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IBM builds online version of China's famed Forbidden CityPlay

IBM builds online version of China's famed Forbidden City

AFP - Fri Oct 10, 4:41 PM ET

IBM on Friday opened online doors to a virtual version of the famed Forbidden City in China that served for centuries as an exclusive realm for the nation's emperors. The US technology colossus spent more than three years working with Chinese officials and the Palace Museum to construct an interactive, animated replica of the 178-acre (720,000 square-meter) walled fortress in the Dongcheng District of Beijing.

  • A peek at the largest optical telescope in the world Play
    A peek at the largest optical telescope in the world AFP - Mon Oct 6, 6:54 PM ET

    For ten years, the Cerro Paranal observatory in the Atacama desert at the north end of Chile has been gazing up at the stars. This European observatory boasts the most advanced technology: four telescopes with 8-meter diameters that are collectively known as the VLT, or "Very Large Telescope." In 2009 they will inaugurate their newest telescope, the Vista.

  • NASA turns 50 Play
    NASA turns 50 AFP - Tue Sep 30, 6:22 PM ET

    Half a century after NASA was created at the height of the Cold War when the United States sought to prove its superiority by winning the race to the Moon, the space agency faces new challenges ahead.

  • Egypt produces first genetically modified crops harvest Play
    Egypt produces first genetically modified crops harvest AFP - Sat Sep 27, 4:52 AM ET

    Whilst the storm over genetically modified crops is showing no signs of abating in Europe, the issue has not yet raised it's ugly head in Europe. But this looks set to change as critics lash out after the first harvest of genetically modified corn is produced in Cairo.