WolframAlpha, a powerful new service that can answer a broad range of queries, has become one of the most anticipated Web products of the year.WolframAlpha is different. For starters, it does not gather data from the Web. Instead, its “knowledge base” is made up of reams and reams of data — ranging from the kinds of facts you would find in a World Almanac, to highly specialized data from physics and other sciences — that some 100 employees at Wolfram Research have gathered, verified and organized over several years.
Try it at WolframAlpha or read more at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/technology/internet/11search.html