Roy Gould: WorldWide Telescope

[Pendragon1989]

Starting at 2:00 is a picture of the Hubble Deep field. Look it up! :)

[AAiszonep]

they know there are more then 300 aliens planet??

did he say that?? yes he did!! (look @ 2.40 time)

[PhantasyGod]

@AAiszonep Yes. Not everyone knows that Nasa and Esa celebration has found over 300 exo planets most of them uninhabitable because they are so close to the sun and the size of Jupiter. But they have found some wonders like gleasa that is in habitable zone.

[AAiszonep]

they know there are more then 300 aliens planet??

did he say that. yes he did!! on 2.40

[nataliawasilewska97]

it's a bit boring couse the pics are still. :( I thought you could like see the earth moving, strs shining and stuff :(

[AveNullusMajestic]

Can anyone explain too me why there is a gigantic black dot, about the mass of Sicily off of the Eastern coast of Australia on MWWT today (28-04-2010)?...Lets just hope its a glitch ehh...

[AveNullusMajestic]

@AveNullusMajestic

Well off of Australia's eastern coast but still also close enough to the western coast of Madagascar to suggest at a point between...

[kaptugan]

More bluescreen no thanksss microsoft.

[xtruder02]

google sky is far better... wwt is to slow downloading images and info... even if you like to watch solar system download celestia.

[sunfirescout]

The worst ideas ideas in history have always been thought up with the highest intentions. In an age where we want our children to play sports and not video games, read books instead of tv, we are going to steal the enjoyment and wonder of the night sky from them too. So much to be learned and so few to teach it...

[kodeshian]

What a narrow minded POV.

Doctors who grew up playing video games perform more accurate orthoscopic surgeries.

This will introduce millions of children to the wonder of the night sky, it will not isolate them from it.

[sunfirescout]

A computer screen is not reality, it is purely subjective 'virtual reallity'. I hope next time you have surgery the doctor has experience with real flesh and not just computer simulation. And I think narrow mindedness is beleiving what you see on a computer screen is a sufficient replacement for real life experience. Unplug the tvs and computers and take your kid out on a clear night and start teaching. They will love you for it later...

[werecow2003]

In the words of another TED speaker: knowing what the ingredients in a chocolate cake are does not make that cake any less delicious. The people who complain that science takes away the magic from an experience are typically the fools who haven't actually taken the time to study it.

[sunfirescout]

I'm not sure of the point you're trying to make, but to those who think that astronomy is just a visual hobby, you are mistaken. The overwhelming satisfaction of studying astronomy, designing and building a telescope, peering into the milky way and saying 'WOW" is nothing compared to putting a child's eye up to your eyepiece and hearing them say 'WOW!" Your child, your choice. My child has access to 3 different telescopes and even helped me build the last one. Gotta a program for that?

[werecow2003]

You seemed to be arguing that science takes away the mystery and thereby diminishes our experience of the natural world, and for most people who study natural science, that is not at all the case. For most of us who study some aspect of nature, the amazement is not at all reduced, and may in fact be deepened. I know I have only found awe while learning about astronomy and cosmology, as well as biology. My wonder has not decreased one iota. Rather, it has increased by orders of magnitude.

[werecow2003]

Many of the observations in science which I have found to be the most amazing come exactly from the enormous advances in technology. I visited the old stellar observatory next door last week, and while one does feel a bit of nostalgia for the old astronomer and his telescope, it is more than compensated for imho by our gaining some of the majestic images from, say, the Hubble telescope. Crisp photos of quasars, nebulae, the deep field. That simply couldn't have been achieved without computers.

[sunfirescout]

Bottom line, the people who have provided modern science with it equations, formulas and principles, not to mention endless sets of data, have all done so though human process and method. There is no tech alternative to hands on scientific experience in a child's development which should start as early as possible. Science is a method, technology is a tool. Neither of which should be a barrier to learning.

[sunfirescout]

To address the hubble issue, My daughter,who has hands on experience designing, building and using telescopes is more prepared to grow up and design and operate the next generation of space scope than say a child who watches tv, plays video games and occasionally looks at planets and stars on the internet.

