From Space.com:

NASA this week debuted a new book that presents images from its Great Observatories in a new format that allows visually impaired people to experience them.

“About 10 million visually impaired people live in the United States,” said author Noreen Grice, in a statement. “I hope this book will be a unique resource for people who are sighted or blind to better understand the part of the universe that is invisible to all of us.”

“Touch the Invisible Sky” contains 60 pages of color images of nebulae, stars, galaxies and a few of the telescopes used to capture the pictures. The authors added embossing of lines, bumps and other textures to each image, rendering colors, shapes, and other details in a third dimension. Descriptions that accompany each of the 28 images in the book are supplied in Braille and large-print text, making the information accessible to readers having differing visual abilities.

This is a worthwhile endeavor. It’s about time people with certain impaired senses were realized to be people too.

http://www.space.com/entertainment/080118-entertainment-invisible-sky.html

Israel Launches Advanced Spy Satellite

The TECSAR satellite is of particular importance for Israel because it can be used to keep tabs on Iran’s nuclear program, which the U.S. and Israel fear is a cover for pursuing nuclear weapons, they said.

The satellite, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries, operates with a special radar system, allowing it to view much more than existing Ofek satellites that use cameras, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.

Israel has backed U.S. efforts to get the international community to intensify sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program. Iran insists its program is for power generation.

The company confirmed the satellite launching in a statement.

“The TECSAR is the first satellite of its kind developed in Israel, and ranks among the world’s most advanced space systems,” the statement said.

I wonder how much of their “most advanced space systems” tech is American based? Any takers here?

http://www.physorg.com/news120127134.html

Marine archaeologist Stuart Bacon and Professor David Sear, of the University of Southampton, will explore the lost city of Dunwich, off the Suffolk coast.

Dunwich gradually disappeared into the sea because of coastal erosion.

“It’s about the application of new technology to investigate Britain’s Atlantis, then to give this information to the public,” Professor Sear said.

Mr Bacon, director of the Suffolk Underwater Studies, first located the debris of the lost city in the 1970s.

I wonder if this is further vindication of Michael Tsarion’s “West to East” spread of this current cycle of civilization? This has interesting implications.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7187239.stm

West to East spread of civilization