The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) on Cerro Paranal, a 2,635 m high mountain in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, combines the light from four fixed optical telescopes equipped with 8.2 meter (27 foot) lenses with that from four moveable auxiliary telescopes equipped with 1.8 meter (6 foot) lenses to produce images of the southern sky with a resolution of one milliarcsecond. This means it could distinguish the gap between the headlights of a Ford pickup parked on the Moon (if they had Fords on the Moon, and no winter parking ban). The observatory's José Francisco Salgado and...

30 May, 2011

Steve Nikkel's interactive map will tell you: As will his free iPhone app. Note that, in Nova Scotia, Telus uses Bell towers, and Rogers has frightfully poor coverage outside Metro. (This map could come in handy if you're trying to grow organic garlic.) H/T: Steve Manley...

09 March, 2011

The frequency with which certain terms appear in Google search queries foreshadows reports of actual 'flu activity from agencies like the Centres for Disease Control by about two weeks. Google tracks the frequency of 'flu-linked search terms and maps the results by region. The current map for Canada shows low frequency in the west and east, moderate in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and high in Ontario and Quebec. This is a screenshot. The actual map is interactive, so you can click on a province and see the search trends there over time. Check out the explanatory video. H/T: Steve Manley, 'flu sufferer....

13 January, 2011