[sunfirescout]

And to say things like the hubble wouldn't be possible without computers is silly. You could keep going and say the computer wouldn't be possible without the calculator. The calculator wouldn't be possible without the abacus, and on and on until you get to the idea that none of it all would be possible without human intelligence and experience. That is the missing cornerstone is modern education. Children are taught bits of info from books but they can't take from it the authors experience.

[sunfirescout]

I guess the point I'm trying to make is technology and computers are nothing without the people working them. We need to teach our children to be human first, then turn them loose with the advances of technology. If do not, then tech just becomes a crutch of an underdeveloped, lazy population who primaraly use computers for entertainment. We are having an impossible time teaching computers how to be human, why do you expect a computer to be able to teach a child how to be human?

[sunfirescout]

Which brings me back to my original point. Science is a method for studying the objective. It is a short coming of human existence that we can only communicate our knowledge in the subjective. Why should a child learn from the subjective when the objective is right outside their window? Learn from the objective, reference with the subjective. That is how I will raise my child. Your child, your choice.

[sunfirescout]

I also find it ironic that they reference Galileo in this video. Galileo was almost killed because a certain organization of people wanted to have control over what people knew about the stars. They didn't want people building telescopes and leaning for themselves how it all worked. I think Galileo would have wanted the international year of astronomy to inspire people to learn independently about the celestial sphere and not just take yet another organization's subjective word for it...

[sunfirescout]

I don't think for one second that science cheapens experience. Science is just a method, a path followed by the curious. The method by which this program was created was scientific, but this program is not science and only serves to remove the scientific method and process from a child's mind and directly, and instantaneously input subjective data into what would normally be a curious and pursuing hungry brain. Children will never utilize answers to questions they haven't raised.

[werecow2003]

I'm an AI student, so you don't need to tell me how stupid computers are, but that still does not negate the fact that they have been a vital tool in modern science. Sure, they too are the product of human ingenuity as you say, but it's not like they have not provided us with possibilities that we did not have before (think, say, of mining impossibly large datasets). We are tool builders by nature, and computers are simply the next tool, but that does not negate their profound effect.

[sunfirescout]

Agreed, you hit the nail on the head, we are tool makers. My telescopes are tools just as our computers and their programs are. I merely raise my daughter with the ability to make her own tools whenever necessary. When we rely completely on tools made by other people we give up a portion of control and creativity in our lives. I teach and expose her to as much as possible and if I knew how, I'd show her how to make her own computer as well.

[werecow2003]

Cool. I bet you still rely on materials provided by others though. For instance, do you make the glass and shape and polish the lenses? My toolmaking abilities lie in creating AI software, and in doing so I rely on others to make the hardware and operating system. We're bound to rely on others part of the time. We're as much social animals as we are toolmakers after all, and in building on the work of others, we can continue to progress. That would not be possible otherwise.

[rahmanroni]

How many teachers have on demand access to a telescope and a clear night sky? Oh wait, almost none. School takes place during the day mostly, so how are teachers gonna get a 4th graders parents to let their kids go out at 12 at night to stare at stars when they or teachers can download a simple app to show the best images taken by some of the most powerful telescopes.

[sunfirescout]

@rahmanroni Ok, look I don't know why this is such a big argument. The sky, day or night, is available free to everybody, at any time. I am not Amish, I understand the telescope itself is technology. But what I am saying is an intelligent mind must draw a line somewhere on what tech is progressive to ones experience, growth and quality of life, and what is stagnant. I do not eat, sleep, use the restroom or have sex with the aid of a computer. Would you really want to if you could?

[sunfirescout]

@rahmanroni I do wonder how many folks responding to this are parents though? As a parent I am most concerned with my child's experience. Will this show a vast majority of students the cosmos? Sure. But who's better off? My daughter knows how to turn glass, pvc and plywood into a telescope and look at whatever she want, whenever she wants. What can your kid do? Point and click with a mouse. Make sure you put that on there college application.

[rahmanroni]

@sunfirescout Just to be clear, I'm a High School student, not a parent.

