Swype to make typing on a touchscreen faster and easier

When we all started texting on numerical pads, we needed a system to make it bearable. T9 texting, the system of predictive text that made tying on a number pad doable, revolutionized texting. And now the guy behind it, Cliff Kushler, is about to take writing on a touchscreen keyboard to the next level.

He's developed Swype, an amazing new system for writing on a touchscreen that allows you to keep your finger on the screen and simply move it around to the letters you want to hit. By doing so, the system can see exactly what word you're going for (even if you aren't precise), and you can write at up to 50 words per minute or faster. It's hard to understand just how awesome this is until you see it in action, so check out the video above. Let's bring this thing to the iPhone, and fast.

DVICE: Swype to make typing on a touchscreen faster and easier

Scream of Black Hole's Birth Detected Halfway Across the Universe

Six months ago, satellite telescopes spotted an exceptionally bright burst of energy that would have been the most distant object in the universe ever visible to the naked eye, if anyone saw it.

Even though no humans have reported seeing it directly, the gamma-ray burst, an explosion that signals the violent death of a massive star, is changing theories of how these events look. Gamma ray bursts are typically accompanied by intense releases of other forms of radiation, from X-rays to visible light.

This burst, dubbed GRB 080819B, was

first detected by the Swift satellite on March 19, while the spacecraft was serendipitously looking at another gamma-ray burst in the same area of the sky.

The light it emitted in the visible part of the spectrum was so intense that the burst would have been visible to the naked eye in the constellation Bootes for about 40 seconds — no other gamma-ray burst has ever been visible without a telescope.

The incredible amount of energy given off across the entire electromagnetic spectrum during a gamma-ray burst is what Jonathan Grindlay of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics calls "the birth pangs of a black hole. This is the scream."

It took the light of GRB 080819B about 7.4 billion years to reach Earth, placing the explosion "more than halfway back to the Big Bang and the origin of our universe," Grindlay wrote in an editorial accompanying a new study of the burst in the Sept. 10 issue of the journal Nature.

This means that the explosion happened 3 billion years before the sun or Earth even formed, Grindlay added. When astronomers see such distant objects, they are in effect looking back in time.

After the Swift detection, telescopes around the world were alerted and trained their eyes onto the new gamma-ray burst, giving scientists a highly detailed view of these explosions — the most luminous in the universe — whose formation and structure still hold many mysteries. The findings in the new study of GRB 080819B challenge some of the commonly-held views of gamma-ray bursts.

A violent death and birth

Gamma-ray bursts are something of an extreme form of supernovas, the bright explosions that mark the deaths of massive stars.

But possibly one in every 1,000 supernovae is not one of these "normal" explosions; instead of the star simply dying, its core collapses to form a black hole — that event generates a gamma-ray burst. (Just what the conditions are that boost a normal supernova into a gamma-ray burst are not known.)

The gamma-ray burst is actually a powerful jet of material sent out by the spinning accretion disk that surrounds a newborn black hole. This bright part of the burst typically only lasts between 3 and 100 seconds, and an afterglow follows that can last for days or weeks.

GRB 080819B's jet was one of the brightest ever observed in terms of gamma rays, and it was unusually bright in optical wavelengths.

"It was unexpected that it was this bright," said lead author of the new study Judith Racusin, a graduate student at Penn State University.

Narrow jet

The study suggests that the jet of the gamma-burst actually has two components: a narrow, ultra-fast jet at the core of a wider, slightly slower jet.

The narrow part of the jet of GRB 080819B was so fast that it shot material directly toward Earth at 99.99995 percent the speed of light.

Scientists think that it was because the jet was pointed straight at us that it appeared so much brighter than previously-observed gamma-ray bursts. The researchers speculate that it is rare to detect the inner core of the jet because it is so narrow — only about 1/100^th the size of the full moon as seen from Earth.

For this reason, astronomers think they may have missed the narrow core of the jet in previous bursts: "We're primarily just seeing the outer jet," Grindlay told SPACE.com, because we are not seeing those bursts head-on.

Racusin said that it isn't know for sure that all gamma-ray bursts have this two component structure to their jets, but that the theory fits what they saw with GRB 080819B.

