World Sunlight Map Watch the sun rise and set all over the world on this real-time, computer-generated illustration of the earth's patterns of sunlight and darkness. The clouds are updated daily with current weather satellite imagery. The Mercator projection used here is one way of looking at the spherical earth as a flat map. Also available is a semi-realistic view of dawn and dusk from far above the Earth, a look at the moon, and information about how this works. Little Bighorn History Infographic of the Day: It's a Small World, Afterall If you're wondering how "close" two places are, a geographic map doesn't help much anymore. If the airports are good--or if there's a bullet train nearby--hundreds of miles might as well be down the street. Point being, "distance" is now really a function less of geography, than of the transport networks we've invented. Which is why researchers at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy, and the World Bank, created this gorgeous map. Then they plotted these results on a color coded map: The brighter an area, the closer it is to a big city; the darker it is, the further out it is. As the New Scientist reports: Plotted onto a map, the results throw up surprises. The most remote place: Tibet, parts of which are as much as three weeks away from a city--with the journey comprising 20 days on foot. Check out the New Scientist's entire gallery of 11 different maps.
International Networks Archive \\ Remapping Our World The following six maps deal with an array of major current world issues, from the serious to the seriously frivolous. They were developed for the INA by Jonathan Harris of Flaming Toast Productions. The maps may not be reproduced or rebroadcast without express written consent of the INA. If you are interested in using the maps, please contact us. Click maps to enlarge them. This pair of maps show the global presence of Starbucks coffee shops and McDonald's restaurants. Click to enlarge. Top NASA Creates World's First Global Forest Map Using Lasers Image by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon Scientists, using three NASA satellites, have created a first-of-its-kind map that details the height of the world's forests. The data was collected from NASA's ICESat, Terra and Aqua satellites. The latter two satellites are responsible for most of NASA's Gulf spill imagery. The data collected will help scientists understand how the world's forests both store and process carbon. Image by NASA/Scientific Visualization Studio/Chris Meaney The laser technology called LIDAR was used to capture the data. "LIDAR is unparalleled for this type of measurement," said Michael Lefsky of the Colorado State University, responsible for capturing the data. The map is based on data from more than 250 million laser pulses collected over 7 years. The new map confirms that the world's tallest forests are clustered in the Pacific Northwest of North America and some parts of Southeast Asia. But what about the carbon?
mrssmoke.onsugar.com/Top-20-Websites-Teacher-Should-Start-2010-2011-Year-Without-9213932 I have to tell you that it was a tough call to make these decisions, especially when we’re talking every teacher no matter what grade level or subject, but I hope that you find a couple of gems to put away in your virtual treasure box. You may have others you’d like to add to the list. Please post them in the comments for all of us to explore. A great photo editing tool is a must for teachers and I recommend Aviary, LunaPic, Picnik, or BeFunky with some being simpler than others, but all having unique features. Creaza and Jaycut are answers to the Windows XP Movie Maker and Flipcam problem. Delicious or Diigo are online bookmarking networks teachers need. Doodle is a groovy scheduling tool teachers can use when setting up a collaborative work meeting or building social committee event. Dropbox is one of my absolute favorite tools shared with me by Intel Teach buddies Glen Westbrook and Jill Summers. Google Language Translator does a fairly decent job of language translation.
Global Water Supply Chart [PIC] USGS Global Visualization Viewer Mapping a World of Human Activity With the world networked on an unprecedented scale, and the global population hitting 7 billion only weeks ago, we are living in a uniquely interconnected era, creating new opportunites and dependencies. It's the result of millenia of exploration, travel, exploitation, and innovation, and the Anthropocene, meaning “the new human-dominated period of the Earth’s history,” is a term coined in 2000 to describe this epoch. A Cartography of the Anthropocene is an effort by global education organization Globaïa to map this epoch, illustrating the various ways that global humanity connects and is interdependent. Anthropocene Mapping from Globaïa on Vimeo. Limited time only! Using data gathered from US government agencies, anthropologist Felix Pharand-Deschenes has created a collection of maps that illustrate the various circulatory systems that connect humanity: cities, roads, railways, power lines, pipelines, cable Internet, airlines, and shipping lanes. Electronic Networks Across America