Hasta La Gadget!

Unfortunately for Desmond Dekker fans, this SKA telescope has nothing to do with the Jamaican music sensation. No, the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) radio telescope has much more otherworldly concerns, and according to the director of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), Peter Quinn, it should have the internet beat in terms of data when it goes online in 2020. The telescope, which will end up in either Australia, New Zealand, or South Africa, is aimed at searching for Earth-like planets, extraterrestrial life, dark matter, and black holes, and will require a central supercomputer with “the processing power of one billion PCs.” What’s more, it is expected to be 10,000 times more powerful than any telescope in existence and “generate the same amount of data in a day as the entire planet does in a year.” We say anything that gets us closer to having our very own hairy, Hawaiian-shirt sporting alien on hand is well worth the $2.1 billion it will cost to create. Willy!

SKA radio telescope to pump out more data than the internet in 2020, spot ALF before he lands originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jul 2011 19:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Some folks can fall asleep to the calming pitter patter of gentle rain. Yeah, we’re not those people. But we could be swayed into a somnolent stupor if those sounds came from epic storms — on Saturn. Captured by NASA’s Cassini probe last March, this 11-second clip of AM radio-like electrostatic is actually the agency’s first glimpse into storm activity on the planet’s Northern Hemisphere. Alright, so we admit the recording’s more of a weak ‘snap, crackle and fizzy pop’ than outright terror-inducing awe, but still these are the noises of another world. Would it help if we told you this storm’s been raging since December 2010 and hasn’t shown any signs of stopping? Shocking, we know. It’s not all doom and gloom, though as the folks behind Cassini think this is simply a sign of impending summer. So basically, it’s spring break at the saturnine Señor Frogs. Check the source for a sample of otherworldly rumbles.

NASA’s Cassini can hear it when lightning crashes on Saturn originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Space shuttle’s final voyage will include recycling urine into sports drink, crafting hilarious brand name

Space shuttle’s final voyage will include recycling urine into sports drink, crafting hilarious brand name originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jul 2011 18:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today, the Space Shuttle program came to a cloudy, fiery conclusion. The thrill and beauty of a launch was undeniable. Join along—we’ve got a livestream of the mission’s progress below. More »

Astronauts on board the International Space Station had to rush into two docked Soyuz spaceships as space debris nearly missed their homebase, passing just 250 meters (820 feet) from it. In space, that’s a pretty close call. More »