertine stone which was bonded together using mortar and 300 tonnes of iron clamps. Today, most of the outer wall of the Colosseum is gone due to earthquakes over the years, but much of the inner walls still remain.
The Great Pyramid of Giza, Cairo
The Great Pyramid of Giza: The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the 3 great pyramids in Cairo, Egypt. It took an estimated 10 - 20 years to build the 450ft pyramid, which was completed way back in 2570 BC. No one knows for sure what the purpose of these pyramids were, but most experts believe that they are tombs for important figures at the time. The Great Pyramid of Giza is suspected to be Pharaoh Khufu’s tomb. You think your job sucks, imagine having to carry around 2 - 4 tonne stone blocks for 10 - 20 years! Some stones weighed as much as 80 tonnes and carried distances of up to 500 miles! Estimates of how many workers that it took to construct this pyramid varies greatly from approximately 14,000 to 300,000 workers. Most experts do agree, though, that the number of stone blocks used to construct the pyramid is more than 2.3 million. Engineers today are still baffled about how the Egyptian builders were so precise with their measurements when constructing the pyramid. Measurements show that the Egyptians were 58 mm in length and 1 minute of an angle away from making the Great Pyramid of Giza a perfect square at the base.
Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur
Petronas Towers: The Petronas Towers are the largest twin towers in the world at the time of writing, as each tower measures in at a height of 1,482ft (to the top of the antenna). The 88-floor towers are constructed mainly of concrete, with steel and glass also rounding-out the materials list. These skyscrapers are supported by 69 x 69 feet concrete cores, with outer columns providing more support. The Petronas Towers were built on 360ft deep foundations, the world’s deepest, because of the depth of the bedrock below the construction site. The two towers are linked by a 174ft skybridge at the 41st and 42nd floors. The towers were completed in 1998, and at the time were the tallest buildings in the world.
The Taj Mahal, Agra
The Taj Mahal: The Taj Mahal was completed back in 1648 and is one of the most beautiful architectural sites on the planet. The Taj Mahal is actually a mausoleum that was built after the death of Mumtaz Mahal, who was the wife of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. The most spectacular aspect of the Taj Mahal is probably the 105ft high marble dome sitting on a cylindrical base that is about 21ft high and decorated with lotus designs. The Taj Mahal was constructed on a parcel of land about 3 acres in size. A 15 km ramp was constructed to make hauling heavy marble and other materials to the construction site. To haul this heavy material, workers used teams of oxen and elephants to haul the heaviest materials. In all, the Taj Mahal used 28 different types of precious stones that were inlaid into the marble including sapphire, crystal, turquoise, and more. The Taj Mahal was unanimously voted as one of the seven wonders of the world in a recent poll, attracting 2 - 3 million visitors per year.
Taipei 101, Taipei
Taipei 101: The Emporis Skyscraper Award winner in 2004, the Taipei 101 tower is currently the tallest skyscraper in the world (until the Burj Dubai is completed) at over 1,670ft to the antenna. Newsweek Magazine has even hailed Taipei 101 as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World while the Discovery Channel calls it one of the Seven Wonders of Engineering. Taipei 101 is designed to withstand typhoon winds and small earthquakes. 36 columns support the immense weight of the tower, including 8 larger columns filled with 10,000 psi concrete that makes this tower one of the most stable skyscrapers ever constructed. In order to minimise the swaying-effect in highest points of the building, caused by wind, engineers created a 662 metric tonne steel pendulum that hangs from the 92nd floor. This pendulum sways to offset the effects of the wind, and thus, keeps the tower stable. Each of the $2 million elevators can reach speeds of almost 38 mph, the current world record. The total cost of this 5 year construction project, completed in 2004, was about $1.758 billion.
