Dove
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India sets record launching 104 satellites aboard a single rocket
The Indian Space Research Organisation, India's version of NASA, set a record on Valentine's Day when one of its PSLV rockets successfully launched 104 satellites into orbit. Riding onboard were 88 "Dove" mini-satellites from Planet, a US-based private imaging service, India's Cartosat 2D high-resolution imaging satellite, and 15 others from various nations.
Planet Labs' fleet of 28 tiny satellites will send back aerial shots for cheap
With the goal of capturing frequent snapshots that show the planet's changes in real-time without breaking bank, California company Planet Labs has revealed its plan to launch 28 teensy satellites called "Doves" to space. Existing imaging satellites are extremely expensive to make and usually capture huge pictures that take days to send back. Each Dove, however, consists of relatively affordable 10-centimeter-wide Lego-like building blocks called CubeSats and will quickly beam back mid-res photos. The firm has yet to mention how many CubeSats will go into each Dove, but the two test satellites launched in April (see sample images they took at the source below) had three pieces each. If everything goes off without a hitch, the fleet could be orbiting the Earth at a low altitude as soon as December. Once operational, we can use the pictures they send to update online maps and monitor melting ice caps, deforestation, or even traffic jams. [Image credit: NASA]
A little iPad magic
Here's a little iPad magic for your Memorial Day afternoon -- turns out the iPad really is a "magical" device. I'm not sure what app video is being used here, but I think it's a proprietary one, and probably not something you could use yourself (unless you know how to do some of the great slight-of-hand stuff that this guy is doing). But the iPhone can definitely be used for magic, as we've seen before, even if you're not a highly trained magician. But even though this guy is a little late some times (his brain unfortunately falls out of his head, since he misses the timing just a little bit), he pulls off this series of tricks quite well. [via TDW]
