Once again astronomers are observing formative explosions, but this time a little bit closer to home. Three million cubic feet of planet earth is being blasted from the Chilean Andes as work on what will be the world's largest telescope begins. The location is the Carnegie Institution's Las Campanas Observatory, and the project is a collaboration between South Korean, Australian and American institutions to create the Giant Magellan Telescope. The first mirror segment is just being completed, and is so precise it, matches its optical prescription to within a millionth of an inch. The project will cost $700 million once complete, small change we say for a chance to glimpse light from the edge of the Universe.

World's largest telescope underway, scientists definitely observe big bang originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Mar 2012 17:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On Monday, Apple announced that the Fair Labor Association would be conducting audits of facilities managed by its Chinese suppliers. Foxconn Technology Group, whose factories manufacture the iPad, has come under fire after a rash of worker suicides, fatal explosions and allegations of poor working conditions. Working conditions at Foxconn, however, were found to be far better than other facilities throughout the country, reported Reuters. “The facilities are first-class; the physical conditions are way, way above average of the norm,” said FLA president Auret van Heerden. “I was very surprised when I walked onto the floor at Foxconn, how tranquil it is compared with a garment factory. So the problems are not the intensity and burnout and pressure-cooker environment you have in a garment factory. It’s more a function of monotony, of boredom, of alienation perhaps.” Roughly 30 FLA staff members will be visiting two Foxconn factories in southern China and one in the central city of Chengdu. Over the course of three weeks, the FLA will conduct anonymous interviews with 35,000 workers who will be questioned about pay, living conditions, emotional condition and management. In addition to Foxconn, the FLA will investigate facilities belonging to Quanta Computer, Pegatron and Wintek.

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It takes a very certain mind to re-imagine images using quirky media. Artist Brock Davis has that kind of mind: his latest project involves recreating famous explosions using... cauliflower? More »

As part of the recent Engineering Frosh 2011 event, student engineers at the University of British Columbia answered an age-old question that every aspiring scientist must ask himself, "What happens when I mix these two things and throw it?" [Youtube] More »

The 1982 Lockheed Sea Shadow may be rusting away in Suisun Bay, but its Commie-spooking contours haven't been forgotten. They apparently inspired the design of the Asus G74SX-A1, which just won a HotHardware recommendation for its cheese-eschewing looks as well as its performance, efficient cooling and realistic $1749 price tag. For once, the Core i7-2360QM CPU coupled with a GeForce GTX 560M and generous 12GB dollop of DDR-1333 RAM actually conspired to surpass the manufacturer's 3DMark benchmark claims. It wasn't flawless though: overall computing performance was middling compared to rivals; the speakers were shoddy when it came to producing music rather than explosions; and the 17.3-inch Full HD display was slightly wasted on some games that only ran smoothly with high quality settings at 1280x720. Still, all this naval talk makes us fancy some Silent Hunter 4 -- and that should play just fine. Check out source link lurking below for the full review.

ASUS G74SX-A1 gaming laptop gets rated, loves a bit of Battleship originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Sep 2011 03:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Twenty-five years ago today, the sky fell on a corner of Ukraine. The Chernobyl nuclear plant, a symbol of man's triumph over the atom and the pride of a nation, experienced a system failure so complete, so devastating, that it left an irreparable wasteland in its wake. Explosions rang out. Radioactive smoke stained the early morning sky. And 350,000 people lost their homes forever. More »

That Kraft cheese slice you might chomp for lunch today? It came from a mammoth subterranean dairy bunker the company uses as dirt cheap refrigeration and storage, Wired reports. Inside a 70 year old mine that's still rocked by explosions. More »

Like its domestic ancestor, iRobot's new military robot is also a cleaning machine. But instead of dust devils, this one cleans land mines and barbwire obstacles. It works using the Mk7 Anti-personell Obstacle Breaching System. Not subtle, but extremely effective. More »

Military - Weapon - Business - Defense - Aerospace and Defense

The K Cooling Tower at the Savannah River Site sat unused for nearly 20 years thanks to the end of the Cold War, yet it still required maintenance and upkeep (read: taxpayer money). So they blew it up. More »

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Through the photonic assault, I saw a patch of green in a booth. I walked up and touched it. The grass, it was real, and cool and fresh for the moment. I could not have smiled more broadly. Happy Moments...

...at CES are rare for attendees, in my experience. It's hard work and a monumental commercial achievement at the expense of sanity, holiday vacations and sleep. But these moments of joy do exist.

Dell showed a 5 inch Android tablet. It's too small to be more useful than a smartphone, and can't be pocketed as easily, but for some reason, I found it sexy. And that one of the most mainstream makers of PCs made something so cool, well, I was impressed. I'm not sure I would buy one, but it made me happy.

I miss my dogs. They're being watched in Japan for the month by Lisa's parents, and I'm going back to pick them up in a week. They're black and brown, and these mascots also happen to be black and brown. I guess they reminded me of my pets without me realizing it, and I decided to give them a hug. Cozy.

I made fun of 3D HDTV a lot. Then I tried it on a really good set with fast refresh rates, by Panasonic. I loved it and to me the difference between 2D and 3D is as profound as the difference between black and white and color TV. I got excited at the thought of playing games and watching movies with lots of explosions and lush scenery (Planet Earth, HD!) with a third dimension.

Another great moment of happiness came when I felt we were hitting our stride, as a team, covering the show. No trailer, no booth, no place to set up and write in peace. But since we were all here, together, I was able to ask everyone how they were doing without typing it. It's nice to communicate without a keyboard, once in awhile.

We bought pizza for ourselves and since the lunches were cold, got some for our pals in the press room.

Seeing the Gizmodo junior team learn so much so fast has been inspiring. I got especially happy watching Don and Kyle nail their shorts and Rosa, well, Rosa found the best story of the show. And the veterans are just so good, they're always surprising me with astounding finds and speed of insightful writing.

I bumped into a lot of friends here, not only those I work at Gizmodo with. Chris Null, Sean Captain, Leander Kahney, Charlie White, Dylan Tweeney, Joe Brown, Steve Leckart, Danny Dumas, Ryan Block, Veronica Belmont and Pete Rojas, naming a few. And this is actually the first time I've worked side by side with Joel Johnson, who returned to Giz only last month.

In a few hours, this show will be largely done for us. Everyone who worked on the blog will have a nice dinner together. Then I'll go home. That will be my most happy moment.

*We noticed these people were having a good time at CES, too. If you look closely, most of them have to do with people interacting with each other, not the machinery.