planets

When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled its Oscar nominations this morning, there were some very familiar names among the honorees.

Joe Letteri, for example. And Tim Burke and Scott Farrar.

These may not be people that appear regularly in the pages of "Us Weekly," but to those who follow the visual effects industry, they're on par with Meryl Streep and George Clooney.

Only one film can win the Oscar for best visual effects, but today, five films were nominated.

As usual, George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic was honored, this year for its … Read more

The next time you look up at the night sky and find yourself marveling at the number of stars overhead, know that you are only seeing part of the magnificent bounty that our galaxy holds. Most of those Milky Way stars are not isolated orbs. Rather, an average star has at least one planetary companion, invisible to the naked eye and in most cases as yet unseen by telescopes, according to a new analysis.

That extrasolar planets should be even more common than stars, which themselves seem innumerable, lends support to the hope that somewhere up in the night sky, … Read more

What do metallic glass, the world's largest solar-powered boat, and next-generation credit cards have in common? They all captured the attention of SmartPlanet viewers this year.

CNET sister site SmartPlanet has rounded up its most watched videos of 2011 in the areas of science and technology. Other videos that proved popular included one about a family recycling rain water and one on NASA recycling urine and turning it into drinking water for its astronauts.

This video originally appeared on SmartPlanet with the headline "SmartPlanet's Top 10 videos of 2011."

Related SmartPlanet links:

SmartPlanet talks to Lytro founder Ren Ng about how the Silicon Valley startup is re-imagining the digital camera with its patented light-field photography technology. Ng also discusses his future plans, including the ability for users to capture images that are more three-dimensional.

This video originally appeared on SmartPlanet with the headline " Inside the Lytro camera, and the start-up's 3D future."

Related SmartPlanet links:

NASA has found a planet outside our solar system that looks to be an awful lot like Earth--or maybe even better, given that its climate is roughly like a balmy day in Key West.

The planet, Kepler-22b, is the first confirmed planet within the "habitable zone," meaning that liquid water could exist on the surface and support life. It is almost 2.5 times the size of Earth and 600 light years away, so you may want to start saving your frequent flier miles now if you want your great-to-the-29th-power grandchildren to have a shot at vacationing there.

Scientists estimate the temperature on the surface of the planet to be about 72 degrees, according to the Associated Press. Kepler-22b circles a star very similar to our own sun, although it does it in a slightly shorter period, with one Kepler 22-b year lasting about 290 days.

Scientists say it's likely the planet has water and land, but can't yet rule out the possibility that it is an entirely gaseous planet, which would severely limit its potential as an intergalactic vacation destination.… Read more

Gentlemen--ladies, too--start your wristbands.

Although better known for its Bluetooth headsets, Jawbone is venturing into fitness gadgets with UP, a wristband that tracks your activity level, what you eat, and when you sleep. SmartPlanet's Sumi Das speaks to Jawbone Product Management VP Travis Bogard to find out how it works and gets an answer to a common complaint about the product--why doesn't it transmit data wirelessly?

This video first appeared on SmartPlanet under the headline "Can a smart wristband make you healthier?"

NASA scientists today announced a new planet called Kepler-16b that orbits two stars, a discovery that seems to bring to life the fictional Luke Skywalker home of Tatooine with its double sunset.

The system spotted by NASA consists of one star orbiting another, with the planet Kepler-16b circling both stars. Unlike the barren and rocky Tatooine from the Star Wars films, NASA believes Kepler-16b to be cold and gaseous.

The unique find was discovered in a cache of data recently acquired from NASA's $600 million Kepler mission, the centerpiece of which is a telescope traveling through space 40 million … Read more

On today's show, we discover the universe's biggest diamond floating out there in space. Plus, the FCC is investigating why cell phone networks went down during this week's East Coast earthquake, especially with Hurricane Irene bearing down on the East Coast even as we speak. Our BOL PSA to you: text, don't call. And also, be safe. Plus, Pandora makes some money and the most awkward voicemail session ever.

Perhaps the biggest frustration for astronomers is that they can't get to the places that most interest them.

So please imagine the excitement--and vexation--of skygazers who believe they have discovered a planet that might just be the shiniest piece of bling out there. Reuters paints a picture of astronomers who feel like someone who has just been offered 27 carats over their chocolate pudding.

For there seems to be a planet orbiting tightly around a small star just down the road (in celestial terms) from Earth that is "a massive diamond."

Those last three words aren't … Read more