10 apps that are the next best thing to being in space

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Most of us won't ever visit space. But space has been brought to us, in the form of images and data collected for years by spacecraft, satellites and telescopes. Here are the 10 best online, interactive apps that allow you to explore space from your computer. Grab your mouse, Ensign — you have the helm.

1) Eyes On The Solar System

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Flying from planet to planet, I pause to admire the view of Phobos passing across the face of Mars. (Whoa.) JPL's stunning 3D visualization—which requires you to download a free app—allows you to explore the solar system both in time and space. You can pick any date between 1949 and 2049, which is an especially useful feature if you choose to do a "ride along" with an historical spacecraft. When I select "Pioneer 10" from the destination menu and choose "Jupiter flyby," it's suddenly December 3, 1973 and I'm hovering next to a 3D model of the probe, 617,000 miles from its destination and closing.

2) The Lunar Northern Polar Mosaic

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Arizona State University, which developed the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

Camera

(LROC), has assembled 10,581 images, collected over four years, to create this spectacular northern polar mosaic of the Moon's surface.

According to ASU, this is "likely one of the world's largest image mosaics in existence, or at least publicly available on the web, with over 680 gigapixels of valid image data covering a region of the Moon (0.98 million sq. miles) slightly larger than the combined area of Alaska and Texas — at a resolution of 2 meters per pixel!"

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That level of detail is apparent as you

click

and zoom your way around sites on the lunar surface. Every rock, groove and shadow is visible, such as this image (above) of the tracks made by a boulder rolling down the central peak of Hayn crater.

3) The Billion-Pixel View From Curiosity at Rocknest

I've seen quite a few interactive views of Mars, but in terms of detail my favorite is this one created by JPL. It's a scaled-down version of a full-circle view that combines nearly 900 images taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. The view is centered toward the south, with north at both ends. It shows Curiosity at the "Rocknest" site where the rover scooped up samples of windblown dust and sand. Curiosity used three cameras to take the component images on several different days, between Oct. 5 and Nov. 16, 2012.

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One version of the panorama has been white-balanced to show what the scene would look like under Earth lighting conditions, which is helpful in distinguishing and recognizing materials in the rocks and soil. You can also opt for the "raw color" version, which shows illumination effects from variations in the time of day.

You can pan and zoom across either a cylindrical or panorama view. I recommend panorama, since it offers the option of seeing the breathtaking landscape in full-screen mode.

4) The First Men on the Moon

Among the many apps and websites that were created to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, this one is a standout. The First Men on the Moon recreates Eagle's descent, using spaceflight video footage, communication audio, mission control room conversations, text transcripts and telemetry data.

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The result is a meticulously synchronized audio-video presentation. It begins with hearing the words of Buzz Aldrin, while simultaneously viewing the moon through the lunar module window. Moments later, you hear capsule communicator Charlie Duke inform flight director Gene Kranz that the astronauts are on schedule to start the descent engine. Throughout the simulation you can jump to key moments in the timeline, including computer alerts, the "Go/No Go" polls in the control room and, finally, the landing itself. It's a front row seat to history… and it's a nailbiter.

5) Interactive ISS Photo Map

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I recently wrote about this visualization, but it's well worth a second mention. Dave MacClean, a faculty member at the Centre of Geographic Sciences in Nova Scotia, created an interactive world map of more than 650 pictures that the astronauts aboard the International Space Station have shared on

Twitter

.

Each locator pin is color-coded to indicate which astronaut took the photo. Just left-click on the pin to see the image and a link to the original tweet. And, as a bonus, the map shows you the location of the space station in real time (give or take a minute).

6) The Scale of the Universe

This interactive flash animation is a stunning, modern version of the classic video Powers of Ten. Moving the toggle takes you from the edge of the observable universe and through distant galaxies until you arrive at Earth, and continue your voyage through inner space to the sub-atomic level. Along the way, clicking on individual items brings up descriptive information.

7) Eyes on the Earth

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Another amazing 3D visualization that uses NASA's "Eyes On" app, this one allows you to view the space agency's fleet of Earth observation satellites in real time. Click on any satellite to go on a virtual fly along and learn more about its mission. A menu lets you see different versions of the Earth — carbon dioxide levels, global temperature, etc. — created from data collected by the instrumentation aboard the satellites.

8) Spacewalk

Spacewalk sticks you in a spacesuit to navigate and explore a richly detailed recreation of the International Space Station. Patience is a virtue here — thrusting too fast sent me spinning head over heels (does a spacesuit have heels?), until I collided with one of the modules.

There's a "multiplayer" option—though, honestly, I'm not sure what you would do with other players other than wave at them, or perhaps play an orbital version of bumper cars. Spacewalk has recently been optimized for use with Oculus Rift, but you can still download the original version. It's a wild ride.

