moon

The annular solar eclipse darkened the sun and lit up social networks this evening.

Instead of completely obscuring the sun, the eclipse, which began around 5:30 p.m. PT, created a golden ring around the moon's silhouette, giving millions in the western United States and Southeast Asia front-row seats to a spectacle that hadn't been witnessed in 18 years.

While the eclipse was expected to last about 3.5 hours, the "ring of fire" phenomenon was only expected to last about 4.5 minutes, depending on location. The best viewing, weather permitting, was expected to … Read more

People lucky enough to be in Southeast Asia and the western U.S. this weekend will have the chance to view the first annular solar eclipse of its kind since 1994, according to NASA. Rather than a complete blocking out of the sun, as seen in a total eclipse, a "ring of fire" will radiate from behind the moon as it passes in front of the fiery globe.

The transformation will begin on Sunday as the moon makes its voyage across the sun; at one point, as much as 94 percent of the sun will be covered, according … Read more

It seems that these days, every time you sneeze, yawn, or scratch your nose, another giant asteroid is screaming past the Earth, closer than the moon.

We saw it happen last November, when a space stone the size of an aircraft carrier all but sideswiped us. Then in March it happened again, when a relatively modest cosmic rock -- this one the size of a mere passenger jet -- shot on by. … Read more

If you missed it last year, the super perigee moon is back for an encore performance.

On Saturday, the moon will be up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than the other full moons of 2012, according to NASA.

That's because it will reach perigee, its closest point to Earth in its elliptical orbit, at 11:34 p.m. ET and become full just a minute later.

Super perigee moons happen about once a year on average, but the moon of March 19, 2011, was nearly 250 miles closer than this week's moon, prompting wild calamitous speculations. … Read more

Stig's Sky Calendar is a free program that provides the aspiring astronomer, or those who just want to know about the skies above them, information on events concerning the sun, the moon, the planets, and other celestial bodies. Any user interested in our solar system will like this fun little app.

Sky Calendar has an attractive, colorful, easy-to-use interface that offers a lot of information at a glance. Once your location is selected, the software will provide information such as the rising and setting times, as well as relative position in the sky, of the sun and moon. You … Read more

The guys at Chaotic Moon are on a roll. Literally.

First, they wowed CES with their Board of Awesomeness, a Microsoft Kinect-powered skateboard that the rider controls with various gestures. They parlayed that into a shopping cart that can follow you around a grocery store, scan your groceries, and possibly even check you out automatically. But all that was just January's work.

These days, the Austin-based Chaotic Moon Lab--the R&D arm of the larger studio--has taken the same skateboard I rode in Las Vegas in January and made a few X-Men-style modifications. Now it's powered by your mind.

The obviously named Board of Imagination integrates a neuroheadset from a company called Emotiv, with a Samsung tablet running Windows 8, which is in turn connected to the skateboard's motor. The headset translates thought into electrical circuitry that's routed through the tablet, into the motor, and powers the board. Simply put, you think--it goes. … Read more

On today's show, we talk to the guys from Chaotic Moon Studios, the ones building Kinect-controlled skateboards and shopping carts and more. They're moving into mind-controlled devices. No, really. Also, the problem with Google's new privacy policies: Web search! The iPad 3 rumor roundup, how to make the most of Google+, and Windows 8 vs. OS X Mountain Lion.

Subscribe: iTunes (MP3) | iTunes (320x180) | iTunes (640x360)

RSS (MP3) | RSS (320x180) | RSS (640x360)… Read more

Wow. And you thought "S*** That Siri Says" was funny. Wait till this Kinect-enabled shopping cart from Whole Foods hits the real world. The possibilities for parody (and aisle-storming, non-gluten-free-linguini-flinging mayhem) are infinite.

As Geekwire reports, Microsoft demoed this very early prototype at an event on its Redmond, Wash., campus today. The motorized, talking cart is kitted out with a Kinect sensor for Windows, and other scanning gear, and can detect items as you place them in the cart; alert you to items that don't jibe with your preprogrammed dietary constraints; ring you up and charge your account; and, perhaps most chillingly, follow you around the store.… Read more

Remember the Board of Awesomeness, the Kinect-controlled motorized skateboard from CES? Well, it just got more awesome.

The creator of this high-tech board, Chaotic Moon Labs, has come up with a new version called the Board of Imagination that works by reading your brain waves. That's right, a mind-controlled skateboard. You simply imagine where you'd like to go and how fast you want to get there, and the Board of Imagination will take care of the rest.

It's powered by the same 800-watt electric motor and Windows 8-enabled Samsung tablet as the Board of Awesomeness, but it … Read more