TED shows us the first video demo of the WorldWide Telescope, a free technology that lets you visually explore and experience the universe from the desktop.

Microsoft has taken some of the best images from the various satellites and telescopes of the world and woven them seamlessly to produce a most comprehensive view of the universe.

You can choose from a growing number of guided tours of the sky by astronomers and educators from some of the most famous observatories and planetariums in the country.  They say its like navigating the universe on a magical carpet.

Microsoft Research is dedicating WorldWide Telescope to the memory of Jim Gray and is releasing WWT as a free resource to the astronomy and education communities with the hope that it will inspire and empower people to explore and understand the universe like never before.

You can also download WorldWide Telescope on your desktop from WorldWideTelescope.org.

Other than English, WorldWide Telescope is also available in Simplified Chinese, German and Spanish langagues for both Mac and PC. Thanks Long.