technology
la silla observatory
from exoplanets, space exploration posted in technology by pete_nice
Located 600 km (373 miles) north of Santiago, in the superlatively arid Atacama Desert, is La Silla Observatory.
Spanish for The Saddle, La Silla is so-named for the geological contours of its mountaintop perch. The European Space Agency (ESO) owns and operates the multiple telescopes at the location, and they've been responsible for making numerous discoveries.
Among the recent discoveries is the TRAPPIST-1 system, located 39.6 light-years away in the Aquarius constellation. Named for the telescope located at La Silla that originally revealed it, the TRAPPIST-1 system contains 7 rocky exoplanets, with at least 3 of those in the "habitable zone" (containing liquid water).
Download your travel poster at nasa.gov
view full location details...mount washington
from clock of the long now, jeff bezos posted in technology by pete_nice
"I want to build a clock that ticks once a year. The century hand advances once every 100 years, and the cuckoo comes out on the millennium. I want the cuckoo to come out every millennium for the next 10,000 years."- Danny Hill, The Long Now Foundation
The Long Now Foundation purchased the 180 acres of Mt. Washington in Eastern Nevada, just off of Great Basin National Park, in 1999. The group's intention is to complete a large scale project that encourages long-term thinking.
A prototype of the project is currently being constructed in a mountain on Jeff Bezo's Corn Ranch in West Texas.
view full location details...tesla gigafactory
from electric vehicles, elon musk posted in technology by tacopolis
The Tesla Gigafactory, located in the Nevada desert east of Reno/Sparks, will be larger than all of the other lithium-ion battery factories combined.
Using geothermal, wind and solar energy, the Gigafactory will "be energy self-sufficient."
view full location details...blue origin launch site
from space travel, new space posted in technology by tacopolis
Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos is in the rocket game as well. His company, Blue Origin, has a launch site in west Texas near the town of Van Horn.
Specializing in VTVL (Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing) technology, the team has been making advances in suborbital rocketry (video here).
view full location details...zip2 hq (former)
from elon musk, paypal posted in technology by corporate_sunshine
In 1997, Zip2 moved their headquarters to this location. Zip2 was online directory founded by the Musk brothers, Elon and Kimbal.
The company merged with CitySearch in a $300 million deal in 1998. This gave Elon Musk the capital to begin his next project, the online banking company- X.com.
Source: Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance
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