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The tallest building in the world casts a long shadow on downtown Dubai, as seen in this picture from the GeoEye-1 satellite. But this is no Tower of Babel: Its 2,717-foot height comes nowhere close to reaching the satellite's 423-mile-high orbit. The $1.5 billion Burj Khalifa building made its Dubai debut in January, and recently served as the setting for scenes filmed with Tom Cruise for the upcoming movie "Mission: Impossible 4." Check out our story about the building's opening for additional background and visual perspectives.
It's particularly apt that Burj Khalifa figures in the fourth "Mission: Impossible" movie, because GeoEye's view serves as the visual treat behind Door No. 4 in our Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar. Check back with Cosmic Log or Photoblog every day until Christmas for another view of Earth from space.
Here are some links to help you catch up with the calendar entries so far, and dig into additional treats from the holiday season's other space-themed Web calendars:
- From Day 1: The Cosmic Log Advent Calendar so far
- Door 2 for Dec. 2: 'Alien' lake seen from space
- Door 3 for Dec. 3: Egypt's river of light
- The Big Picture at Boston.com: Hubble Advent calendar
- Planetary Society: Solar system Advent calendar
- Zooniverse Advent calendar
Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page or following @b0yle on Twitter.
Leave a Comment:
Wow, I love the architecture! Look at the wild looking palace in the lower right! Very cool.
It's not a palace... the structure in the lower right is a serviced apartments building. Dubai Mall is in the lower part of the image and on the left side are more apartments.
Thanks TIDubai! I called it a palace because it reminded me of Super Mario Bros. architecture-- cool to know its an apartment complex. I am sick of seeing minimalist, industrial concrete blocks as domiciles.
For TIDubai and WMG-21 --
I think you are both wrong/mislead. The structure with the 8 turret looking buildings around a swimming pool/recreation area is the Al Murooj Rotana Hotel. Check it out:
http://www.dtcm-dubaimap.com/applet/map.html
Makes you want to fall into the picture.
Why not fly a plane into this very tall building? Or, is this one protected by Allah?
robalarski
Why not fly a plane into this very tall building? Or, is this one protected by Allah?
Seriously dude? Just because Dubai is mostly Muslim? WTF? I don't recall that anyone from Dubai was part of 9/11.
Don't become an extremist! Hate someone who wrongs you and then try to find a way to forgive them. The people who are terrorists are the ones to hate and pity not people who come from the same part of the world and are simply living a good life.
Two of the 19 hijackers were from Dubai, and today they are revered by the majority of people that occupy that tall wonderful building.
Robalarski, you comment clearly demonstrates you lack of any form of maturity or intelligence, do the world a favor and use the decrepit chunk of meat in between your ears. Perhaps when you start to do that you will understand the definition of extremism in religions, not to mention you might stop your stereotyping thought process.
This is no surprise if the CIA, NSA, and US Army can look at a solider on a battle field smoking a cigarette from 500 miles in space and tell you if he was smoking a Winston or Newport Menthol seeing this building is child's play, Now like other above mentioned flying planes etc. into it, I would rather we take the largest bag of American Human Sh+t up in space and drop it down on top of it then take a photo of that nice pool all choc. brown, he he he, we do not need to lower ourselves to their lever and kill Innocent people but we can sure show them we can SH+T on them any time we want.
The first portion of your comment has some substance to it, but I am completely lost as to what your point was on the last portion of your comment other then to demonstrate what an idiot you are, ....seriously?
The title header for this article says, "Tallest building visible from space"
...
Considering my little house, not more the 50ft high, is visible from space also, I would surmise the tallest building would be as well.
The people that make the links must have a heavy workload or something...
Yeah, this isn't a surprising photo or anything. Of course, you can get a pretty good view of my culdesac with Google Earth. I think it was shown more for its asthetic value than anything else. That said, I wish that spire would have been built in New York or Chicago instead. :-)
Yes the archtecture incorporates a lot of visual artwork very fanciful.
Strikingly catching, looks very good.
Build more of them so they can house all the people of the middle east and keep them out of the US. Pretty sure was built by slavery. Maybe Obama can reside there after he's thrown out of office. I'm sure he will be rich enough after all the money he took from big business to destroy the working man.
Oh come on dude, this pres. might have took money from big bus. but what did he give them in return? Hmm maybe more regulations so they don't screw the" real" worker!
John you cant seriously be that stupid can you? Where are you pulling your information from? Hate to break your opinionated world but Obama didnt destroy the economy, he inherited an economy that was in ruins from the Bush era and other previous presidents.
Since your long term memory is non existant when Bush came into office we had a surplus, when he left office after his two terms were up we had a big deficit and a ruined economy.
Expecting Obama to fix 8+ years of economic failure in two years is pure stupidity unless you believe in magic fairys.
The best thing I can suggest for you is to go to a library and pick up some history, US history, and study up on the past 20 years of US history.