9) Orbital Objects

It's getting awfully crowded up there. In addition to the more than 1,000 active satellites that are orbiting the Earth, more than 21,000 pieces of orbital debris larger than 10 cm are known to exist. These pieces of space junk collide with each other, generating additional debris in the form of high-velocity fragments that can travel as fast as 35,000 miles per hour.

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You can pay a virtual visit to our orbital junkyard, courtesy of this interactive, 3D visualization (image above) made by Alex Rasmussen. Points marked in green represent active satellites. Points marked in gray are inactive satellites that are still intact. Points marked as red are tracked pieces of space debris.

Orbital Objects is best viewed on Google Chrome. Use up and down arrows to zoom in and out, and the mouse to rotate.

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Another visualization currently under development by Satellite Spy uses the Google Earth plugin to map thousands of near-Earth objects (above). Click on each one to identify the piece of space debris and its source.

10) Eyes on Exoplanets

The most recent—and most astonishing—addition to NASA's "Eyes On" series takes you 1,000 light years away from Earth to explore the stars in our galactic neighborhood. The data used to create the simulation includes 1,061 stars with known exoplanets—1,743 exoplanets to be precise.

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Click on a star to zoom in. A menu of options includes a visualization of the star's habitable zone and an onscreen comparison with our own

solar

system. Remember that awesome "stellar cartography" room (above) aboard the USS Enterprise in Star Trek: Generations? You now have it on your desktop.extracted by io9.com All rights owned by them.

5 teens who will make you feel you haven't take real advantage of teen age.

Do you ever feel an overwhelming sense of contentment and well-being? Do you sometimes muse to yourself, “Hey, maybe it’s okay that I haven’t really done anything with my life yet. After all, I’m only in my twenties. Who’s ever accomplished anything by 22?” 

Here is a list that will cure you of such complacency and help you reach your full potential of quivering self-loathing and crippling self-doubt. I give you the list of teenagers who have already done more with their lives than you have (note: the antidote to this deadly list is to remember that even though these five kids exist, so does Lindsay Lohan. She peaked early and we all know how that turned out):

1.  Nick D’Aloisio

British-Australian Nick D’Aloisio is a 17-year-old entrepreneur and computer programmer with interesting hair. In addition to growing his own gravity-defying hair, D’Aloisio recently sold an app to Yahoo! for $30 million. As a teenager, I also sold apps, but they were usually about $7 a piece. They were more commonly referred to as, “appetizers,” and I was a waitress. The app, known as Summly, condenses news stories into 1,000, 500, or 140-character summaries, kind of like what I’m doing here, but with less snark. While Nick’s accomplishments might make you feel like an underachiever, at least you’re not the person who handed over $30 million to a 17-year-old, no matter how impressive his coiffure.

2. Akrit Jaswal

Now 19-years-old, Akrit Jaswal is considered a medical genius. Originally, from India, Jaswal became renowned locally for his intelligence early in life. Though not a doctor at the time, he performed his first surgery when he was seven, when a neighboring family too poor to afford the medical bills asked him to separate their daughter’s burnt, fused fingers. At 12, he began undergraduate courses in medicine. By 17, he had begun his masters in applied chemistry. He has vowed to dedicate his life to finding a cure for cancer. Also, one time, he was on Oprah. Just in case it makes anyone feel better about themselves, to be fair, you should know his Twitter is pretty underwhelming.

3.  Katie Ledecky

You may remember Katie Ledecky from last year’s summer Olympics. At 15, she won gold for the 800 meter freestyle. At 15, I was well known on the indoor track team for having a shockingly slow 800-meter time, given that I was in fact not dangerously obese. She is my personal favorite on the list, because she’s the same age as my youngest sister. Last summer this provided fodder for a lot of jokes of the, “Hey Mo, what are you doing with your summer vacation? What’s that? Watching all three seasons of Vampire Diaries? Well, Katie Ledecky won a gold medal,” variety. I’m ashamed to say, it made me feel a tiny bit better about being an unemployed recent college graduate living at home. 

4. Hailee Steinfeld

Nominated for an Oscar at the ripe-old age of 14 for her role as Mattie Ross in the Coen brothers' True Grit, Hailee Steinfeld has definitely accomplished more than you.  She’s slated to star as Juliet Capulet in this year’s film Romeo and Juliet, and her red carpet frocks are always lovely and age-appropriate, which indicate her immunity to the twin pitfalls of child stardom — descending into oblivion or spiraling into a schadenfreudian train wreck. She gets bonus points for knowing Matt Damon, another person who accomplished more in his teens and 20s than you have. 

5.  Alexandra Adornetto

Alexandra Adornetto is an author of children’s and young adults’ novels, including two series, The Strangest Adventures and the Halo trilogy. Adornetto is actually 20, but her Wikipedia page is peppered with such gems as, “She didn’t even consider writing a novel until she was 13.” When I was 13, the biggest challenge I considered undertaking was being subtler when picking my nose, so Alexandra gets a spot on the list. The online plot summaries of her books were a little too convoluted for this average-joe 20-something to grasp, except to say, they reminded me a bit of Twilight, but with angels, confirming my suspicions that a child could have written that series.

