Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has partnered with NASA’s Ames Research Center to study ways that quantum computing can improve science and solve technology problems using machine learning. Google’s Director of Engineering Hartmut Neven said that the new lab is called the ‘Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab.’ The lab will house a quantum computer from D-Wave Systems and the Universities Space Research Association (USRA).
Google has launched a new project called Timelapse where they will take you back in time to see a historical perspective on changes to the Earth’s surface. Google worked with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), NASA, and TIME to released over a quarter-century of images of Earth that was taken from space. These photos were compiled into an an interactive time-lapse map. Google Timelapse was built from millions of satellite images and trillions of pixels. The interactive map can be explored through a zoomable time-lapse map as part of the new Timelapse project by TIME.
NASA has that the SpaceX Dragon capsule will be making its third trip to the International Space Station. The target date is March 1st, 2013 for the launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
At a conference at the Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX said that they are planning to send a crew of their employees into orbit starting in 2015. This is not surprising because SpaceX successfully sent a cargo craft to the International Space Station in October. In late November, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said that he wanted to set up space colonies on Mars and the company tested their Grasshopper vertical flight last month. SpaceX project manager and former NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman made the announcement about the company’s goal at the conference.
NASA and Foursquare has announced a new badge. The badge features a drawing of Curiosity rover that landed on Mars. The red badge will be added to your Foursquare app when you like NASA on Foursquare, “check in” to a planetarium, or “check in” to the NASA visitor center. When getting the badge, you will receive the following message: “Get out your rock-vaporizing laser! You’ve explored your scientific curiosities just like NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars. Stay curious and keep exploring. You never know what you’ll find.”
According to an ancient Mayan prophecy, the world is supposed to come to an end on December 21, 2012. This has been an urban legend for a long time. Dr. John Carlson said that this has been a misconception from the very beginning. The Mayan calendar did not end on December 21, 2012 and there were no Maya prophecies for telling the end of the world on that date. Carlson is a radio astronomer that studied distant galaxies. He had become interested in the 2012 phenomena 35 years ago when he attended a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
NASA scientists have found that Mercury has over 100 billion tons of ice, which is surprising because the planet hits over 800-degrees Fahrenheit near it’s equator. There has been speculation that the planet craters had ice near the planet’s poles.
The International Space Station (ISS) is celebrating their 12th anniversary of continuously having a crew onboard. NASA has announced a new service that gives people the ability to look up in the sky and see the ISS. The service is called “Spot The Station.” The web application will text or e-mail at the time that their ISS will pass over a user’s location to their phone. The calculations are done based on over 4,600 places across the globe by the NASA Johnson Space Center. Press release below:
