If You Thought Google Earth Was Impressive...

Since Bill Gates officially left his full-time position at Microsoft, he has been spending his time trying to cure disease, reform the educational system, and fund cutting edge research projects through Microsoft Research. Maybe he should have quit sooner. He recently bought the rights to The Messenger Lectures by quantum pioneer Richard Feynman and released them to the world through Project Tuva. Most impressively, however, is Microsoft's World Wide Telescope, a program that is similar to Google Earth but much, much wider in scope.

While Google Earth is limited to the varied terrain and architecture of our planet, the only limit the World Wide Telescope knows is the observable universe. Dr. Roy Gould explains that “The World Wide Telescope takes the best images from the greatest telescopes on Earth ... and in space ... and assembles them into a seamless, holistic view of the universe. This new resource will change the way we do astronomy ... the way we teach astronomy ... and, most importantly, I think it's going to change the way we see ourselves in the universe,”...“The creators of the World Wide Telescope have now given us a way to have a dialogue with our universe.” I'm tempted to say something like "the young aspiring astronomer that I and so many other children once was would be absolutely blown-away by this revolutionary resource", but the truth is that even today with an understanding of the exponential rate of technological advancement somewhat dulling my sense of amazement at new developments (I've come to expect a lot), the WWT absolutely blows my mind. I suggest that everyone download this program and spend some time exploring the universe as soon as possible. I recommend taking some of the guided tours to get started.