Google has added an extension to Google Earth that allows you to use many of the features of the software on maps of the night sky. Google Sky is available in the latest version of Google Earth and includes layers that outline constellations, common objects visible to backyard astronomers, tours of the galaxy and star maps that explain the life cycle of stars.
article at The Register
introductory movie on Google Sky at Google
Adobe has announced that they are adding support for high definition video to the Flash plug-in. Flash is used to deliver video on many websites including YouTube. The standard that Adobe is supporting, H.264, is also used in Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players and with hi-def cable and satellite systems. H.264 is an open standard that was developed as part of an industry consortium. Apple is also adding support for H.264 in Quicktime and other products this year.
Over the next few months, you will start to see improved quality on many video sites on the web and new opportunities for sharing video with higher quality.
blog post at the New York Times
samples of H.264-encoded QuickTime movies (requires QuickTime 7)
SciVee is a web site promoting the “free and widespread dissemination and comprehension of science.” To that end, it has features which allow scientists to communicate their work as a multimedia presentation integrated with the content of their published article. The uploaded videos help readers understand the content of the articles. Other scientists can view uploaded presentations and engage in virtual discussions with the author and other viewers. SciVee also facilitates the creation of communities around specific articles and keywords, and a tag cloud on the home page shows the current hot topics.
SciVee is operated in partnership with the Public Library of Science (PLoS), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC).