Stop watching Fox news and expand your mind with programs that are educational.
You see those circular objects to the left of the tallest building, those are musical fountains, look up on Google ,musical fountains of Dubai and watch the video, it's fantastic!
Despite the misleading wording of the article title, it is a rather stunning view. Suitable for a calendar.
Next time you go to buy gasoline, remember this is where your money goes! This is a prime example of what T. Boone Pickens said was: "The greatest transfer of wealth in the history of the world" We must embrace alternative sources of energy, if we are to remain a superpower! Wind, solar, etc.
Thanks Kent. Also our soldiers blood.
I hate jingoists with a passion, you know that?
How is what Kent McMillen said Jingoism? He's only pointing out the truth-- that the vast majority of American dollars fund overseas governments. That's a pretty pragmatic view, not "patriotism through aggressive foreign policy." (The definition of Jingoism, for all y'all just popping by for a quick read o' the convo). The fact that we are dependent on foreign energy sources is a crippling economic flaw (and one of only recent development)-- the fact that many of these countries directly or indirectly support extremist views of Islam, and the myriad effects that are associated with it, make this a national security issue. (i.e. we're purchasing fuel that partially funds fanatic, religious militants in order to fuel our jeeps, humvees, tanks, etc. that fanatic, religious militants shoot at...)
Holy Skyscrapper Batman !
Just to let you know, the building is empty,or at least it was earlier this year when i tried to go in it, but could not because the elevator cable broke with people in it. It is empty, just like all the other big buildings there. just a big show of wealth.
...and when we will repair our roads here in US?
exactly! China is building an interstate system that blows ours away, China has figuered out that our infrastructure is the secrete to our success. As their interstate system grows; so does their economic power. It's time to repair, invest in wind and solar power ( on a county wide level people!) We need politicle power that doen't think small anymore, we need another Eisenhower (the man that got our original interstate system started).
What makes you think the US is the source of all of China's success? That's like being the destitute uncle who leeches off his nephew's money under the pretense of all he did for him.
"know your enemy" You really need to learn how to spell !
Solar power?......fine. Wind power?...... maybe. BUT the "green" power being jammed down our throats by fear of the non-existent global warming charade created by the liberal Al Gore types along with the "cap and trade" BS will be the downfall of the USA. Global warming created by man is BS. The Earth goes through periods of warming and cooling. PERIOD. It was warmer BEFORE the industrial revolution, with LESS people.
We can't survive without coal and oil. Get used to it.
The "rock group" "Rage Against the Machine", had a song titled, "Know Your Enemy". Some of us North Americans have not invested a lot of time to learn; who in the middle east are our allies or who are our enemies. Dubai is one of the few countries in the middle east that appears it wants to join the 21st century and move - with the rest of the world - towards a future for "mankind" and not-so-much "allah". In saying that; those that have mentioned, flying planes into buildings, and dropping bags of "sh*t" from space; open your enternet explorer and press the "I want to learn" button. Learning is fun. Aprender es muy divertido. Oh, one more thing, please make your children leard also, just so this ingorance stops with your generation.
It's amazing that we have the world's knowlege at our fingertips, and we still have people to lazy to hit the "learn" button. This article was nothing more than about, "the world's tallest build", and some people instantly start talking about terrorism. Thanks for that mentality George (the father) and George W. (the son). And please don't assume that I'm democrat.
"Thanks American know-how and public gas donations for giving us your money and building this White Elephant"
RIP USA 1776-2010
Its no wonder they can afford to build big like that because from the sale of oil. While they are building colossal monument as a testimonial to their wealth, has any one ever wonder where most of this wealth are coming from. Yes! You guess it from the US. This is the biggest transferred wealth from one nation to another nation in history meaning the US tax payers are slave to the Arab and every time you go to work, it is your money that is contributing to their wealth. Not sure why the hate the US so much when we are making them rich like a fat pig. They are building colossal structure and they destroy ours and put a Mosque to replace it. America just stands there and allows them to defame us like that a weaken empire.
how much envy people can get
The Burj Khalifa (2010, Dubai) IS a bold achievement, which surpassed the bold Taipei 101 (2004, Taiwan), which surpassed the bold Petronas Towers (1999, Malaysia).
The last such bold undertakings in the United States were in the 1960s and 70s. I heard John Kennedy boldly set a goal of landing a man on the moon before end of the 60s - that happened in 1969. I saw bold bridges - the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (NY, NJ) and the New River Gorge Bridge (WV), to name two - being designed and built. The World Trade Center in New York and the Sears Tower in Chicago were bold engineering and architectural statements.