To see a similarly bright burst, astronomers would have to catch another one aimed directly at Earth, which Racusin and her colleagues calculated should happen about once ever three to 10 years.

Swift may not still be around in 10 years, but the recently launched GLAST satellite (recently renamed Fermi) and other missions in the planning stages could catch a glimpse of them.

But whether or not they do, Racusin knows one thing: With GRB 080819B, "we got lucky."

SPACE.com -- Scream of Black Hole's Birth Detected Halfway Across the Universe

Secret of Nearby Explosive Star Revealed

A spectacular nearby star explosion observed in 1843 is now thought to be a previously unknown type of explosion that leaves stars intact.

Eta Carinae is a well studied energetic star, some 7,500 light-years away and within our Milky Way Galaxy. It is more than 100 times as massive as our sun, and it's hot and incredibly bright.

In cosmic terms, this unpredictable giant is considered to be in our backyard.

Visible from the Southern Hemisphere,

Eta Carinae brightened incredibly in 1843 (the date is sometimes put at 1841), and astronomers in recent decades have photographed and studied the resulting cloud of gas and dust, known as the Homunculus Nebula, that billows away from the star. A farther-out faint shell of debris from an earlier explosion is also visible, probably dating from around 1,000 years ago.

"Looking at other galaxies, astronomers have seen stars like Eta Carinae that get brighter, but not quite as bright as a real supernova," said Nathan Smith of the University of California, Berkeley. "We don't know what they are. It's an enduring mystery as to what can brighten a star that much without destroying it completely."

Supernova imposter?

Smith now proposes that the 1843 event was a true explosion that produced a fast blast wave similar to, but less energetic than, a real supernova.

Eta Carinae is thought to be related to a class of faint stellar explosions in other galaxies found in recent years, mysterious objects some astronomers call "supernova imposters." Smith told SPACE.com that the new findings suggest this class of objects may represent a different kind of explosion than had been known before.

Having a nearby example of these far-out stars could help astronomers figure out what's going on.

"There is a class of stellar explosions going off in other galaxies for which we still don't know the cause, but Eta Carinae is the prototype," Smith said today.

The new picture

The debris in the Homunculus Nebula, from the 1843 event, is moving away from the central star (and a companion star discovered in 2005) at about 1.5 million mph (650 kps). That much was known.

Using the Gemini South telescope in Chile and a telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Smith discovered previously unseen filaments of gas moving five times that speed and catching up with the outer shell, the one ejected 1,000 years ago.

The new picture challenges current theories of what happened in 1843.

Rather than a surface eruption, as has been suspected, Smith thinks a true explosion occurred deep inside the star in 1843, propelling debris into space.

"It takes a new mechanism to cause explosions like this," he said.

If Smith is right, Eta Carinae's activity mirrors the supernova imposters seen in other galaxies.

The study, funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation, is detailed in the Sept. 11 issue of the journal Nature.

Death throes

Smith speculates that periodic explosions inside massive stars like Eta Carinae are a way to shed mass along the path to death.

"These explosions may be the primary way by which massive stars can shed their outer hydrogen layers before they die," Smith said. "If Eta Carinae is able to shed 10 solar masses every thousand years or so, that's an efficient mechanism for peeling off a large fraction of the star."

But he said it is still unclear if supernova imposters are scaled-down versions of supernovas, or perhaps failed supernovas, or maybe supernova precursor events, or if they are entirely different kinds of explosions. Whatever, much remains to be learned about the fates of very massive stars. Other researchers have said Eta Carinae is destined to explode in a full-blown supernova eventually.

"This could be an important clue for understanding the last violent phases in the lives of massive stars," he said. For the record: Smith says Eta Carinae is probably too far away to pose any threat to Earth.

SPACE.com -- Secret of Nearby Explosive Star Revealed

Large Hadron Collider comes online, world fails to end

The fact that I'm sitting here writing this and you're sitting there reading it means that fears regarding the Large Hadron Colider (LHC) and the end of the world were a bit overblown. At 10:33 AM CET this morning, the first proton beam successfully completed a circuit of the entire LHC.

