The New Seven Wonders of the World is a proposed revision of the Seven Wonders of the World, organized by a Swiss-based, for-profit corporation called New Open World Corporation (NOWC).

Since the initiative was launched in 2000, members of the public have nominated and voted for hundreds of locations around the world, which they think are worthy of being recognized as one of the New 7 Wonders. Tens of millions across the globe have already voted for their favorite. On Jan. 1, 2006, the New7Wonder Panel of Experts, chaired by former head of UNESCO Prof. Dr. Federico Mayor, short-listed those nominations with the most votes received by the end of 2005. The top 77 choices have been narrowed down to just 21 finalists, which are the focus for the final year of voting.

The remaining contenders are as follows:

Acropolis of Athens
Athens, Greece

Alhambra
Granada, Spain

Angkor Wat
Angkor, Cambodia

The Pyramid at Chichen Itza
Yucatan, Mexico

Christ Redeemer
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Colosseum
Rome, Italy

Easter Island Moais
Easter Island, Chile

Eiffel Tower
Paris, France

The Great Wall
China

Hagia Sophia
Istanbul, Turkey

Kyomizu Temple
Kyoto, Japan

Kremlin and Red Square
Moscow, Russia

Machu Picchu
Peru

Neuschwanstein Castle
Füssen, Germany

Petra
Jordan

Pyramids of Giza
Egypt

Statue of Liberty
New York City, United States

Stonehenge
Amesbury, United Kingdom

Sydney Opera House
Sydney, Australia

Taj Mahal
Agra, India

Timbuktu
Mali

On July 7, 2007 — 07.07.07 — the world will learn which of the Earth's treasures will stand in history alongside the Ancient 7 Wonders of the World — as the New 7 Wonders.

VOTE HERE.

Laser-Related Remainders

Northrop Opens First U.S. Laser Plant
Northrop Grumman Corp. opened the first U.S. production facility for high-energy laser weapons this week saying it hoped to benefit from rapid growth in the new class of weapons that are cheaper to operate than traditional missiles.

The new facility could be used to build three 100-kilowatt lasers at the same time, and could also do classified work for the military, Mike McVey, president of Northrop's directed energy systems business, told a teleconference. The company aims to build and demonstrate a 100-kilowatt solid-state laser by the end of 2008, Reuters reports. A weapon of that size could be used to shoot down rockets, artillery and mortar from ground, air or sea-based platforms.

Northrop officials said the life cycle cost, including operations and maintenance expenses, of a laser system was one-quarter of the cost of a traditional missile-based system. Because lasers require only electricity to operate and no other munitions, they can keep firing at targets indefinitely, McVey said. "As long as you have fuel, you never run out of bullets ... You can keep firing."

Laser Zaps Mortar from 550 Yards
Earlier this month, Raytheon announced its "prototype solid-state Laser Area Defense System (LADS) successfully detonated 60-millimeter mortars at a range greater than 550 yards."

Raytheon's announcement is interesting, because solid-state, electric lasers have not yet hit the 100-kilowatt threshold, which many people consider to be the minimum strength for weapons-grade lasers, according to Defense Tech. Raytheon, however, says it zapped these mortars using "a proven, existing, off-the-shelf solid-state laser, coupled with commercially available optics technology."

These mortars were small: only 60 mm. And the mortars were on the ground, not flying through the air (In-air tests of the laser are planned for later this year.). But this LADS is built on the back on Raytheon's 4,500-round-per-minute Phalanx gun, which is already knocking down mortars in Iraq, Defense Tech notes. So, presumably, the targeting and tracking piece won't be that hard to manage.

Workspace Laser
The follow-up to the popular USB Missile Launcher, the $50 Striker II is the "next-generation" USB missile launcher, featuring a Class 3 "laser guidance system" for better aiming, according to Ninja Gizmos.

Install the CD, then connect the Striker II toy to your USB port on your computer. Now defend your space with foam missiles and a real laser! Moves 180 degrees left and right, and tilts up and down 45 degrees.

In the office space arms race, it's important to stay on top. Stand down, cubicle foes.

Duke Sends Laser to its Maker
After a high-profile spat, Duke University has returned a powerful research laser to the physicist who built it, quietly putting an end to a nine-year legal battle that, along the way, produced a 2002 federal-court ruling that re-established the legal principle that university research is not exempt from patent law.

The last parts of the laser were delivered last week to John M.J. Madey at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, where he now works, according to News & Observer, a North Carolina newspaper.

Madey built the laser in the 1970s, while a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology, and later used it in his research at Stanford University, before he was recruited away by Duke in the late 1980s. The laser and the rest of his lab moved with him.

The dispute with Duke arose after he was fired as director of the Duke Free Electron Laser Laboratory in a disagreement over its management. He later sued, setting up a legal battle that reached as high as a federal appeals court. After the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003 declined to consider the case, the lawsuit was sent back to a federal district court.

The laser can be used to detect bio-agents and other dangerous materials.

NASA's New Toy; the Sun is There
Finally, NASA's STEREO, launched on Oct. 25, 2006 (4th item down), consists of observation systems orbiting the sun in front of and behind the Earth.

In the image below, taken on Dec. 4, 2006, loops of highly charged particles burst from the sun's surface. Among the first taken by STEREO, this image shows the sun's roiling surface and atmosphere at temperatures around one million Kelvin (1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit).

Cheers.