[sunfirescout]

@rahmanroni Who do you think is responsible for building the telescopes that give us all this imaging. Do you think it might be folks who know how to build telescopes? How do you think they learned? Do you have an app for that? When you have children, do what the schools an microsoft can't, spend time with them building a telescope and show them both the day And knight sky. Microsoft's bottom line is making money, not teaching the cosmos. That's your job.

[sunfirescout]

@rahmanroni Just to be certain here, my daughter is about to start her school science project this weekend. Is microsoft and all the folks arguing with me saying that I should in fact save her time and energy by looking up a you tube video of the exact same project, let her watch it, and then expect her to have the same experience and knowledge as if she did it herself? I could call her teacher and say, "Hey, don't worry about the science project, she watched it online!"

[JustAnAdjunct]

You just know it's gonna be loaded with bugs when microsoft made it.

[dbuezas]

Google Sky?

[Hipster420]

how often are the images updated? once a day? once a week? once a month?

[dbuezas]

you usually don't need to update astronomy pictures, stars, nebuli and galaxies just stay the same. Except for supernovas, but that's not usual at all :P

[aoeaoae]

What is the object at 3:09? Anyone?

[kevintype]

Aoeaoae, the object at 3:09 looks to me like a pretty good match for the images of the Crab Nebula available on Wikipedia and many other places. That would be my best guess.

[aoeaoae]

thanks a lot!!

why there's still no visible light interferometer in solar orbit? It'd make it a mirror with 2 au effective diameter!

we could look directly at Gliese 581 d's surface with that one. it would be so much more significant than building a $100 bill space hotel in low orbit.

[xxxPassiexxx]

Looks interesting

Pitty its made up with pictures instead of a real camera

We cant find new things if its only pictures

And they decide what we get to see too

But someday we'll get it as cam i hope

Just like a real time google maps satellite

yet do we want that ? ,,,hmmmmm

Girlfriends can check if your car is parked in front of your ex girlfriends house then haha

[RareJj7]

remember it's still in beta, microsoft's partnered up with nasa, of course their gonna make sattelite cams :D

[TreeLuvBurdpu]

Most of what you see in the sky other than the sun, moon, and our solar system planets will be in the exact same place on the day you die as they were on the day you were born. So you don't really need live video to see all the wonder of the universe. It is so far away that it appears to not move. The constellations that we see are the same ones the Greeks named thousands of years ago.

[xxxPassiexxx]

Thank you for the additional info

But i mean Planet X , [Niburu]

NASA is looking for it and thousands of non prof astrologers are searching for it aswell

But if they dont want us to find it

Then they can just photoshop the specific planets away from the pictures

So as long as its picture based

Its easy to manipulate what we can find with it ;wink;

[kotrynasis]

the program celesta show just planets and stars, there aren't galaxies or nebulae...

[JuxTaPose117]

Wow wong sounds like steve wright haha. Tight program.

[marzipan260]

This software totally sucks, I thought you were going to be able to zoom right in but you can't hardly see anything, you are better off looking in a picture book, no 3d nothing not even on the solar system. It's just a glorified beginners guide to space book. if you are expecting to get a look at the suface of venus or something, guess what YOU CANT

[tubrobert]

le coordinate di molte risposte sono queste RA: 5H 53M 24S

DEC: -5 58'58"

o è una nuova domanda????

[BigRedorangutan]

i hat this guys voice. and his breathing in the micophone

[IsThisThingOn87]

And there was me pulling my hair out wondering "what does bigredorangutan think of that man's voice?". What would you suggest he stops breathing? I think he did a great job.

[BigRedorangutan]

he did. its just the breathing is overdone

[BigRedorangutan]

oh and the sound his saliva makes wen he is about to say something but doesnt for about 4 seconds..

[jndala]

am I the only one who thinks this is exactly the same thing as google sky?

[rodney100100]

but this is high res pics and much better resolution

[bajawind]

remarkable? know anyone else blown in the white house.

[picklesdoodleydoo]

In the opening I hardly think Bill Clinton qualifies as a remarkable person.

[SuRihtanil]

Any tips on a good telescope for a stater? I would like to be able to spot out planets.

[4EyedLabGeek1]

Is anyone having trouble seeing anything through their telescopes these days? How's your visibility?

