Trey, a senior student from Anna, insisted we hi-jack our 8th Period class and take 10 minutes to watch a video called “The Known Universe”. Of course, I asked “what does that have to do with computers?” He explained that the video takes the viewer on a journey from the highest point on earth in the Himalayan Mountains out to the edges of the known universe in a 3D environment where everything you see and pass by is mapped to scale. Trey did a little research and we found out that The American Museum of Natural History and the Hayden Planetarium in New York City have been engaged in a three-dimensional mapping of the Universe, since 1998. This video was created using ‘The Digital Universe Atlas’ that they have developed.
This digital atlas is available from them as a free download at Hayden Planetarium website, click here, and follow directions for your computer. I am downloading it as I write this. Nothing like taking a little break from the world of Micro Computers to take a little journey to the furthest reaches of the worlds of the Macro Cosmos—and back again. The rest of 8th period went on as planned, but we all felt a little smaller and maybe better able to reflect on the differences between things important and things trivial.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment