NASA is getting ready to launch its WISE (Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer) mission:

NASA to Launch Sky-Mapping Spacecraft

NASA’s latest space telescope will scan the sky in search of never-before-seen asteroids, comets, stars and galaxies, with one of its main tasks to catalog objects posing a danger to Earth….

If all goes as planned, WISE will orbit some 325 miles above the Earth and produce the most detailed map yet of the cosmos. It is designed to detect objects that give off infrared light or heat. Infrared light is ideal for uncovering dusty, cold and distant objects that often can’t be seen by optical telescopes.

Here are two overviews that explain what NASA scientists hope to discover with this mission:

Google Goggles has come to life as a new way to search – visually:

Use pictures to search the web

With your camera phone you take a picture of something. Google defines “something” as: a landmark, book, business card, artwork, place, wine, logo (what, no barcodes?). Then Google uses the photo as a search key and produces search results. Here is a demo:

[[[Jump to previous invention - take credit card payments from anyone with your iPhone]]]

In Interesting Reading #367 we had this blurb:

The End Of The CrunchPad – “Our plan was to debut the CrunchPad on stage at the Real-Time Crunchup event on November 20, a little over a week ago. We even hoped to have devices hacked together with Google Chrome OS and Windows 7 to show people that you could hack this thing to run just about anything you want. We’d put 1,000 of the devices on pre-sale and take orders immediately. Larger scale production would begin early in 2010. And then the entire project self destructed over nothing more than greed, jealousy and miscommunication…”

JP Pointed to this article as well: I’m guessing the price was a big contributor to the project death

But the Cruchpad is now back, rebranded as the JooJoo:

- CrunchPad Becomes JooJoo, Pre-Orders Start Friday

The CrunchPad drama continued Monday, with the chief of Fusion Garage calling Michael Arrington’s claim on the device “ludicrous” and introducing its own 12.1-inch tablet, which has been re-branded as the JooJoo.

Fusion Garage will start taking pre-orders for the $499 device on Friday at thejoojoo.com. Delivery is expected within 8 to 10 weeks, Chandra Rathakrishnan, Fusion Garage chief executive, said during a Monday webcast. The company is in talks with retail partners, but no announcements have been made, he said.

- CrunchPad reborn as JooJoo

Monday morning, former TechCrunch partner Fusion Garage revealed details of its plans to release its Linux-based Web browsing tablet.

Known as the CrunchPad until TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington announced on his blog that Fusion Garage had removed his company from involvement the product, it was expected to be a touch-sensitive slate computer designed for browsing the Web.

Overview:

The only problem is that CrunchPad Litigation Imminent.

Seems like ASUS could release this product for $300 if they thought there was a market. Or, if you are adventurous, you could make a close facsimile by following the instructions in this video:

[If I am remembering right, the paper PopSci had an article in this month's issue on adding touch screen capabilities to netbooks, but I can't find it on the web site yet.]

Or maybe the Apple Tablet matches the JooJoo price point without the drama.

What if you needed to pay your babysitter, or buy something at a garage sale, and the baby sitter or garage saler could take your credit card? No gimmicks, no hassles – the person just slides your credit card through his/her iPhone and in 10 seconds you are done. That’s the idea behind Squareup.com:

Squareup.com

A description:

Twitter creator Jack Dorsey shows off his new mobile payments startup

Square’s product lets people process credit card payments through their mobile phone. It’s a small device that attaches to the audio input jack of a phone. You can swipe your card through a slot on the device and the store can send the receipt to either your e-mail or mobile phone. You can also use text messages to authorize payments in real-time.

The article asks, “So what’s revolutionary about this product?” In theory it makes it possible for just about anyone to take plastic payments. Which, if it were to take off, seems like it would help bring an end to cash. There are many potential competitors entering the field as well, so this seems like a rich vein whose time has come. The two big questions long-term seem to be: 1) how high the fees for the seller will be, since with cash there are no fees, and 2) What happens with fraud?

[[[Jump to previous invention - a new piston engine design from Eco Motors]]]

The idea behind this game is that you have to make the energy decisions to power a city of 5.9 million people. If you like SimCity, it is that kind of idea applied to energy decisions, with a side-helping of information (from The Economist):

Energyville

The game is sponsored by Chevron and heavily advertised, so factor that in as you play it. For example, in the game you cannot make the decision that all airplanes will be powered by biodiesel or all cars will be electric.

Overview:

[[[Jump to previous game - Dragon Age Journeys]]]