Prison inmates at San Quentin get contract to build satellite parts for NASA

The NASA Ames Research Center is known for establishing innovative partnerships and Pete Worden, the former Air Force general who serves as the Center’s director, is known as a maverick. Still, the latest joint venture to come to light has caught even some longtime NASA observers by surprise. Under supervision from NASA Ames, inmates working in the …

Time lapse movie – TWiT podcasting studio in 60 seconds

  Time lapse movie recorded in the TWiT studio in Petaluma, CA using a 3rd generation iPad mounted to a Losmandy StarLapse motor with a Makayama mount with wide-angle lens. The time-lapse was captured using iStopMotion for the iPad by Boinx Software. Special thanks to Oliver at Boinx for coming up with the idea, and …

Video of Sicily’s Mount Etna erupting with lava flows and steam sprays

April 13, 2012 – Europe’s highest active volcano, Italy’s Mount Etna, erupted again this week. The eruption, which spewed blood-red molten lava and grey and white ash into the air, is the 24th in a series that started in January 2011.   A decade ago the volcano was at it again, this time more serious. …

The high-tech gear for climbing Mount Everest

In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach Mount Everest’s summit. According to National Geographic “the expedition had climbers carrying loads approaching 44 pounds apiece. Today, ultralight gear cuts significant weight from a climber’s load—often half the weight, or less, of Hillary’s pack load.” Here are the high-tech pieces that …