sun

Roughly 25 trillion miles (or 4.3 light years) from home, astronomers have found that the Alpha Centauri star system hosts a planet with a mass similar to that of Earth. Galactic geeks may recall references to this star system in "Star Trek," "Avatar," "Transformers," and countless other fictional entertainment.

The planet, officially named Alpha Centauri Bb, orbits Alpha Centauri B and took more than four years of observing to fully classify. … Read more

Ever wondered what Neptune tastes like? Vintage Confections on Etsy has the answer. It comes in your choice of either strawberry or cotton candy.

A complete set of solar system lollipops costs $17.50. You get the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Yea for including Pluto! Sorry, Moon, you don't rate high enough to get your own sucker.… Read more

Don Cayelli says one of his main motivations for developing his SunVolt Portable Solar Power Station was that he couldn't find a solar charger that worked well for charging his iPad on his boat.

He sails a lot and uses his iPad as a chart plotter and preferred to use the sun as a power source rather than rechargeable battery packs. Most solar chargers, he says, had internal batteries, and the standard approach was the solar panel would charge the internal battery and the battery would charge your device. That was because the panels were too small to charge … Read more

CareZone, a startup for organizing and sharing personal information, announced a promotion that grants free access to those with a family member with epilepsy.

Chief Executive Jonathan Schwartz, who previously led Sun Microsystems, said a partnership with the Epilepsy Foundation will match what CareZone has done with groups dealing with autism and Parkinson's disease.

(For a look at the executive and his views on Oracle, Apple, Amazon, and Intel, check CNET's accompanying Q&A with Schwartz.)

Schwartz hopes CareZone will catch on as a way to let people privately share information such as instructions for babysitters, emergency … Read more

Instead of leading 30,000 employees at a beleaguered Sun Microsystems, Jonathan Schwartz is now leading just a dozen at his new startup, CareZone

But Schwartz remains the same. True to the provocateur culture that helped keep Sun in the headlines despite a relatively small advertising budget, Schwartz clearly relishes holding forth about the trends that will separate the computing industry's winners and losers.

Among some opinions Schwartz shared in a recent interview: that Macs will once again seriously compete with Windows for PC market share, that Oracle lost a chance to innovate rather than just litigate in the … Read more

YoWindow is a weather application for your PC that manages to deliver weather data in a unique and fun interface. With its ability to save multiple locations, it makes it incredibly simple to quickly pull up weather reports from anywhere in the world.

The program is about as simple as your typical weather-reporting Web site. Enter a city anywhere in the world, and watch as YoWindow's background image changes to reflect the current weather conditions there. In addition, YoWindow supplies you with all of the hard facts, including high and low for the day, Wind, Pressure, and Humidity. There'… Read more

If Oracle wants to keep fighting for its copyright and patent infringement lawsuit against Google, it's going to have to do so in an appeals court.

Judge William Alsup returned with a ruling on Friday in regards to Oracle's motion for judgment as a matter of law for a new trial. Given that the original 12-person jury couldn't come to a unanimous, complete verdict during the copyright phase of the trial, Oracle hoped it could get the chance to present more evidence with a new argument.

However, the judge denied the motion, so a new trial will … Read more

Robots are getting mighty specific these days -- what with machines that specialize in tasks like playing hockey and winning at rock, paper, scissors.

Meet today's super-specific robot, Skippy, who skips stones -- and with impressive height and consistency. Based on the shores of a lake in Sun Valley, Idaho, Skippy's sole purpose is basking in the sunshine and flinging stones across an idyllic little body of water set against the mountains. Ah, the simple life. … Read more

The stars aligned early this week for the transit of Venus, a special astronomical phenomenon that usually only occurs twice in a century. During this happening, observers can view Venus' passage across the sun from Earth. After it completes the final stretch on June 6, the event won't occur again until December 11, 2117.

Crave scoured the photo-sharing site Flickr and found some truly mesmerizing shots from amateur photographers based in the U.S., as well as several snaps from people planted elsewhere around the world.… Read more