Apparently the bright object that people reported seeing shooting over the East Coast of the United States last night -- and that left a glittery trail across Twitter -- may well have been a meteor.
Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environmental Office told the Associated Press that, "going on visual reports," the flash was "a single meteor event."
"The thing is probably a yard across. We basically have (had) a boulder enter the atmosphere over the northeast," he added.
The object lit up Twitter last night at about 8 p.m. East Coast … Read more
As someone writing on the West Coast, it's easy to feel at once a bit detached about Hurricane Sandy and deeply concerned for friends and family -- and everyone else -- stuck in the path of that once-in-a-generation natural disaster bearing down on the East Coast.
But for those hunkering down in places like New York City, Sandy represents real personal consequences -- and it would be natural to assume that those who've spent days nervously waiting to see if the hurricane is for real aren't laughing about it now that they're in the thick of it.
Yet, a quick look at Twitter today reveals that at least as many people have been tweeting quips about the storm as have been expressing real worry. The real question, though, seemed to be: How might the mood change once Sandy hit land and anticipation was replaced by the reality of being in the middle of a major natural disaster that's actively wreaking havoc? … Read more
As almost everyone knows, Hurricane Sandy is bearing down on the East Coast, and when all is said and done, its likely to leave a wide, expensive, and potentially fatal path of destruction in its wake. Yet despite a massive number of legitimate photos of the storm being uploaded to every social network you can think of -- including 10 a second to Instagram -- a number of sensational photos seem to be dominating the conversation.
The photos show incredible images like the eye of the hurricane floating over the top of the Statue of Liberty. Or of a very … Read more
For the last seven years, I've had the chance to explore much of the United States (and Europe) as part of my annual CNET Road Trip project.
In the U.S., these trips have taken me through the Northeast, the Rocky Mountain region, the Southeast, the Southwest, and the Pacific Northwest, and in each of those regions I've gone in search of stories, photos, and videos about some of the best geek-oriented destinations I can find.
Yet, despite those many long journeys along America's roadways, I've never explored CNET's own backdoor -- California. So this … Read more
Given that the builder of the Titanic is said to have famously bragged that his amazing new ship could never be sunk, it's dangerous to argue that an accident like the one that sent the famous vessel to the bottom of the sea 100 years ago could never happen again.
But with the centennial of the April 15, 1912, disaster quickly approaching, there's every indication that modern science and technology in combination with a much greater awareness of seaborne hazards, make such a tragedy -- at least on the scale of Titanic--extremely unlikely today.
The original PhotoToaster ($1.99) was already a favorite among photo app users, and I've had a chance to check out a demo of PhotoToaster 3.0, which adds several new features to make the app an even stronger image editor.
New lighting adjustments and presets Several new one-touch presets have been added in the latest version including Clarify, Amplify, Bleach Bypass, Sketch, Dynamic HDR, and Dramatic. Each of the new effects I tried in my testing added even more options for playing with your images, and -- like the original -- you have the option to use sliders … Read more
We're keeping Japan in our collective thoughts today as the country continues to suffer from the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit this morning. Be sure to visit RedCross.org for how you can help with the relief effort.
As usual, Google is doing its part to help on the tech side with a Person Finder to help locate displaced family and friends in Japan. Google launched a similar project in February of last year amid the Chilean earthquake disaster.
It's hard to think about anything but our friends in the East, but today also happens to be iPad 2 day, and there are already people in line for the release at 5 p.m. tonight.
And after spending almost 41 hours in line (all the way through last night's torrents), college student Amanda Foote just sold her first-place spot in line for $900. She plans to use the money to buy Lady Gaga tickets.
This morning also marked the release of the trailer for JJ Abrams and Steven Spielberg's new sci-fi thriller "Super 8." The Twitter-exclusive full-length trailer finally gives context to the teaser we first saw in last year's Super Bowl ad, although we still don't know exactly what escaped from the train crash.
In typical Bad Robot fashion, JJ Abrams and his crew add to the mystery of the film with an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) alongside viral marketing that creates an entire world to discover around the film.
After an extended chat about the origin of ARGs, Jeff and I both have stories to talk about that deal with our beats--video games and printers, respectively.… Read more
The densely populated U.S. East Coast could meet close to half its current electric demand by relying on offshore wind turbines, a study by an ocean conservation group found.
North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, and Virginia offer the most potential for easily captured wind energy, according to the Oceana study, which estimates that the 13 coastal states could together generate 127 gigawatts of power.
That represents the potential for far more wind power than the United States currently generates. At the end of 2009, the nation's land-based turbines were capable of producing some 35,000 megawatts of … Read more
La./HOUSTON--BP said on Saturday the complex "top kill" maneuver to plug its Gulf of Mexico oil well has failed, crushing hopes for a quick end to the largest oil spill in U.S. history already in its 40th day.
"We have not been able to stop the flow," said Doug Suttles, the London-based oil giant's chief operating officer.
"We have made the decision to move on to the next option," he added.
That next option is called the lower marine riser package cap, one that captures oil from the well rather than … Read more
HOUSTON/COCODRIE, La.--President Barack Obama will create a presidential commission to probe the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and energy giant BP said on Monday it had "turned the corner" in its efforts to contain it.
London-based BP said its latest "quick fix"--a mile-long siphon tube deployed by undersea robots down to the leaking well--was capturing about a fifth of the oil leaking from the ruptured well. Officials cautioned that the tube is helping contain the oil but will not stop the flow.
"I do feel that we have, for the first time, turned the corner in this challenge," BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said in Florida.
BP's stock rose more than 2 percent in London on the news but later shed its gains.
Investors have knocked $30 billion off BP's value over the spill, which followed the April 20 rig explosion that killed 11 workers and the fallout it faces is ramping up.
The commission, which Obama will establish with an executive order, will be similar to those that looked into the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986 and the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in 1979, an official said.
It will investigate issues related to the spill and its aftermath, including rig safety and regulatory regimes at the local, state, and federal levels.
The federal government's oversight role, environmental protections, and the "structure and functions" of the Minerals Management Service, the Interior Department agency that has been heavily criticized for its regulatory practices, also will be on the panel's agenda.
With a shakeup of the agency imminent, Chris Oynes, the top official overseeing its offshore oil and gas drilling, announced he would retire at the end of the month.
Still, lawmakers and Gulf Coast residents braced for an ecological disaster that could eclipse the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill off Alaska's coast. … Read more
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