The Truth About Google

Here's a look at some of the myths and truths surrounding one of the Internet's favorite success stories:

Google scans the whole Internet every time you search for something.

False. When a user conducts a search, Google searches its "index of billions of Web pages to find the most relevant information associated with the users' search." That doesn't mean every site on the World Wide Web appears during a search, only the ones that Google includes in its index.

Google collects and stores personal information about its users.

True. Google does keep a record of your personal information but only after you've voluntarily registered for one of its services or otherwise submitted your information. The company claims that it uees the information to "provide a better user experience, including customizing content for you."

Google shares personal information it collects with third-party companies.

False. Although the company admits it will share information in dire circumstances, such as when complying with law enforcement and the courts, or to prevent fraud or imminent harm or to secure its own network, it does not share information with organizations that do not comply with its privacy policies.

Google tracks the search habits of individual users, what they're looking for and when.

True. Using "cookies and other technologies," Google says it's able to learn about and improve the experience of Web-savvy searchers. A cookie is a small packet of information that bounces back and forth between the user and the site the cookie came from and reveals information on the user's Web habits.

Google is clearly the best way to search the Internet.

True and false. With so many ways to search and so many different sites to make it easy, there's no clear-cut victor in the search engine wars. However, it should be noted that Google's search results also appear on other search engines, so when users conduct searches on those sites, they may really be searching Google in a way.

If false or embarrassing information comes up when "Googling" your name, you just have to live with it.

Mostly false. The sites that come up when doing a search on Google are not owned or operated by Google. Thus, it's not able to influence the information found on those sites. But Google does say that if the information is removed by that site's Webmaster, it will be noted in Google search results.

People who work at Google are all millionaires who play volleyball all day.

Probably false. Despite the company's laid-back style and headquarters that include a beach volleyball court, exercise gym and free candy, Google stock would not be selling for about $400 a share if all who work there did nothing all day long but count their money. With that said, it is true that about 1,000 of the 3,000 employees working at company headquarters did become millionaires when Google went public.

The above information came from Google's corporate Web site.

IBEX Explores Galactic Frontier, Releases First-Ever All-Sky Map

NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft has made it possible for scientists to construct the first comprehensive sky map of our solar system and its location in the Milky Way galaxy. The new view will change the way researchers view and study the interaction between our galaxy and sun.

The sky map was produced with data that two detectors on the spacecraft collected during six months of observations. The detectors measured and counted particles scientists refer to as energetic neutral atoms.

The energetic neutral atoms are created in an area of our solar system known as the interstellar boundary region. This region is where charged particles from the sun, called the solar wind, flow outward far beyond the orbits of the planets and collide with material between stars. The energetic neutral atoms travel inward toward the sun from interstellar space at velocities ranging from 100,000 mph to more than 2.4 million mph. This interstellar boundary emits no light that can be collected by conventional telescopes.

The new map reveals the region that separates the nearest reaches of our galaxy, called the local interstellar medium, from our heliosphere -- a protective bubble that shields and protects our solar system from most of the dangerous cosmic radiation traveling through space.


For more Information,Click here:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ibex/allsky_map.html