HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Sept. 20, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- The NASA-sponsored Astrobiology Magazine (www.astrobio.net) recently announced production of its first audio edition, as an international radio version, and as a listed program on all popular Podcast sites. With Apple's iTunes now offering one million daily subscriptions to this channel, the magazine leverages its advanced text-to-speech technologies to automate production in different reading voices and synchronize globally on various portable and mobile devices (iPod, various multimedia MP3 players, some phones and personal digital assistants). In August 2005, Astrobiology Magazine peaked in popularity, reaching number eleven among the global list of Apple iTunes' Podcasts.
Magazine Addresses Communications Challenges in Education
The Astrobiology Magazine has proven to be a communications leader in education as well. In June 2005, The Arizona Board of Regents approved creation of a center for the study of astrobiology at The University of Arizona and authorized the magazine's link on the center's website (http://www.laplace.Arizona.edu/interest.htm).
The magazine, powered by Mobular Technologies' mobilePortal, covers topics in all areas of "Life in the Universe". From any computer, astrobiology research articles are simply emailed to an account as plain text with accompanying graphics. The mobilePortal reads these submitted emails, archives, indexes, and classifies them within the site's relational database, and then automatically distributes them in any of fourteen different output formats to subscribers, web-visitors, and syndicated content distribution channels. David Grigg, Kaleidio Interactive Media, noted: "Astrobiology Magazine is just the BEST website about space science and exploration that I have ever found."
About the Astrobiology Magazine
Since its inception in 2001, the magazine has published nearly 1600 articles on origins of and search for life in the universe. Original articles and interviews have been developed with a variety of creative luminaries including Academy Award winner James Cameron; Bill Nye; Ray Bradbury; the Royal Astronomer, Sir Martin Rees; Vint Cerf, considered by U.S. Presidential nomination as father of the internet; Sir Arthur C. Clarke; Freeman Dyson; and Carl Sagan's Cosmos co-writers; and recognized for its contributions by the SETI League Award.
A series of articles entitled "Methane on Mars" will be translated into Japanese for an invited publication in a new science magazine (ScienceWeb) scheduled for fall release with an initial circulation of 80,000. Currently, 9.14 million permanent bookmarks are set to astrobio.net network sites, with a daily average of 158,000 viewers.
Lockheed Martin oversees the publication for NASA's Astrobiology Office and is co-published with NASA Ames and NASA's Astrobiology Institute.
About Mobular Technologies
Mobular Technologies' mobilePortal product recently began its fourth year of service to the Astrobiology community as the underlying technology behind NASA's Astrobiology Magazine. The mobilePortal is an easy-to-administer, fully automated, and self-maintaining content management and distribution platform. A primary venue for astrobiology-related information, the mobilePortal is visually and functionally integrated to the space agency's OneNASA architecture and compliant with Section 508 access requirements for the disabled. For information, visit www.mobular.com
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