Keyboard Cat, created by Charles Schmidt, first appeared in a YouTube video uploaded in 2007, showing a cat playing an electronic keyboard.

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The other firm in the mining race, Planetary Resources, has backing from several billionaire investors, including Google's Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, software executive Charles Simonyi and filmmaker James Cameron.

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Others on the list include Norman Schmidt (330 years), Frederick Brandau (55 years), Charles Lewis (30 years), and Eduardo Maferrer (30 years).

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