Then, it seems, the U.S. lost it's desire for boldness and chose instead to limit itself. Steel mills and coal mines and manufacturing, historically a magnet for immigrants, fell out of favor. We adopted the quaint notion that all we needed was a service economy. We stopped building new refineries. We limited where we can drill for oil. We are fearful of Marcellus Shale gas. Where China has a commercial Maglev, the U.S. is dogged by the NIMBY crowd. And, while JFK inspired a generation of students to excel in academics, today we value sports and Hollywood glitz and self-esteem. In the political arena, we are now witnessing policies that slice up the economic pie rather than make it larger. Not to mention class warfare.
In my humble opinion, these factors suggest decline, not ascendancy. For the first time, we face the real prospect that the next generation will not expect to be better off than their parents.
Congratulations to Dubai. The U.S., however, needs to look at what is happening beyond our sports arenas and Hollywood and big flat screen TVs.
My two cents, unadjusted for inflation. Pop quiz, "Discuss what happened to the Roman Empire and why."
Political in-fighting resulted in the inability for the Roman government to position its armies in a manner that facilitated their defense against German "barbarians" the Visigoths and Ostrogoths. Each general, commanding his own army, owed allegiance to different political nobles in Rome (or to their own ambition), so when the horde amassed at the gate, the armies were unwilling or unable to work with one another to defeat the existential threat.
That and there was apparently a lot of lead in their drinking/bathing water, in the latter days of the Empire.
"Holiday calendar: Tallest building visible from space"
Hey, my backyard pool is also visible from space - so what's the big deal ? ? ?
What ever happened to "Nuclear Power", it's still the cleanest power on earth, it has never killed anyone, maybe scared a few from time, but it hasn't killed anyone! there is abig difference batween bombs and power generation folks. That's the only way we will ever get off the crude from other countries!
Yes, but a nuclear powered car? Talk about rush-hour congestion: "Hi, this is Mike-Weasel with your Radio KBBBBLAMX Traffic Update! A Chrysler Trenobyl has collided with a 16-wheel 3-mile-islander semi and the interstate is going to be backed up for the next 160 years. Please seek alternative routes..."
Hey idiot, "nuclear power" is still killing millions around cherobyl & that happened in 1986 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maybe this is why gas costs so much ya think!! Better than paying $45,000 for an electric car that no one can afford... I though I read somewhere that there is more oil in Utah and Nevada than the far East and the big wigs know all about it...gee I wonder why??
So many "facts" that are off by so much...
Here's my question: If a country has a good economy it's fair to say it probably exports more than it imports.
That is to say that it contributes more to the world than it takes back.
Countries in Asia tend to try to achieve this by working very hard in industry for little wages or quality of life.
Western countries tend to contribute services.
Arab countries though tend to just sit back and let other countries pay them millions to take what's sitting there in the ground.
Sure, it's there. It's their country. But what are the moral and practical issues of this way of life.
- should they really be able to "take credit" for the oil in the same way that the Chinese "take credit" for the iPods they actually produce by their own hard work or Americans produce ideas and films?
- What effects will this lifestyle of getting millions of dollars for what is essentially no work have on Middle Eastern societies? What will happen when that source of money runs out?
Dude, who cares about any of that in the big picture? The U.S. uses everyone elses resources before we use our own. When their resources are depleted "WE WIN".Then we will start exporting!
I think you are both wrong/mislead. The structure with the 8 turret looking buildings around a swimming pool/recreation area is the Al Murooj Rotana Hotel.
This string has certainly traveled all over the ideological universe . We enjoyed the entertaining comments and rants from both the rabid right as well as the Chicken-Little squeals from the card-carrying tree-hugging left......all very amusing.
Jeff From NJ is partially correct about the continued need for coal , gas and oil ....However , it is king coal that will be the solution . America is the Saudi Arabia of coal (27.1% of global reserves) . There is more coal alone in Montana , Wyoming , and Kentucky than in all of Russia (#2 with 16.7% in global reserves) . The technology exists for advanced processing at the mine's mouth into gas or liquid form to be piped to where needed.
Joe From Dearborn was partially correct with his somewhat "conspiracy theory" oriented remark about "Big-Wigs knowing what is really underground in Utah and Nevada , however , he displays historical ignorance as to the"why" . After lessons learned from WW II , Washington DC decided it was best to use up other peoples oil and keep ours safe in the ground for when we really needed it . This strategic policy has been adhered to no matter who was in the White House for 65 years.
O-to-the-Dizzle's remark was a welcome ration of relative reason , a gold filling in the above mouthfulls of mostly meandering mediocre mush...Dizzle's reference to the "end of Oil" along Mr Kent McMillen's reference to Mr. T. Boone Pickens warning about the continuing madness of "wealth transfer" was most appreciated . And finally , a bit of applause for messers "Pirate C" and "Know Your Enemy" , for their urging of the neanderthal contributors to "learn , research , go to a library , absorb some actual history , visit respectable academic websites , etc , before continuing to lower discussion standards to silly sloganeering and dumbing down the debate
don't hate people...enjoy the pic..look at the details..get inspired to build the next tallest building...
moe