Grand Coulee Dam, Washington
Grand Coulee Dam: The largest concrete structure and power producing facility in the United States is the Grand Coulee Dam in the State of Washington. The dam actually consists of 11,975,521 cubic yards of concrete, and 4 power plants. The Grand Coulee Dam provides 6809 MW of electricity to 11 states, and also provides irrigation for over 500,000 acres of farmland. Work began in 1933, during the Great Depression, with the first water spill over the Grand Coulee Dam occurring on the 1st June, 1942. This enormous structure spans 5,223ft and towers 550ft above the bedrock. This dam is so big, that all of the pyramids of Giza would fit inside the base of this behemoth!
Burj Dubai, Dubai
Burj Dubai: The Burj Dubai is a skyscraper that is scheduled to be finished at the end of 2008. This $4.1 billion tower will be the tallest man-made structure in the world when completed. The Burj Dubai will consist of 158 floors, and it will reach a height of 1,964 feet, or almost 900 feet taller than the Sears Tower in Chicago. To anchor the huge building, engineers had to use more than 110,000 metric tonness of concrete and 192 piles buried 164 feet into the ground. The Burj Dubai will feature 56 double-decker elevators that are estimated to be the fastest elevators in the world at 40 mph. This immense skyscraper is scheduled for occupancy in 2009.
The Chicago Spire, Chicago
The Chicago Spire: The Chicago Spire is one of the coolest looking buildings in the world, and it’s also one of the tallest. This swirling skyscraper will stand approximately 2,000ft tall, more than 500ft higher than the Sears Tower, when construction is completed in 2011. It will be North America’s tallest building, and the world’s tallest all-residential building. The Chicago Spire will sit on the shore of Lake Michigan near the famous Navy Pier in Chicago. This tower will house 1,193 condominiums within the building’s 150 stories. The 10,293 square foot penthouse condo at the top of the Chicago Spire is reportedly for sale right now for a cool $40 million while other less-expensive condos are on sale for $750,000. Each story of the Chicago Spire will rotate exactly 2.44 degrees from the one beneath it, which will total 360 degrees. The corkscrew design of this building does more than just look cool, it also helps minimise wind forces on the structure, which is important, considering that Chicago is the windy city.
Think of it as Moore's Law for exoplanets. Two astronomers have used the current rate of discovery for planets outside our solar system to calculate when we're going to find a habitable planet akin to Earth.
Their answer: mid-2011.
But just like 42, the true meaning of the answer depends a lot on the nature of the question.
At the crux of the issue is, what's the definition of habitable?
A chart of habitable zones around stars that are hot, cold, and just right. Green means "go" for life as we know it.
—Image courtesy NASA
Computer whiz Samuel Arbesman of Harvard and exoplanet expert Gregory Laughlin of UC Santa Cruz say the answer is that a habitable planet will have 1) a surface temperature that would support liquid water, and 2) a planetary mass that indicates it's a rocky world, like Earth.
Based on these criteria, the pair developed what they call a simple habitability metric, Hk, where k is a given planet, and the value of Hk can run from 0 (uninhabitable) to 1 (just like Earth).
[There's some much more detailed math behind the variables involved in calculating Hk ... click here to see the study and all its juicy details.]
Once they had their equations in place, Arbesman and Laughlin ran their metric for 370 exoplanets with known properties.
That's because most of the exoplanets found so far have been more massive than Jupiter, and the few known rocky worlds are so close to their stars they would have painful surface temperatures. I mean you, COROT 7b.
An artist's impression of a Jupiter-like exoplanet.
—Image courtesy NASA
But like the incredible shrinking computer chip, the technology for finding smaller exoplanets farther from their host stars is whizzing along at a breakneck pace. So what we need to do is consider the chances of finding increasingly Earthlike worlds over time.
To that end, the study authors ran what's called a bootstrap analysis, a statistical method that tells you what you *might have* seen, based on what you *have* seen.
A single run of the bootstrap analysis that takes into account Hk and the date of discovery for each of the 370 exoplanets creates a plot of Hk over time.
By running 10,000 sets of bootstrapped data, the pair created a distribution plot for Hk all the way out to the year 3000.
The median date for when a planet with Hk = 1 turns up is early May 2011.
