Just in time for the Christmas season, Hawaii will get to turn on one of four new asteroid (and Santa) tracking telescopes, which can scan large swaths of the sky quickly and clearly thanks to a 1.4-billion pixel digital camera with image stabilization. The first prototype of the project, known as Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS), will take pictures three times a month of as much of space as it can see from the peak of Mount Haleakala in Maui. It'll be used as Earth's first defense against Armageddon-like planet-rocking meteors. ... (more)