io9: hubble telescope

Custom Eyeballs Can Tailor Your Eyesight to Your Career

Lauren Davis — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:20:00 PDT

Need to see a thousand meters in the dark? Want one eye that's perfect for reading and another for long distances? Some eye surgeons are already at work reshaping corneas not only to fix patients' vision, but fit their careers.

Laser eye treatment is two decades old, and adept surgeons have gone far beyond giving patients 20:20 vision. Times Online has profiled several such doctors, who offer to tailor their clients' eyesight to their occupation.

Julian Stevens, who practices at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, has given special forces members and fighter pilots the aforementioned ability to see a thousand meters in the dark, and he notes that taxi drivers could benefit from a similar procedure. Stephen Trokel, who helped pioneer laser eye surgery, operated on a soprano who wanted to be able to read the music in the front row of the orchestra, as well as a New York Yankees catcher who needed to be able to see the ball coming out of the light. Another group that favors the occupational ocular enhancements? US presidential candidates, several of whom have received "monovision," which allows them to easily read with one eye and see far away with the other. This combination eliminates the need for reading glasses or bifocals, and some politicians hope it creates a sense of youthfulness.

What do we have to thank for this custom technology? The space program. Wavefront technology, which was developed by NASA to improve the focus of the Hubble Space Telescope, has translated neatly to the human eye. The technology allows physicians to map the cornea and iris, enabling surgeons to make small, specific tweaks to the eye that result in custom eyesight made to order.

Surgeons offer eyesight tailored to an individual's life and career [Times Online via Reddit]

Imagine The Call-Out Charge For This Repairman

Graeme McMillan — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:00:00 PDT

After thirteen days in space, the crew of the Space Shuttle Atlantis successfully repaired the Hubble Space Telescope and ensured its usefulness for the next five years - and, in the process, made menial technical work look more exciting than usual. Here're some examples of spacesuits making everything look better.

The images come from New Scientist's gallery of mission images. You can find more here.

[New Scientist]

Watch Atlantis Rendezvous With Hubble - Live Feed, Right Now!

Annalee Newitz — Wed, 13 May 2009 09:50:33 PDT

It's live on NASA TV right now . . . Atlantis will rendezvous with Hubble in about 20 minutes. (via NASA TV)

The Moon's A Balloon

Graeme McMillan — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 11:00:39 PST

That's no moon... that's a fully opera - No, wait, it is a moon. Ganymede, in fact, as captured disappearing behind Jupiter by the Hubble Telescope. Click through for video.

Although the images and movie - made from 540 stills taken over a two hour period - were only released just before Christmas, they were actually shot in April 2007. The reason for the delay in their release? We're saying that it's got something to do with the amount of time the NASA animators were distracted watching Wall-E.

Hubble Catches Jupiter's Largest Moon Going to the 'Dark Side' [HubbleSite]