[joeyisfunny]

Light pollution is getting worse by the month!

[chadheck96]

The tutorials in that are retarted. They zoom in so far the screen is fully white, then they point out randomness out of nothingness.

[rcpastor777]

Very Nice!

[geometricbelief33]

does anyone know telescope technology with laser? supposedly a telescope that in some matter uses laser...and is also able to create an image as a result!?? ...could then the ´´laser beam´´ be ´´stuck´´ in the actual image beeing created?? if u got any clue what im talking about please help me on this. Would be happy to discuss this

[throstur10]

what happands if you but the year 2012 what will happed?

[adrien4pizzly]

there was no big bang. there was sizeing and thats it

[papatoony]

Umm, how can it provide a "holistic view of the universe" when we don't even know how big the universe IS? Impressive!

[papatoony]

I'm scared.

[djcellx]

hahaa suffer mac

[Eldwinn]

god dammit my PC broke at the complete wrong time... fuckin microsoft

[Eldwinn]

WHY THE FUCK ISNT THIS SHIT FOR MAC!?

[HoS777]

It's MICROSOFT, Eldwinn. I don't know if they have a Mac version or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if they don't. It's MICROSOFT...

[fritsz]

because Mac simply sucks

[anshulkamboj]

i just dowbload it

[funnypoetbob]

Looks awesome great to see this happening

[tubemonkeycomputer]

i love this, good thing i just upgraded me GB

[Viejochueko]

wow!! all this efforts put in investigating space... and we still have lots of people dying in earth every day simply because they cant even eat a slice of bread or drink a glass of water.

[themiamatrix]

I understand the dilema of spending time and money on space when we could spend the money here. However, the FACT is that our earth will not always be here and if we want the human race to survive, we need to understand space and figure out how to move to there.

[Bastiaanspijkman]

wel said...

[ashman102]

@themiamatrix

also we might find cash. lol

[GatoradeTT]

i have the program already! i downloaded it!! :P man Microsoft rocks lol!

[deezaly]

Awesome! Pity my computer lacks the requirements to run the program :(

[jazzpsalti]

Vista might have sucked, but this kicks ass!

[Anamixandre]

this software is the one of the most impressive and innovative creation of Microsoft Research. The best tool to transmit the passion for astrophysic and science to younger generations

[hanxiangzi88]

is there any charges, if i download it to my pc?

[TangerineProduction]

nope

[hanxiangzi88]

thanks...but i do not have the microsoft software, so sad~

[solidsnake2112]

I now have this! look it up on google, wow this is weird.. I love it!

[LakotaRepublic]

We gaze upon the sky, when the most important things are beneath our feet.

[checkme01]

haha the comments on here are quite funny, i bet anyone who's made a comment on here hasn't been laid in the last 48hrs! including me :(

[gowerski]

yeah the snailpeople one was a laugh. exclude me from that 48 hours tho! :p

[chucka72]

What happens to life on earth if you have to reboot MS Universe?

[Cannibal666Corpse]

I´m much more afraid of a sudden BSOD....

[Harley1956]

Stellarium Planetarium is currently my favorite and way kewl as you can see where to look for the real thing, and as it's been said that looking through a telescope (even a small one) with your own eyes is far better than any virtual display. However, I'm looking very forward to this WWT as Stellarium doesn't have the high res!!!

[Mephiles602]

People should stop fighting. This is not about who came first, this is about our beautiful universe.

[Shmooove]

Don't be so jaded people. This is an incredible idea and Hi Res imaging make a HUGE difference. At 3 and 5 years old, my sons will love this way more than Google Sky.

[KhalsaSoulja]

New invention my ass...

[efreeteh57]

yes MS created this and they are selling it, but better to sell this to kids rather than guns, drugs, and useless entertainement on TV.

[GRANDEFLIPPER]

WRONG. There is a huge difference between google sky and wwt. WWT is HI RESOLUTION, while google sky is low resolution. Plus, does google sky have the interactive tours with astronomers?

[MaxSafeheaD]

Wow, Microsoft actually involved something useful? Surely there's a plan for universal monopoly, marketing or patenting somewhere?

