Science ~ Chris Pirillo

What Drives Your Productivity?

3 Comments (Add) | Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 12:08am

Being sick has its advantages – ones I never knew about! I have had some sort of crazy virus for several days now. I admit to spending one entire day sleeping it off as best I could. I stayed out of my office for the most part, and knocked myself out with the medicines the doctor gave me. Since that day, I’ve spent as much time as possible doing nothing other than sitting in my office. Since that happens to be where I work… I’ve actually accomplished quite a lot! I haven’t felt like going anywhere really, or “doing” anything much.

Where is Technology Headed?

3 Comments (Add) | Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 7:11am

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I love answering the questions you send in – especially when they are broad ones that have no right answer. This way, all of you can chime in with your thoughts, as well! Frank recently sent me a set of three excellent questions, so I thought I would answer those today.

SecondLight: Bringing the UI into the Real World

2 Comments (Add) | Saturday, February 28th, 2009 at 9:21am

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SecondLight is a new surface-computing technology that can project images and detect gestures in mid-air above the display, in addition to supporting multitouch interactions on the surface.

Interactions with an Omnidirectional Projector

No Comments Yet (Add) | Saturday, February 28th, 2009 at 1:45am

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This is a hemispherical dome in which users can interact with data from Virtual Earth and WorldWide Telescope. This was done using a regular projector and a wide-angle lens – and Microsoft technologies!

How to Create an Awesome Twitter Profile Background

12 Comments (Add) | Friday, February 13th, 2009 at 1:27am

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Do you Twitter? If so, then you know you can tell the World what you’re doing in 140 characters or less. Many people who tweet have jazzed up their home page background on Twitter. Do you know how to amp up yours? All you have to do is head over to my tweet space and create yourself a great-looking background in minutes – for free!

How to Win a Zero G Flight Giveaway

13 Comments (Add) | Tuesday, December 30th, 2008 at 3:59pm

Remember when I went flying in Zero G a few months ago? It was so much fun, I convinced Symantec to sponsor a ticket for ONE of you, too! This is finally your chance to experience the feeling of zero gravity for yourself. Fly Zero G and rule the Geekosphere!

Telescope Coupons

3 Comments (Add) | Sunday, July 6th, 2008 at 6:11pm

I think it’s time to upgrade my telescope. Anybody out there own one of the Orion Telescopes Astro-Imaging telescopes? If you’ve got one, send me your photos and I’ll post them here.

Where can you Watch Severe Weather Videos Online?

5 Comments (Add) | Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 10:49pm

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I love living in the Seattle area, because I’m a big fan of overcast skies. This is in sharp contrast to my home state of Iowa, where’s there’s severe weather of all types nearly every other day. Severe weather is terrifying, to be sure. However, it’s also beautiful and many people love to see it on video. Severe weather is just not for me, though. Growing up, I was deathly afraid of tornados and storms. Seriously, I even had nightmares sometimes.

Using Your Telescope to Photograph Explosions on the Moon

89 Comments (Add) | Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 at 8:55am

Last week NASA released this map of 100 explosions on the Moon, observed in the last two and half years. (read original article at NASA)

“They’re explosions caused by meteoroids hitting the Moon,” says Bill Cooke, head of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center (press release). “A typical blast is about as powerful as a few hundred pounds of TNT and can be photographed easily using a backyard telescope.”

NASA started monitoring Moon explosions toward the end of 2005. As they were planning to send astronauts back there “it seemed like a good idea to measure how often the Moon was getting hit”, says Rob Suggs, also at the Marshall Center.

Meteoroids hit the Moon so fast, normally at least 13,000 m/s, that they heat up the surface enough that it glows. Hence you get an ‘explosion’ despite a lack of oxygen.

I think the most fascinating part of this story is the claim that you can easily photograph these explosions using a “backyard telescope”. Has anybody out there tried doing this yet? For those of you without a telescope here’s a NASA video of a Meteoroid hitting the moon.