15 January 2009

Earth from space, on the Big Picture

Here's a mind-expanding set of photos from Boston.com's photo feature, The Big Picture -- taken by satellites or by astronauts as they fly above the Earth. The images come from NASA's Earth Observatory. Talk about taking the 30,000-foot view ...

Posted by TED Staff | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)

24 August 2008

Psychology's final frontier: Staying sane in space

Astrobiology Magazine posts an intriguing report today: The American Psychological Association is looking seriously at the question of astronauts' mental health. It's an issue that has sometimes been swept under the rug, says the APA's press release:

Historically, astronauts have been reluctant to admit to mental or behavioral health problems for fear of being grounded.

But as missions get longer and astronauts are asked to do more, psychologists are looking at ways to help them cope with loneliness and interpersonal conflicts. At Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston, psychologist James Carter (who also studies teamwork in space) and his group are building a tool to help astronauts deal with depression:

... a suite of interactive computer programs, dubbed the Virtual Space Station, using input from 13 veteran long-duration NASA astronauts who have flown on the International Space Station, Mir and Skylab. ... This interactive program will help astronauts prevent, detect, assess and manage their own psychosocial problems. They will learn how to cope with depression and how to resolve conflicts with other astronauts.

Read more about Carter's project >>

Having trouble leaving a comment? (We're working on it ...) Email it to us: blog at ted dot com

Posted by Emily McManus | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)

17 January 2008

Porco awarded, Antonelli promoted

TED speaker Paola Antonelli (watch her TED 2007 talk) has been promoted to senior curator of the New York Museum of Modern Art's department of architecture and design. The promotion was announced by MoMA's director Glenn Lowry. Paola is currently preparing "Design and the Elastic Mind", an exhibition on science, design and innovation that will open at MoMA on February 24.

Carolyn Porco, leader of the imaging team for the Cassini space mission to Saturn and the opening speaker at TED 2007 (watch her talk), will be the recipient of this year's Isaac Asimov Science Award, given by American Humanist Association. Porco will receive the award in June in Washington.

To both, congratulations!

Posted by Bruno Giussani | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)

14 November 2007

Earth-rise and Earth-set

Consider it a bonus track to the great speech by Carolyn Porco last March at TED07, when she showed amazing images of Saturn and its moons. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) has just released video footage taken by the the onboard high-definition camera of their spacecraft Kaguya, showing extraordinary images of the Moon's surface and the Earth "rising" and "setting" beyond the Moon's horizon. (Clicking on the link on their page opens up a second window: let the whole video download -- it takes a while -- before watching it).

Earth-rise:

Earth-set:

(Cross-posted on LunchOverIP)

Posted by Bruno Giussani | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)

16 October 2007

Celebrate 10 years of Cassini-Huygens with new views of Saturn

The Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and its moons celebrates its diamond anniversary this week by releasing a new collection of images, movies and maps. If you could not get enough of Carolyn Porco's images from her talk at TED2007, head over to the CICLOPS site for new and just-posted archival images, as well as a new set of 9 holes -- the Outer Links -- for the Flash game Golf Sector 6.

Photo, released Oct 15, 2007: On the Final Frontier: Saturn sits nested in its rings of ice as Cassini once again plunges toward the graceful giant. Courtesy CICLOPS.

Posted by Emily McManus | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)

02 October 2007

Flying to the moons of Saturn: Carolyn Porco on TED.com

Planetary scientist Carolyn Porco says, "I'm going to take you on a journey." And does she ever. Showing breathtaking images from the Cassini voyage to Saturn, she focuses on Saturn's intriguing largest moon, Titan, with its deserts, mudflats and puzzling lakes, and on frozen Enceladus, which seems to shoot jets of ice. Could one of these places harbor water -- or life? (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, California. Duration: 17:21.)

Watch Carolyn Porco's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.

Read more about Carolyn Porco on TED.com.

Posted by TED Staff | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)

06 September 2007

First look at Branson/Rutan's space terminal

Making private space travel possible and accessible to everyone has been a recurring topic at recent TED conferences, discussed by speakers such as Burt Rutan at TED 2006 (watch his speech), Peter Diamandis at TEDGLOBAL 2005, Richard Branson at TED 2007 and others. This week the first images of the central terminal and hangar facility at New Mexico's future private spaceport have been released:

Designed by engineering firm URS Corp and by architect Norman Foster, the structure, called Spaceport America, will serve as the operating basis for Branson's Virgin Galactic suborbital spaceliners, which are being built at Scaled Composites in California, founded by Rutan. Construction of the spaceport should begin in 2008.

Details in this story by Space.com.

Posted by Bruno Giussani | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)

27 July 2007

A hard week for space exploration

This has been a hard week for lovers and dreamers of space travel -- a frequent topic at TED. An explosion at Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites spaceport caused three victims. It was followed by a report on issues of personal safety at NASA, part of the unfolding story there.

Space exploration is an inherent high-risk endeavor. We invite you to view several talks on TED.com that can help recapture the excitement and pure imagination that has inspired generations of people to reach for the stars: Burt Rutan's own vision, Bill Stone's audacity, and cosmologist David Deutsch, who tells us that humanity's true purpose -- the reason we exist -- is to explore and learn, to gain knowledge.

Posted by Bruno Giussani | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)

28 June 2007

To the depths of the Earth ... and beyond! Watch Bill Stone on TED.com

Bill Stone, the maverick cave explorer and diver -- who has invented robots and rebreathing equipment to let him plumb Earth’s deepest abysses -- talks about his efforts to build a robot to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa. The plan is to send the droid to bore through miles of ice and swim through a liquid underworld that may harbor alien life. And if that’s not enough, he’s also planning to mine ice, on Earth's own moon, by 2015. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 17:55) Read more about Bill Stone on TED.com.

Watch this talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.

New: Download this talk in high resolution (480p) >>

Posted by TED Staff | Permalink

Permalink | Comments () | TrackBack (0)