Ah, that's it, Microsoft actually invented; tours, internet information, zooming, the night sky and kids.

[prhughes0]

Neat. Rhetorically oversold, or at least overstated (as comments already indicate), but neat, and potentially very lovely.

[Ellovium]

Wow - what a fantastic idea. I can't wait to have a wander round the universe!

[jameslikebond]

its free?? thats impressive! i like!!:))

[echomedia]

It's cool- but if you want to explore the universe- turn off your computer, put down your bag of cheetos and go outside and look at it directly!

[akulax2]

That's true but how are you supposed to explore it without huge telescope?

[echomedia]

You don't need a big telescope. The andromeda galaxy is 5 times as large as a full moon. What you really need are dark skies and a binocular. Even the astronomers with the big telescopes can't see all those colorful nebulae without taking a time exposure photograph.

[echomedia]

I think its nice to have a resource like this online, but I think its kind of sad that so many people are unfamiliar with the actual reality that they can see first hand. It's so much more satisfying to spot a galaxy for yourself or find Saturn with your own two eyes than this virtual stuff.

[echomedia]

I found it kind of irritating that the speaker kept using the phrase "explore the universe" when what he was really talking about was exploring their database of images. There's a difference in the 2 experiences that ought to be acknowledged.

[MaxSafeheaD]

What he meant to say was MS Explorer the Universe!

[jerms88]

It's true what you're saying about really seeing it with your own two eyes. But, this program will surely inspire people of all ages to really look at the universe with telescopes and binoculars, their own two eyes. Maybe even to become astronomers... :)

[SBITY]

Have you people never heard of google sky?

[hyperbrand]

You are blunt to dare put the classic PR flip jargon on this magnificent tool, mostly likely you don't share the same passion for this Astrological Science like Roy Gould does. In fact you are most likely to be having a total lack of imagination, pre judged, failure to understand this, pathetic highly predictable you don't even believe in evolution.

The Worldwide Telescope indeed is powered by Microsoft Research PhotoSynth, which will make many interface solutions yet for us to experience.

[loya2]

typical microsoft PR spin

[tims0l]

typical, they do something positive and you call it a PR spin.

[KoroOutbreak]

You're right loya, they should keep all their money and not do anything with it. Pretty much everything you use on a daily basis could be considered a "PR spin." Cry cry cry.

[Silverweed]

how much money has the linux community or apple spent on philanthropy?

[loya2]

my point is that it is no different than google sky and they act like it is a revolution

[Alegoo92]

WWT came first, and Google Sky isn't even close.

[KhalsaSoulja]

*Sighs*

I really dislike Microsoft, Google come up with Google Earth, Microsoft pull out Virtual Earth. Google create Switch to Sky and Microsoft pull out WWT. Pathetic!!!

And i totally agree with Loya2 it is no different from Google Sky, most likely has a few things that are SLIGHTLY better.

And "YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT TO MAKE IT FREE TO DOWNLOAD" coz they know everyone would simply use Googles. Well on the plus side to Google @ least there going to release Google Mars :D

[rocco20pa]

You don't have a clue. Microsoft came with TerraServer in 1997. Then WWT work started in 2002. Search the web and you'll find published papers. Google Sky pulls images from SDSS if you go to SDSS database, you'll see that it says 'Powered by Microsoft'. So even the data that's shown in GoogleSky is put together/processed and made freely available by Microsoft.

[Mephiles602]

WWT has been in the making for years. Google Sky has not.

[whatduhfu]

you, my friend, is an opinionated asshole. stop bashing and be happy.

[KhalsaSoulja]

How about you go fuck yourself =)

[vadimiablokov]

And revolutionary work is one that causes a global paradigm shift, this is not groundbreaking by that definition.

[vadimiablokov]

Sounds like the speaker is a salesperson for Microsoft.

[sp1r1c0m]

this is the work of satan

REPENT and stop eating from the tree of knowledge

REPENT!

[zbambam5]

sorry but knowledge just tasted so damn good.

[t3h3Lone]

And you have to work your ass off to earn that knowledge! It`s not falling from anywhare so ...

