earth

Wanna tweet to aliens? Cold War dish to target deep space

The people of Gliese 526 are waiting for news of Earth.

They may or may not exist, and they may or may not want to invade our planet once they learn about us. But a project to crowdsource and send messages to them wants to try to make contact anyway.

Lone Signal is an effort to send a continuous stream of hellos to the folks at Gliese 526, a red dwarf star 17.6 light-years away in the constellation Bootes, aka Wolf 498. … Read more

Google Earth brings improved imaging to ocean viewing

Google has started to bring a bit more clarity to underwater viewing in its Earth and Maps platforms. The Web giant rolled out a sneak preview over the weekend of improvements that armchair explorers of the briny deep can expect to find when investigating the world's oceans.

Not only is the resolution of the photos in Google Earth and Google Maps going to be far superior to imaging in the past but also more details about the seascape will be provided, such as ocean charts and depth. To get this data and information, Google has been working with NOAA'… Read more

Physicists rejoice! Will Smith is one of you

Physicists can sometimes feel neglected.

Not always the party types, their lack of screen presence makes them seem weird, peculiar, and other-worldly.

Famous actor and renowned non-Scientologist Will Smith intends to narrow that gap. He knows that physics is the core of human life.

How can I make such a provocative statement?

Well, because I just read an interview he and his son Jaden gave to New York magazine, one intended, I think, to promote their new movie "After Earth."

In it, Smith boldly goes where few actors have gone before in declaring: "At heart, I am … Read more

A look back at NASA's planet-pinpointing space 'scope

NASA announced this week that a key piece of gear on its Kepler space telescope has run into trouble. And though the space agency hasn't given up on a jump-start, the mission may well be at risk.

It's already gone well beyond its planned duration, however, and presented us with many fascinating discoveries.

In this gallery, we take a look back at that mission -- at Kepler's intriguing quest to find Earth-like, life-friendly planets among the Milky Way's many stars.

Enormous asteroid to zip by Earth

A giant asteroid will pass by Earth on May 31, according to NASA, but hold off before you start browsing survival gear on Amazon.

The 1.7-mile long asteroid, labeled 1998 QE2, will come within 3.6 million miles of Earth, or about 15 times the distance between our planet and the moon. It's a golden opportunity for astronomers, who plan to extensively image the temporary visitor.… Read more

The 404 1271: Where we Carey on just fine without Yu (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Wrapping up CNET's coverage of Google I/O 2013.

- Nerd fight!

- Follow Bridget on the Twitter.

- Watch CNET Update every single day of your life.

- Make sure you tune in to find out how you can win one of six MLB/NBA 2K Sports prize packs!… Read more

Landsat watches over the Earth, documenting 28 years of change

NASA's Landsat 5, which recently set a Guinness World Record for the "Longest Operating Earth Observation Satellite," has been delivering high-quality, global data of Earth's land surface for 28 years and 10 months.

Using the annual Landsat satellite imagery captured since 1984, Google has created dramatic composites, alongside other Google Earth satellite imagery, depicting our changing world, the death and growth of natural lands, and humans' impact on the landscape.

The animated GIFs shown here chronicle the development and destruction of life on Earth, pulsing like a living being, with forests receding, water evaporating, and cities … Read more

Time-lapse images let you witness 28 years of Earth's changes

A newly released series of dramatic time-lapse satellite images, available at Google's Timelapse Web site, shows just how quickly the world's landscapes have changed in the last 28 years.

The pictures, captured by the series of Landsat satellites and released in conjunction with the U.S. Geological Survey, NASA, and Time magazine, show several startling examples of how humans and natural processes have changed Earth from 1984 to 2012. You'll see the depressing decline of the Columbia Glacier in Alaska, the blossoming of Dubai's epic cityscape, and Las Vegas' urban explosion. There's also an alarming look at the deforestation occurring in the Brazilian Amazon forest. … Read more

Frodo on top in 'Periodic Table of Middle Earth'

One my biggest disappointments with Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" was its failure to include Tom Bombadil, the immortal woodsman who is immune to the One Ring.

The character has a small but intriguing part in J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy, but of course there's no room for him in a blockbuster film. Not so, however, with this very cool Periodic Table of Middle Earth, which replaces elements with earthly characters from LOTR and "The Hobbit." … Read more