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Exploring the Ghosts of Wrangel Island
Posted by Jennifer Niven on May 17, 2013 The history of Russia’s Wrangel Island is as dramatic and rugged as the island itself. The tragic 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition and the equally tragic 1921 Wrangel Island Expedition were just two episodes from the island’s history as a holy grail of sorts for Arctic explorers. They were also the subjects of my first two…
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On our radar today: 1) People need to learn to farm to live on Mars; 2) A Japanese reactor lies on an active fault line; 3) Shocks to the brain may improve your math skills, and…
Geography in the News: Keystone Pipeline and Canadian Tar Sands
Posted by Neal Lineback of Maps101.com and Maps.com on May 17, 2013 By Neal Lineback and Mandy Lineback Gritzner, Geography in the NewsTM and Maps.com KEYSTONE PIPELINE AND CANADIAN TAR SANDS CONTROVERSY Supporters and protesters continue to lobby both the White House and U.S. Congress for and against the 1,700-mile long (2,736-km) Keystone pipeline running from Alberta, Canada, to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The Keystone XL, as…
Posted by Whether a tiny invertebrate or a large, invasive nutria, all of the species observations collected during the BioBlitz will be mapped out and visualized on the National Geographic FieldScope tool. FieldScope is a web-based GIS for visualizing and analyzing scientific data collected by professional and citizen scientists. It is also a tool for exploring the geography of a place.
Posted by Opening the Blue Vision Summit 4 in Washington, D.C., on Monday, author and ocean advocate David Helvarg said of Congress, “A lot of them are hardwired like sharks, they respond to stimuli like money or votes” (see Helvarg’s posts in Ocean Views). The summit, which ends today, is “the biggest ocean day on the Hill,”…
In the opening scenes of Star Trek Into Darkness, Spock (Zachary Quinto) is dropped in the middle of an active volcano. His mission? To stop the volcano from exploding before it destroys everything in its path. His equipment? A suitcase-sized “cold fusion” device, designed to destroy the volcano — and nothing else. Is this even…
Carbon Dioxide Milestone Revised by NOAA
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on May 16, 2013 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced last week that carbon dioxide concentrations at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii surpassed the milestone 400 parts per million for a sustained period. NOAA has since revised the figure—on the basis of computer analysis—saying its May 9 readings actually remained fractions of a point below the historic level, coming in at…
Oil and gas development does not have to destroy the Amazon
Posted by Stuart Pimm on May 16, 2013 NGS Grantee, Dr. Clinton Jenkins stands amid felled trees in Peru. Logging is a familiar threat to the Amazon, but not the only one. When one thinks of the Amazon, it is usually of lush rainforests or indigenous people living amongst a wild landscape. Certainly, that is part of the Amazon’s story, but there is…
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Ancient water below Canadian gold mines may offer new clues about evolution—and new life forms here on Earth.
Posted by C40 city Madrid is introducing electric car-sharing services through a new agreement between NH Hoteles, a top hotel chain and leader in sustainable tourism, and Respiro Car Sharing. The two companies plan to implement an EV car-sharing service in 10 hotels operated by NH in Madrid. The agreement will expand an existing car-sharing service operated…
Ladders for Voles—Plus 5 Man-made Wildlife Crossings
Posted by Guest Blogger on May 16, 2013 
The old joke asks, “Why did the chicken cross the road?” But in the world of wildlife conservation, the big question is, “How did the animal cross the road?” And the answer is often: With the help of a bridge or tunnel so there are no worries about animal-vehicle collisions. One conservation group is testing,…
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic 1925 American novel The Great Gatsby has been made into several films and TV programs over the years. Robert Redford played the title character in 1974. In the recent HBO hit Entourage, Vincent Chase (played by Adrian Grenier) starred in a critically lauded version helmed by Martin Scorsese. Australian auteur Baz…
“The Woman With the iPad” Disrupts Epic Mountain Gorilla Trek
Posted by Guest Blogger on May 16, 2013 
By Doris Schaffer After flying to Uganda, making my way to Rwanda, and actually trekking twice to visit mountain gorillas, I thought I’d be writing a travelogue describing the lush country of a thousand hills and the difficulty of getting to the gorilla habitats. I was certain I’d be explaining that mountain gorillas are endangered…
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After returning to terra firma after five months aboard the orbiting International Space Station (ISS) with great fanfare, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield says he feels the drag of gravity and like he has aged quite a bit. “It really feels like the day after I played a hard game of rugby or hockey…I am…
I lived in Michigan as a child, and I spent many summer nights gazing at the dark sky. I also spent many happy hours making sand castles on the edges of the Great Lakes. In winter, I spent hours romping in the ample snow. Lisa Borre is also from Michigan originally, and she has been…