The LHC is the latest example of 'Big Science,' a multinational collaboration involving thousands of scientists from over 60 different nations. The largest particle accelerator ever built, scientists hope that data gathered from the LHC will nail down the existence of the elusive Higgs boson, a subatomic particle that is theorized to be responsible the existence of mass.

The collider has been cooled down to a frosty sub-5˚K (about -271˚C) along its entire length, and one by one, large blocks were removed from the path of the beam, allowing it begin making its journey. The first beam traveled at less than full energy in this test run, but will eventually approach light speed when full operations begin.

The LHC has clearly captured the public's fancy, as the first beams made the front page of many news sources and were celebrated by Google. Nevertheless, its has been the subject of fears from some segments of the general public, who have come to believe that the impact of high energy protons could somehow form a black hole underneath the Swiss countryside, bringing about the demise of planet Earth. Physicists involved in the program have determined there's no science behind these fears.

Big science projects like the LHC only exist thanks to public money, and if that public is going to hand out hundreds of millions of dollars, it's important that they are kept in the loop. In this regard, the LHC has been quite active and transparent. You can even watch a short video clip of the reaction in the control center when the ATLAS detector started picking up the muons that resulted from the first beam striking one of the collimators, devices that narrow the particle stream.

You can also follow the progress of the LHC's journey into action on the web, with live updates from newspapers, and a blog maintained by some of the US' scientific contingent. Last week we reported on some of the outreach being conducted for the LHC, and for those of you looking for more musical LHC action, the LHC rap has been joined by this little ditty found on the US LHC blog. Even Google has been getting in on the action, as you can see by their special homepage graphic. Here's to Big Science!

Large Hadron Collider comes online, world fails to end

Netherlands to power 90,000 homes with chicken manure

So, you're an Earth-loving, eco-friendly environmentalist, as it's all the rage these days. Alternative sources of energy, such as wind and solar, are what you're looking to use to get your juice. OK, that's cool. But what about more… unorthodox sources of power? I'm talking, of course, about chicken crap.

Yes, chicken manure is a viable source of energy. Who knew? The folks in the Netherlands, apparently, as they're planning to power 90,000 homes with pure chicken excrement. A new 150 million euro plan will convert about 440,000 tons of chicken poo into about 270 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year. It's a pretty great system, as it both provides energy and gets rid of disgusting chicken waste at the same time. So how about it? Want to get your home on the chicken crap energy plan?

DVICE: Netherlands to power 90,000 homes with chicken manure

Large Hadron Collider to Go Online This Week Despite Death Threats

Despite death threats, fears, and anger among some people worldwide, the LHC's scientists plan to continue with its opening undeterred

The $8B USD Large Hadron Collider will go online next week, becoming the world's most powerful particle accelerator.  It promises answer to some of the universe's most elusive questions.  Among these is the nature of the legendary Higgs boson, a particle long theorized but never observed, which is thought to determine how much things weigh.  The collider, which consists of 7 TeV proton beams harnessed by electromagnets to collide within a 27 km (17 mi) circular tunnel, is expected to unlock many other mysteries such as the differences between matter and antimatter.

However, despite its great promise, many people worldwide have protested the construction of the particle accelerator, believing it could end the world.  Many are fearful that the collider could spawn black holes, which they worry could devour the Earth.  The creators of the LHC, some of the world's foremost scientists, say such concerns are unfounded and convey a lack of understanding about the project.

According to Professor Brian Cox of Manchester University, the public animosity is so severe that American Nobel prize winning physicist Frank Wilczek of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has received death threats.  Professor Cox, typically sedate, adds irritatingly, "Anyone who thinks the LHC will destroy the world is a t---. "

James Gillies, the LHC head of public relations says he's gotten calls from people literally sobbing and asking him to halt the project.  He states, "They phone me and say: ‘I am seriously worried. Please tell me that my children are safe.’"

While some merely beg Mr. Gillies to convince them that the world is not going to end when the LHC is turned on, he says other take a angrier stance.  He states, "There are a number who say: 'You are evil and dangerous and you are going to destroy the world.'  I find myself getting slightly angry, not because people are getting in touch but the fact they have been driven to do that by what is nonsense. What we are doing is enriching humanity, not putting it at risk."

