May

28th 2008

World Globes - They Still Make Geography Fun

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Once upon a time people thought the world was actually flat and if you got to the end you would fall off. Then in the Middle Ages a globe was made depicting the world as round. People marveled at the thought of our world being spherical and a passion for exploring was born. Now world globes can be seen in class rooms, office buildings and homes and they are still capturing the imagination of all those who gaze upon them. Read more

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.

Oct

19th 2007

Podcasts from the USGS

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With the tagline, “It’s natural science from the inside out”, the USGS has made available a series of podcasts they are calling Corecasts.  Each podcasts is relatively short (ranging from two to fifteen minutes in length) and addresses a range of topics such as “When is an Earthquake not an Earthquake?”, “Polar Bear Research”, and a series of podcasts dedicated to Earth Sciences week.  The series also includes a monthly roundup covering the previous month’s hazards from around the world.  You can sign up to receive an email alerting you whenever a new corecast is posted to the site or subscribe to a feed via RSS or iTunes. 

Sep

06th 2007

Geography as interior design

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Designers around the world are inspired by geography, especially topography, to make items for the home.

Japanese designers  Kyouei Designs created the “topography soup plate” for all your consommé needs. 

t-p-sky.jpg

Seen on: Crib Candy

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Aug

07th 2007

Outline Maps of the United States in Braille and Large Type

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 American Printing House for the Blind offers braille and large type maps of the United States and the World in a variety of formats. 

Jul

31st 2007

World Sunlight Map

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If you’re curious about where the sunlight is hitting the earth at any given moment in time, visit the “World Sunlight Map” web site.  Using computer simulation, the site shows the extent of lightness and darkness on the surface of the earth in realtime.  Cloud cover is also updated every 3 hours.  Towards the bottom, you can play around and view the map in various projections; the map default is Mercator but you can also view Peters, Mollweide or equirectangular projection maps.

 

 

Jul

11th 2007

7 New Wonders of the World in Google Maps

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A recent Internet poll decided that the new 7 Wonders of the World are as follows:

  • Chichen Itza, Mexico
  • Christ Redeemer, Brazil
  • The Great Wall, China
  • Machu Picchu, Peru
  • Petra, Jordan
  • The Roman Colosseum, Italy
  • The Taj Mahal, India

It was only a matter of time before someone pulled the results into a Google Mashup (courtesy of Jordan Taylor):

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