The world"s largest digital #camera weighs three tons and will allow astronomers to peer into #space and the #universe. - http://clapway.com/2015/09/01/worlds-largest-digital-camera-universe123/

The world’s largest digital camera, built for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), will soon help astronomers peer deeper into the universe. The 3.2 pixel device, weighing roughly three tons, was recently approved by the U.S. Department of Energy and will be used to collect “several million gigabytes of data every year,” according to PC World.

The World’s Largest digital camera COMES TO LIFE

To bring the idea to life, the U.S. government is providing the necessary funds for its construction. The National Science Foundation (NSF) will also give monetary aid to create the site facilities and the accompanying database system.

According to Engadget, the camera will be able to photograph patches of the sky 40 times the size of the moon. If that isn’t impressive enough, its advanced technology will also allow the camera to pick up more light than any other optical telescope currently in existence (as it should be able to do since it weighs about as much as a small car); in fact, the camera is so strong that viewing a single photograph from it will require the combined efforts of 1,500 high-definition televisions.

Over the period a decade, it will serve as a useful tool for astronomers looking to gather information about the early universe. According to the DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, the telescope will detect more galaxies than there are people on the Earth. With it, researchers hope to obtain a clearer understanding of how the galaxy was formed and the properties of dark matter or dark energy.

What’s next? THE FUTURE OF THE World’s Largest digital camera

In the meantime, the SLAC will begin to build the camera, as well as a database that will hold the 6 million gigabytes of data gathered by the device per year. The first test runs should begin in 2019 and by 2022, it will start photographing the southern night sky in Chile. Until then, the SLAC has a lot of work cut out for it. As PC World mentions, the construction of the camera will require efforts from various institutions across the globe.

“We now have a busy agenda for the remainder of 2015 and 2016,” stated LSST Director Steven Kahn. “Development of the telescope on the mountain is nicely underway. The contracts for fabrication of the telescope mount and the dome enclosure have been awarded and the distributors are at full steam.”

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The World’s Largest digital camera gives us a glance at the inner workings of the universe. Learn more about it with Space Scouts Summer Adventure:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdcU4nKKV2E

World"s Largest Digital Camera Sees The Deep Universe

Can Nokia Make a Comeback with Its VR Camera the Nokia OZO? - http://clapway.com/2015/08/02/can-nokia-make-a-comeback-with-its-vr-camera-ozo345/

There was a time and place when Nokia reigned over the mobile phone market with complete authority. Over time, Nokia experienced a slow fade in popularity, and by the time iOS and Android were fiercely competing for market share, Nokia was largely irrelevant. Now the company is hoping to jump back into the spotlight by being one among the first manufacturers to embrace the upcoming wave of virtual reality (VR) devices with a brand new VR camera the company calls OZO.

Nokia OZO is One of the Very First VR Cameras

Nokia OZO is a spherical camera equipped with eight lenses and eight microphones, allowing it to capture stereoscopic 3D video in 360-degree panoramas. The idea is that users who purchase VR headsets (targeted for sale at the end of 2015) will be able to watch video that puts the user right in the middle of the action. They’ll have a 360-degree panoramic viewing experience and have the ability to hear sound dynamically move around them as if they were there.

Nokia OZO Isn’t for Consumers

There was no mention of a price point for the camera, and that’s largely because the Nokia OZO isn’t meant for the mass market. Instead, Nokia hopes that it will be a pioneer in VR filmmaking. As such, it’s aiming for professional filmmakers rather than early VR adopters hoping to make quick, sharable content.

Re-purposing Nokia’s Camera Technologies

Prior to Microsoft buying Nokia’s Devices & Services division, the company made some pretty impressive advances in portable camera technology for its Lumia line of smartphones. Nokia’s previous experiences have lead it to partnering up with VR production company Jaunt Studios.

“Our mission has always been to provide filmmakers with tools and techniques that fuel their creative process, unlocking the true potential of their vision,” said Cliff Plumer, president of Jaunt Studios.

Nokia OZO isn’t the first VR camera to be released, but Nokia is hoping its ease of use and quick processing times will help give it the advantage it needs to become the gold standard in the market.

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The Nokia OZO could be used with virtual reality headsets like the SnailVR Glass Headset

Can Nokia Make a Comeback with Its VR Camera the Nokia OZO?

They never get old. - http://clapway.com/2015/06/30/why-abisko-is-the-best-place-to-experience-northern-lights/

Experiencing the spectacular Northern Lights is probably everyone’s dream, although standing in freezing cold weather for hours in the darkness waiting and hoping for the lights to appear might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Abisko: 200km north of the Arctic Circle

In January, I visited Abisko in (very) northern Sweden, one of the best known places in Lapland. My trip included standing for up to four hours in -40°F in complete darkness, but the spectacular northern lights phenomenon was worth the wait and the pain.

Abisko is also where “Kungsleden” starts, the country’s biggest and most famous trail which measures over 400km and attracts thousands of hardcore nature-lovers every year.

In the winter, though, people travel there to see fluorescent green lights dancing in the sky and experience the arctic circle’s dark winter days. As a matter of fact, the sun almost never rises during the season. However, as many of you imagine it being completely dark, note that it is more close to “dawn” for a few hours per day, with the snow playing a big role in brighting up the atmosphere.

Lonely Planet’s best spot for Auroras

The UN has named 2015 the International “Year of Light” and Lonely Planet chose Abisko as the number one place (in a top 10 released last year) to experience the Northern Lights. What makes this location a great spot is the likelihood of clear skies due to its geographical position. Abisko is located in a valley surrounded by mountains, which often help in keeping clouds away and increasing the number of clear nights.

A cloudless sky is essential for you to experience the Northern Lights and so is complete darkness. So, being anywhere in Lapland is not enough. You ought to find the right spot far from any kind of light pollution and hope that no clouds get in the way.

As we are talking about nature and not fiction, Northern Lights might take time to appear. They start by being weak and fade with the sky, which is the main reason why, at first, they are often confused with clouds. However, experts told me there that the way to differentiate a could from an “aurora” at its early stage, is to check if stars are still visible behind it. Clouds would impede the view of anything they cover, while northern lights don’t.

Never go without a good camera

One great piece of advice is not to travel all the way to Lapland without a very good camera and a tripod. If you rely on your iPhone, you will end up with a number of pitch black shots which could be quite disappointing. So, make sure you have a high quality device with you which is able to shoot pictures with high exposure.

If you don’t have a good camera (like in my case), you can rent one there through organised expeditions. I took all the photos below in Abisko this winter:

 

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Sometimes you just want to capture the spectacle that is natural phenomena. Atmoph may help you do that!:

Why Abisko is the Best Place to Experience Northern Lights