[ScarDrey]

this looks like fascinating technology... i actually havent heard of googleSky but this probably has some extra resolution, easier interface... my point is, it's probably improved the previously used technology, that's why it's ground-breaking... not because they're the first ones.

doesn't that make sense?

[x86op]

...Putting this on every kid's laptop, free of charge? This isn't revolutionary, especially for Microsoft?

[rocco20pa]

There's also the projection issue. Google Earth, Google Sky they all screw up when it comes to the poles. Basically anything beyond latitude 85. WWT can handle the entire globe. People who study geography and astronomy would understand what I mean.

[taylorman57]

I have no problem when microsoft copies another company, all companies do it. What annoys the hell out of me is when they do it, claim they are revolutionary, and so many people believe them.

[x86op]

And what precisely *is* the revolutionary aspect that you speak of sir?

[retepvosnul]

Innovation according to Microsoft. yeah right. TED should ban these hopeless wannabes from these conventions.

[rocco20pa]

There's another TED talk one year earlier about WWT (which is before GoogleSky). And check the research paper of Jim Gray and Alex Szalay published in 2002. Google copied the idea basically. They released it faster, they released a flawed product. They use data from astronomy databases put together and made freely available by Microsoft.

[retepvosnul]

O right. And the year bofore that some kid probably had the idea. And bofore that the snailpeople uttered this concept. Who ever came first is not the point. The point is that almost everytime MS enters a market they enter LAST, isn't that an amazing korinkidink ? On all the letter the acronym TED stands for MS massivly fails all the time. Ergo they should have no bussiness there.

[Mephiles602]

Well I suppose the fact that MS worked on this MUCH HARDER makes it better.

[michaud535]

I don't get it... Hasn't google already done this? This isn't revolutionary.

[Tailgunner30]

Microsoft proprietises astronomy, You will only be able to use this software in Windows.

Stick to Google SKY, any machine, any OS, any time.

[x86op]

*THIS* software yes... but anyone could design similar software for other OS's, especially any of the free 'nixes. So then, why not build an even better version for Ubuntu or whatever OS, instead of leaving negative comments about Microsoft? Or do you just like bashing other's work? Curious, what comparable works have you made, so that we may compare? Just trying to be objective, rather than subjective.

[Gicior]

Worst TED video yet. They don't say how different it is to existing software such as Google Earth's "Sky". Without such references this is not science. This is simply a publicity stunt or an ad from Microsoft. Shame on you TED.

[watzupdawg]

New tools are important in their own right as no small corporation could ever achieve these projects from limited funding. After 5000 years of Astrology it is significant that knowledge and information are made available. Why does it have to be less or more than Google? Thank NASA for starters.

[peachflan]

I can't wait to download this!

[iviewthetube]

Google sky is really decent also. To use it, just upload the latest google earth and hit the sky icon.

[bpabbott1st]

The guys at Google must be precognitive ... they beat MS to the punch ;-)

[Luke123098]

This clip seemed too short..

[twoheel]

Notice how these professors always try to throw in a little bit of politics. "In the 1920 women couldn't vote" What does that have to do with a Telescope?

I notice that he doesn't tell you what communists were doing in the 1920's.

Typical left-wing commie.

[OctoberSaint]

It was used mediphorically in how much times have changed.

Are you really that small mnded ??

[Catholictenor]

*Metaphorically

[Z4lUS]

The douchebag of the day award goes to....drum roll please...*cymbal*..twoheel! *clap* *clap* *roooar* clap*

[Theworldiswonderful]

Lololololololol.

[hughtub]

You're absolutely right.

[iosuVakerizzo]

This is amazing! I will look forwards to using this program! GREAT JOB! thanks TED!

[claschxtreme]

"The service will be accessed through a downloadable application - Windows only for now"

it gets better and better..

[claschxtreme]

uh...Celestia upgraded with scalable pictures? but going back to the geocentric view, oh that makes sense.

And Micro$oft is involved !! well that's a guarantee this software (and the pictures) will be free to use in the future...

[nsane87]

Wow, great work! That program looks amazing!!

[khalifa987]

Your nasa program is supported by killing people in Iraq who owns oil....Seriously you are worth getting shot in the head by not realizing that you are cause what is making people hurt.