Getting philosophical about the bigger aspects of things...
I must say I'm quite amazed at what can be discovered with technology today. This post might not concern the smaller, more personal aspects of life and technology, but more the big ones.
Imagine lying in a swag in outback Australia gazing at the starlit sky. You see more stars than you ever thought was possible. (I just love it.) And then you see some that are moving, or more precisely, satellites that are moving. It might be looking down on you just as you are looking up at it, it might even be taking a picture of you!
You all probably know of Google Earth, and the things you can see there, there have (amongst others) been reports of topless sunbathers and a flying car.
I just discovered you can even look at a bit of Mars and the landing sites on the Moon through a similar service, Google Mars and Google Moon! (Zoom all the way in on the moon for a good view.)
I find it truly amazing that it's possible to take a picture of a planet in another solar system, 26,000 light-years away! And when you know that one light-year is about 6 trillion miles, my head can't even vaguely grasp the distance! I'm guessing the cameras that were used weren't exactly like my little Canon Ixux I with 4 megapixles...
I also saw on the news the other day pictures from Mars taken with the "robotvehicle" which is up there at the moment. So amazing that they can actually send a robot up there and it drives around and streams pictures back down to earth.
Through my grandpa's not-very-big telescope at our cottage I've seen the craters of the Moon, the rings around Saturn and four of Jupiter's moons. I guess that's not really technology in the sense we usually think about it, being quite a small telescope, but think of the big ones they use to see things way further off!
I wonder if someday we will actually find something out there?
Emily
(By the way, I love the slogan on NASA's website: Nothing is really real unless it happens on television) (Not 100% sure it's the official site though...)
Imagine lying in a swag in outback Australia gazing at the starlit sky. You see more stars than you ever thought was possible. (I just love it.) And then you see some that are moving, or more precisely, satellites that are moving. It might be looking down on you just as you are looking up at it, it might even be taking a picture of you!
You all probably know of Google Earth, and the things you can see there, there have (amongst others) been reports of topless sunbathers and a flying car.
I just discovered you can even look at a bit of Mars and the landing sites on the Moon through a similar service, Google Mars and Google Moon! (Zoom all the way in on the moon for a good view.)
I find it truly amazing that it's possible to take a picture of a planet in another solar system, 26,000 light-years away! And when you know that one light-year is about 6 trillion miles, my head can't even vaguely grasp the distance! I'm guessing the cameras that were used weren't exactly like my little Canon Ixux I with 4 megapixles...
I also saw on the news the other day pictures from Mars taken with the "robotvehicle" which is up there at the moment. So amazing that they can actually send a robot up there and it drives around and streams pictures back down to earth.
Through my grandpa's not-very-big telescope at our cottage I've seen the craters of the Moon, the rings around Saturn and four of Jupiter's moons. I guess that's not really technology in the sense we usually think about it, being quite a small telescope, but think of the big ones they use to see things way further off!
I wonder if someday we will actually find something out there?
Emily
(By the way, I love the slogan on NASA's website: Nothing is really real unless it happens on television) (Not 100% sure it's the official site though...)
posted by Emily at 8:17 pm
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