But that's just the median. Chances get better over time, with a 66 percent probability of discovery by 2013, and a 95 percent chance of habitability by 2264.
"Of course, predicting future scientific and technological progress is a slippery and difficult process," the pair write in their study. After all, "history is littered with predictions that are far off the mark."
No. Kidding.
The exoplanet-prediction effort is also complicated by the fact that some of the most promising candidates for Earth twins have yet to be described publicly.
NASA's Kepler mission was designed specifically to look for Earth-size worlds in the habitable zones of sunlike stars. But the Kepler team is waiting until February 2011 to publish any details on 400 of the best planetary candidates it's seen so far.
For now, Hk is really just a thought experiment, rather like the Drake Equation, but one with equally provocative implications.
A 1967 Lunar Orbiter IV picture of the arrowhead-shaped Hansteen Alpha region (left) and the same picture with new LRO data superimposed, showing silica-rich areas in red and yellow.
Diagram courtesy NASA/Goddard/UCLA/Stony Brook
Rachel Kaufman, for National Geographic News, Published September 17, 2010
If the moon were actually made of cheese, there'd be a new flavor of dairy for humans to sample.
Data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) have revealed a new type of rock on the lunar surface—which scientists say was spat up by a style of volcano never before seen on the moon.
Until now, scientists had believed the moon was made of two basic types of rock: dark basalt and light, calcium-rich feldspar. Both would have come from volcanoes spewing relatively runny basaltic lava.
But the new volcano type oozed thicker lava rich in silica over a light, arrowhead-shaped patch of the moon roughly 18 miles (30 kilometers) across, called Hansteen Alpha, the scientists say.
New Moon Material Already on Earth?
The new type of moon volcano is now extinct—the last time it oozed any lava was two billion years ago at best, said Timothy Glotch, assistant professor of geosciences at Stony Brook University and co-author of a new paper describing the find.
(Related: "Volcanoes Rocked Dark Side of the Moon.")
Scientists found the volcano using LRO's Diviner instrument, which looks at light being reflected from the moon's surface in mid- to far-infrared wavelengths.
Different minerals will reflect unique signatures of light in these wavelengths, allowing the team to map the moon's surface composition. But the technique reveals only mineral abundance—identifying the exact types of rocks present will require further research.
On Earth, volcanoes similar to the one that birthed Hansteen Alpha create silica-based minerals such as quartz, potassium feldspar, and granite—any of which could be candidates for the new moon rock.
(Also see "'Observe the Moon Night': Top Five Lunar Targets.")
The LRO scientists think pockets of the newfound silica-based rock must have been created as basaltic magma deep in the moon melted some of the silica-containing deep crust.
Some of this newly minted material rose to the surface as lava, while some of it cooled deeper underground. (See "Ancient Moon Had Earthlike Core?")
The new rock's signature was also found inside and around some lunar craters, suggesting that when a comet or asteroid hit the moon, the impact threw up chunks of the underground silica-rich rock.
It's even possible some of this new moon material is already here on Earth.
"If you look through the material the Apollo mission brought back, we see tiny grains of granite—there might be a gram here or a gram there. People always wondered where those things came from," Glotch said.
(Related: "Water Found in Apollo Moon Rocks.")
"Here we're talking about whole volcanoes made of this rock. Sampling this other rock type would give us a completely different picture of the moon from the Apollo samples."
Scenes from the motion picture "2012." Remember the Y2K scare? It came and went without much of a whimper because of adequate planning and analysis of the situation. Impressive movie special effects aside, Dec. 21, 2012, won't be the end of the world as we know. It will, however, be another winter solstice.
Much like Y2K, 2012 has been analyzed and the science of the end of the Earth thoroughly studied. Contrary to some of the common beliefs out there, the science behind the end of the world quickly unravels when pinned down to the 2012 timeline. Below, NASA Scientists answer several questions that we're frequently asked regarding 2012.
Question (Q): Are there any threats to the Earth in 2012? Many Internet websites say the world will end in December 2012. Answer (A): Nothing bad will happen to the Earth in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012.
