Volunteer Astronomer Finds “Cosmic Ghost”

Green Object in the center is the “Hanny’s Voorwerp”

New Haven, Conn. — When Yale astrophysicist Kevin Schawinski and his colleagues at Oxford University enlisted public support in cataloguing galaxies, they never envisioned the strange object Hanny van Arkel found in archived images of the night sky.

The Dutch school teacher, a volunteer in the Galaxy Zoo project that allows members of the public to take part in astronomy research online, discovered a mysterious and unique object some observers are calling a “cosmic ghost.”

van Arkel came across the image of a strange, gaseous object with a hole in the center while using the www.galaxyzoo.org website to classify images of galaxies.

When she posted about the image that quickly became known as “Hanny’s Voorwerp” ( Dutch for “object”) on the Galaxy Zoo forum, astronomers who run the site began to investigate and soon realized van Arkel might have found a new class of astronomical object.

“At first, we had no idea what it was. It could have been in our solar system, or at the edge of the universe,” said Schawinski, a member and co-founder of the Galaxy Zoo team.

Scientists working at telescopes around the world and with satellites in space were asked to take a look at the mysterious Voorwerp. “What we saw was really a mystery,” said Schawinski. “The Voorwerp didn’t contain any stars.” Rather, it was made entirely of gas so hot — about 10,000 Celsius — that the astronomers felt it had to be illuminated by something powerful. They will soon use the Hubble Space Telescope to get a closer look.

Tags: Galaxy Zoo project, astronomy research, cosmic ghost, Hanny’s Voorwerp, Hubble Space Telescope

Apache, PHP and PostgreSQL. As A Stack For All Your OS Platforms,

Bitnami has released a new set of Infrastructure Stacks: LAPPStack, MAPPStack and WAPPStack. If you did not know what they are, it is time you get to know them.These stacks provide an easy to install distribution of Apache, PostgreSQL, PHP and supporting libraries. The user-friendly installer allows users to quickly install and configure a PHP-PostgreSQL platform on Linux, Windows and OS X. These also include phpPgAdmin, a management tool for PostgreSQL, to make administration tasks even easier.
LAPPStack for Linux, MAPPStack for MAC OS X and WAPPStack for of course windows. I have all my development machines that spans all three plaforms, supported by these stacks. If you are in the visinity of any web development, I suggest you pay a visit to BitNami.
You will also find that forum, wiki, CRM and document management applications such as Drupal, Joomla!, WordPress, DokuWiki, KnowledgeTree and SugarCRM are provided as packages for easy deployment. Now you know where I go to get mmost of my development stacks!
Info Source, BitNami Blog

Tags: LAPPStack, MAPPStack, WAPPStack, Apache, PostgreSQL, PHP, phpPgAdmin

$360 Million Data Center in North Carolina by IBM to Serve Cloud Computing.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC - 01 Aug 2008: IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced today plans to build a $360 million state-of-the-art data center at its facility in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina. The data center will include new technologies and services that will enable IBM to deliver Cloud Computing capabilities to clients.

Cloud computing uses advanced technologies and global delivery mechanisms to enable individuals to access information and services from any device with extremely high levels of availability and quality of experience.

IBM will renovate an existing building on its RTP campus in North Carolina to create one of the most technologically advanced and energy efficient data centers in the world. The new data center will be the first in the world to be built with IBM's New Enterprise Data Center design principles. Clients using this center will have unparalleled access to massive internet-scale computing capabilities, while gaining the cost and environmental protection advantages of IBM's industry-leading energy efficiency data center design.

Data centers are the backbone of information technology (IT) infrastructure for businesses and other organizations, with powerful servers and storage systems running business-critical technology including software applications, email and web sites. IBM owns and operates more than eight million square feet of data center space -- more than any other company in the world.

This new RTP data center is a key component in IBM's Project Big Green initiative to dramatically increase energy efficiency in the data center, as companies face escalating energy costs and the requirement to handle a rapidly rising amount of data.

"This announcement further demonstrates IBM's commitment to our state and to our people," said Gov. Mike Easley. "I look forward to maintaining this partnership with IBM for years to come."

"This new data center is part of IBM's commitment to construct the world's most advanced data centers," said Bob Greenberg, general manager of IT Optimization and North Carolina Senior State Executive at IBM. "This is the latest example of IBM's deep history of innovation in North Carolina. When we open for business in late 2009, the new IBM data center assures that Research Triangle Park will be a strategic location for our outsourcing business for many years to come. I'd like to thank the State of North Carolina, Durham County, the Durham Chamber of Commerce, and Duke Energy for their outstanding support that helped make this project possible."

"IBM's innovations have been a cornerstone of the Research Triangle Park and Durham County, and this new state-of-the-art data center certainly continues that outstanding legacy," said Ellen W. Reckhow, Chairman of the Durham County Board of Commissioners. Durham County approved allocating $750,000 in economic development incentives for IBM's new data center.

More nformation from IBM.

Tags: Research Triangle Park, IBM, Cloud Computing, Project Big Green