While we're certainly not going to criticize the world's richest man for using so many of his billions to try to solve humanity's most pressing health problems, it's nice to see that he's got a little left over for the cosmos, too. Bill Gates donated $10 million —and former Microsoft colleague Charles Simonyi dished out $20 million—to the finance three large mirrors for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, a massive observatory being built in Chile.
The $400 million project will help astronomers spot asteroids and supernovae, map galaxies, and find out more about dark energy and dark matter, the invisible stuff that scientists say dominates most of our universe.—Gregory Mone
(Image credit: Kevin Hand / NASA)
138 years of Popular Science at your fingertips.
Each issue has been completely reimagined for your iPad. See our amazing new vision for magazines that goes far beyond the printed page
Stay up to date on the latest news of the future of science and technology from your iPhone or Android phone with full articles, images and offline viewing
Featuring every article from the magazine and website, plus links from around the Web. Also see our PopSci DIY feed
Science is reinventing play, from extreme sports to gamification to ridiculous roller coasters to the playgrounds of tomorrow, and this issue is chock full of fun. Also, on a less fun note: Did global warming destroy my hometown?