Q: What is the origin of the prediction that the world will end in 2012? A: The story started with claims that Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth. This catastrophe was initially predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened the doomsday date was moved forward to December 2012. Then these two fables were linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter solstice in 2012 -- hence the predicted doomsday date of December 21, 2012.
Q: Does the Mayan calendar end in December 2012? A: Just as the calendar you have on your kitchen wall does not cease to exist after December 31, the Mayan calendar does not cease to exist on December 21, 2012. This date is the end of the Mayan long-count period but then -- just as your calendar begins again on January 1 -- another long-count period begins for the Mayan calendar.
Q: Could a phenomena occur where planets align in a way that impacts Earth? A: There are no planetary alignments in the next few decades, Earth will not cross the galactic plane in 2012, and even if these alignments were to occur, their effects on the Earth would be negligible. Each December the Earth and sun align with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy but that is an annual event of no consequence.
"There apparently is a great deal of interest in celestial bodies, and their locations and trajectories at the end of the calendar year 2012. Now, I for one love a good book or movie as much as the next guy. But the stuff flying around through cyberspace, TV and the movies is not based on science. There is even a fake NASA news release out there..."
- Don Yeomans, NASA senior research scientistQ: Is there a planet or brown dwarf called Nibiru or Planet X or Eris that is approaching the Earth and threatening our planet with widespread destruction? A: Nibiru and other stories about wayward planets are an Internet hoax. There is no factual basis for these claims. If Nibiru or Planet X were real and headed for an encounter with the Earth in 2012, astronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye. Obviously, it does not exist. Eris is real, but it is a dwarf planet similar to Pluto that will remain in the outer solar system; the closest it can come to Earth is about 4 billion miles.
Q: What is the polar shift theory? Is it true that the earth’s crust does a 180-degree rotation around the core in a matter of days if not hours? A: A reversal in the rotation of Earth is impossible. There are slow movements of the continents (for example Antarctica was near the equator hundreds of millions of years ago), but that is irrelevant to claims of reversal of the rotational poles. However, many of the disaster websites pull a bait-and-shift to fool people. They claim a relationship between the rotation and the magnetic polarity of Earth, which does change irregularly, with a magnetic reversal taking place every 400,000 years on average. As far as we know, such a magnetic reversal doesn’t cause any harm to life on Earth. A magnetic reversal is very unlikely to happen in the next few millennia, anyway.
Earth, as seen in the Blue Marble: Next Generation collection of images, showing the color of the planet's surface in high resolution. This image shows South America from September 2004.Q: Is the Earth in danger of being hit by a meteor in 2012? A: The Earth has always been subject to impacts by comets and asteroids, although big hits are very rare. The last big impact was 65 million years ago, and that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Today NASA astronomers are carrying out a survey called the Spaceguard Survey to find any large near-Earth asteroids long before they hit. We have already determined that there are no threatening asteroids as large as the one that killed the dinosaurs. All this work is done openly with the discoveries posted every day on the NASA NEO Program Office website, so you can see for yourself that nothing is predicted to hit in 2012.
Q: How do NASA scientists feel about claims of pending doomsday? A: For any claims of disaster or dramatic changes in 2012, where is the science? Where is the evidence? There is none, and for all the fictional assertions, whether they are made in books, movies, documentaries or over the Internet, we cannot change that simple fact. There is no credible evidence for any of the assertions made in support of unusual events taking place in December 2012.
Q: Is there a danger from giant solar storms predicted for 2012? A: Solar activity has a regular cycle, with peaks approximately every 11 years. Near these activity peaks, solar flares can cause some interruption of satellite communications, although engineers are learning how to build electronics that are protected against most solar storms. But there is no special risk associated with 2012. The next solar maximum will occur in the 2012-2014 time frame and is predicted to be an average solar cycle, no different than previous cycles throughout history.
Earth, as seen in the Blue Marble: Next Generation collection of images, showing the color of the planet's surface in high resolution. This image shows South America from September 2004.