There have also been numerous legal attempts to thwart construction, none of which have succeeded.  Doomsday predictors argue that there is a small but serious chance the LHC will breed a cataclysm that could kill the world.  Since 1994, when the project was first envisioned, they have fought it.  They frequently quote Our Final Century?: Will the Human Race Survive the Twenty-first Century? - written by Lord Rees, astronomer royal and president of the Royal Society  The only problem is that Lord Rees says his book is not being quoted accurately, stating, "My book has been misquoted in one or two places.  I would refer you to the up-to-date safety study."

Scientists have patiently explained to those concerned many times that the most recent research shows that cosmic rays hitting the Earth daily have more powerful particle collisions than the LHC would.  Thus the added danger of the collider is negligible according to an updated 2003 study from the LHC Safety Assessment Group.  It dispels worries that the reactor might create a deadly black hole.  It concludes, "Nature has already conducted the equivalent of about a hundred thousand LHC experimental programmes on Earth - and the planet still exists."

While the reactor could produce black holes, according to physicists, they would be tiny and would not be capable of growing.  The study states, "Each collision of a pair of protons in the LHC will release an amount of energy comparable to that of two colliding mosquitoes, so any black hole produced would be much smaller than those known to astrophysicists."

Further, the LHC will be incapable of producing possibly dangerous strangelets, based on experimental information gathered at the Brookhaven National Laboratory's Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider, New York.

However, despite the world's top scientists confident in the system's safety, and the news media constantly seeking to sooth public concerns on the topic, many still remain vocally opposed to the project.

DailyTech - Large Hadron Collider to Go Online This Week Despite Death Threats

New satellite to give Google Maps unprecedented resolution

Google has taken the war over exclusive web content into space. Not directly, of course—the satellite that was recently launched into space on a rocket bearing the Google logo was the result of a joint venture between a commercial satellite imaging provider and the department of defense. In return for undisclosed terms, Google got two considerations: its logo on the side of the launch vehicle, and exclusive use of the mapping images that the satellite produces.

The partnerships in the new satellite are extensive. The hardware was built by General Dynamics and put in orbit by Boeing; the funding for the project came in part from a commercial satellite imaging company, Geoeye. The rest of the funding came from the Defense Department's National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which provides map-based intelligence resources. The launch took place yesterday from the Air Force's Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Geoeye is one of a number of commercial satellite imagery providers, and the company provide images to everyone from news organizations to human rights organizations. The US government has also been known to buy time on the satellites, both in order to use the images themselves and to prevent other companies from getting access to them.

As a comparison provided by Geoeye reveals, the new space-going hardware is a significant improvement over previous generations. Its camera drops the resolution of images down from a meter to half that figure—apparently, the hardware goes down to 0.41m, but the DoD won't let that resolution onto the market. Images will go deeper into the blue end of the spectrum, and the camera can provide color images at a bit over a meter and a half resolution.

Nowhere in Geoeye's press material for the satellite, however, is there any mention of Google. Apart from the evidence provided by the Google logo on the side of the launch vehicle, the rest of the information on the project floating around the web comes from Reuters, which notes that the two Google founders were present to watch the launch. Apparently, the search giant has forged an agreement that will allow them, and only them, to use the images obtained from the satellite for online mapping purposes. For anything else, anyone with the money can buy the pics.

That point's worth emphasizing, because a number of reports have gotten a bit hyperbolic about Google's role. One report suggested that the search giant had "launched its own imaging satellite." Others played it as completely under control of Google and the military. (Rest assured that the military will be calling the shots on all major decisions involving this satellite.)

It's not at all clear what the imaging hardware's extra resolution gets Google, other than sharper pictures and the possibility of filling a few specialized, niche needs. A half-meter resolution isn't really sufficient to substitute for the street view cameras, but perhaps the company's founders are simply satisfied by the fact that they have them, and Yahoo and Microsoft don't.

New satellite to give Google Maps unprecedented resolution