Mar

30th 2008

Crowd Simulation

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Paul M. Torrens, an Associate Professor in Geography at Arizone State University is using artificial intelligence to model crowd behavior in order to help architects and public safety officials. Torrens has developed geosimulation software that uses avatars that can individually plan their own route and respond to external stimulus such as the jostling of other avatars. Discover Magazine has some interesting screen shots and and step by step explanation of the geosimulation software. The simulation is being used to help predict crowd behavior in stressed situations such as fire or riots.

Mar

30th 2008

Museum of Online Museums

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The Museum of Online Museums houses links not only to the virtual versions of well known museums from around the world but also a growing collection of offbeat and downright odd online collections. Of note is the collection of “Airline Spoons of the World” and the “Penny Postcard Archive“.

Mar

26th 2008

Planning to avoid bullets

Filed Under United States, Urban Geography | Leave a Comment

The Los Angeles Times has an interesting article about the growing integration of safety elements into buildings and community areas in order to protect residents living in high gang and crime ridden areas from gun shots.  Examples included are a senior center built 30 feet above the street level (including an aboveground courtyard) and a dirt hill at a state park - both designed to protect residents from drive-by shootings.  City Councilman Ed Reyes explains the need: “When we look at the pragmatism of our neighborhoods, we have to ask questions: Where is the bullet going to come from? What projectile elevation should we adhere to in our development? Where should we situate the trees?”  Other strategies include bulletproof windows and creating gardens on rooftops. 

Mar

26th 2008

Tipping Elements in Climate Warming

Filed Under Climatology | Leave a Comment

Forbes has an article with a round-up of the earth systems considered by scientists to having tipping points considered a danger to global climate systems.  The tipping points were extracted from an article entitled “Tipping Elements in the Earth’s Climate System,” published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

Mar

24th 2008

Tellings Stories Geographically

Filed Under Books, Google Maps | Leave a Comment

Penguin Books has launched a new feature entitled “We Tell Stories.“  With the tagline “Six Authors.  Six Stories.  Six Weeks”, the site uses Google Maps to take the reader through the geography of each short stories.  The first week’s offering is a short story called “21 Steps” by Charles Cumming (inspired by the book “39 Steps” by John Buchan.  Each week there will be a new short story played out over Google Maps. 

Seen via Google’s Lat Long Blog