Teen pregnancy

Teen pregnancy can have serious consequences for girls and guys, including decreased chances of finishing school, a difficult financial 

future

, and health risks for both mother and child. If you are thinking about having sex, know that the effects can last a lifetime.

Fact: Three out of ten teenage girls in the United States get pregnant at least once before age 20—that amounts to 745,000 teen pregnancies each year.

Fact: The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized world—twice as high as in England or Canada and eight times as high as in the Netherlands or Japan.

Fact: Two-thirds of teen pregnancies occur among 18- and 19-year-olds, but that doesn’t mean that you’re immune if you are under 18.

Fact: Almost 50 percent of teens have never considered how a pregnancy would affect their lives.

Fact: Parenthood is the leading reason why teen girls drop out of school. Less than half of teen mothers ever graduate from high school and fewer than two percent earn a college degree by age 30.

Fact: Children of teen mothers do worse in school than those born to older parents—they are 50 percent more likely to repeat a grade, they are less likely to complete high school, and they do not perform as well on standardized tests.

Fact: Pregnant teens are far less likely to receive timely and consistent medical care than those who get pregnant at a later age. The children of teen mothers are more likely to be born prematurely and at low birth weight, and they are two times more likely to suffer abuse and neglect compared to children of older mothers.

Fact: Teen mothers are more likely to smoke during pregnancy, they are often not at adequate weight before pregnancy—nor do they gain the appropriate amount of weight during pregnancy.

Fact: Two-thirds of families begun by a young unmarried mother are poor. More than half of all mothers on welfare had their first child as a teenager.

Fact: Teen mothers are likely to have a second birth relatively soon: about one-fourth have a second child within 24 months of the first birth. This can further impede their ability to finish school (or keep a job) and to escape poverty.

Fact: Eight out of ten fathers don’t marry the mother of their child. These absent fathers pay less than $800 annually for child support, often because they are poor themselves.

Fact: Children who live apart from their fathers are also five times more likely to be poor than children with both parents at home.

Fact: The daughters of young teen mothers are three times more likely to become teen mothers themselves.

Fact: The sons of teen mothers are twice as likely to end up in prison.

The facts are disturbing. What can you do? First of all, have a plan.

Read about having a plan to avoid pregnancy.

Digital game downloads are worse for the environment than Blu-ray discs

 

You would think that the world would be a less polluted place if everyone switched to digital downloads, lessening the number of physical objects — and factories to produce them — in the world. A recent study suggests that even though removing physical objects lowers the potential for future for garbage and factory pollution, going digital isn’t the best answer to cleaning up the planet — in fact, the carbon footprint of downloading

games

is actually higher than buying a physical copy.The study, published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology, focuses on the carbon footprint of games distribution — specifically, an 8.8GB PlayStation 3 game — using the metrics of a typical UK production and distribution cycle. When measuring carbon emissions, there are more factors that go into the both the physical retail and digital cycles than it may seem. Aside from the obvious metric of factories creating the discs and packaging, other factors — such as the vehicles used to deliver the products, and the output created when eventually disposing of the items — contribute to the overall footprint. The same applies to digitally distributed games, like if televisions and monitors are powered on during a long download — something that doesn’t apply to purchasing a retail disc.
Surprisingly, it turned out that the carbon emissions of a retail disc — including the production, vehicle delivery, and so on — were actually lower than that of a downloaded game.
Carbon emissions for the 8.8GB PS3 disc were estimated to be around 20.82 kilograms, but an equivalent digital download reached 27.53 kilograms. Various factors contribute to the increased carbon footprint of a downloaded game, such as the electricity used by the downloader, the power used by data centers to deliver the content, and even the power used to created the digital file in the first place. The study does admit, though, that it had to make quite a few assumptions for one reason or another. As the study states, for instance, the type of software used, the purpose of a download, and the resources available to any given company are not totally available on an individual basis. However, there are available plausible averages that can be used.
The study does look to the future, but notes that it’s too early to tell to see if carbon emissions of digital games will remain the same or decrease. In theory, internet efficiency will increase in the future, thus lowering the carbon footprint of a downloaded title. However, games generally increase in file size, and it’s difficult to discern whether or not internet speeds will increase enough in order to lower download times despite the larger file sizes. Other factors that are just now becoming widespread, such as remote downloading while you’re commuting home from work or being able to use your console while a game downloads in the background, will also play important roles in

the game

industry’s carbon footprint.Read our featured story: I went all-digital with the PS4 and loved it – RIP physical media
If you’re (perhaps overly) environmentally conscientious and worried about the carbon footprint your gaming hobby will have on this planet, you might want to stick to physical retail purchases for now. If you’re all-in on the digital revolution but still feel guilty about (barely) negatively impacting the environment, you can purchase some carbon offsets from us here at ExtremeTech and we’ll stop downloading bad games when we’re bored.