Tech bloggers are hoping to find out at the TED conference just what makes Robert Scoble cry. Scoble, a popular blogger among the geek elite and a former technical evangelist for Microsoft, stirred the blogosphere into a tizzy earlier this month when he wrote that two Microsoft researchers had shown him software under development that actually brought tears to his eyes.

Last week, Michael Arrington over at Techcrunch confirmed that the Microsoft software in question is a downloadable desktop application called WorldWide Telescope, and it will be introduced this week at TED.

Microsoft has reportedly tapped data from the Hubble telescope and ten other telescopes around the world to let PC owners star gaze from the comfort of their own homes. Developers Curtis Wong and Jonathan Fay gave a presentation on the concept of the WorldWide Telescope last year, and now astronomers and techies alike are hoping for a sneak peek at the project at TED. Indeed, it could help shed some light on a topic scheduled for discussion on the first day of the conference: What is our place in the universe?

Of course, Google has been outside of the Earth's atmosphere since last August, when it launched Google Sky to bring the universe to the desktop. But that application was met with criticism, since an existing open source product called Stellarium was widely considered to be superior.

Now Arrington says he hears that Microsoft's effort bests anything like it. "The key is the user interface, which is seamless as you move around the sky and zoom in and out," he wrote. "And the sheer amount of data Microsoft is accessing, said to be measured in the terabits, gives that great user interface something to show off."

It's not surprising that the ongoing war between Microsoft and Google has now reached the heavens.

Who will prevail in outer space? Stay tuned.

by Megan Barnett