Tag archives for David Braun
Geography in the News: Australia’s Dingos
Posted by Neal Lineback of Maps101.com and Maps.com on June 9, 2013 By Neal Lineback and Mandy Lineback Gritzner, Geography in the NewsTM and Maps.com DINGOES OFFICIALLY BLAMED IN 1980’s INFANT DEATH A doubly tragic story unfolded in Australia in 1980 that’s still making international news 33 years later. Wild dingoes apparently took a 9-week-old baby girl who had been left unattended by her parents during a…
Geography in the News: Grizzlies’ Territory
Posted by Neal Lineback of Maps101.com and Maps.com on May 31, 2013 By Neal Lineback and Mandy Lineback Gritzner, Geography in the NewsTM and Maps.com THE GRIZZLIES’ TERRITORY IS CONTRACTING At the end of July, 2010, a female grizzly bear with her three cubs in tow attacked three different tents near Yellowstone National Park in Montana. The middle-of-the-night maulings, the most brazen attacks in the area since…
Geography in the News: Pike’s Peak
Posted by Neal Lineback of Maps101.com and Maps.com on May 26, 2013 By Neal Lineback and Mandy Lineback Gritzner, Geography in the NewsTM and Maps.com COLORADO’S MOST FAMOUS MOUNTAIN The state of Colorado and relatives of Zebulon Montgomery Pike celebrated the 200th anniversary in 2006 of the historic expedition that put Pikes Peak on the map. Advertised as “America’s mountain,” Pikes Peak is an iconic equivalent to…
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Every week, embark with host Boyd Matson on an exploration of the latest discoveries and interviews with some of the most fascinating people on the planet, on National Geographic Weekend. Please check listings near you to find the best way to listen to National Geographic Weekend, or pick your favorite segments and listen now below! Episode: 1317 – Air…
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It rises in Ethiopia’s Shewa Highlands, and flows for 760 kms through terraced hillsides, volcanic outcrops and fertile grasslands as far as the world’s greatest desert lake, Lake Turkana, in Kenya. The lower valley of the Omo River is believed by some historians to have been a cultural crossroads for thousands of years, where a…
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Join us on National Geographic Weekend, as we run 140 mile races up and down mountains, conserve Nicaraguan sea turtles by hiring the poachers, swim 1,000 miles down the Missouri River, earn dinner by chasing antelope until it drops dead, and understand the Sherpas who make Everest exploration possible.
Geography in the News: The Caucasus’ Storied Cultural Geography
Posted by Neal Lineback of Maps101.com and Maps.com on April 19, 2013 By Neal Lineback and Mandy Lineback Gritzner Geography in the NewsTM and Maps.com CHECHNYA AND THE CAUCASUS REGION Among the world’s longest-lived hotspots is the Caucasus region, rivaling only the Balkans as a volatile kettle of violent and rebellious ethnic cultures. Attention is now focused on Chechnya and the Caucasus region because of the ethnicity…
Geography in the News: North Korea Threatens Again
Posted by Neal Lineback of Maps101.com and Maps.com on April 18, 2013 By Neal Lineback and Mandy Lineback Gritzner Geography in the NewsTM and Maps.com North Korea’s Threats At the end of March, 2010, North Korea launched a torpedo that sank a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, killing 46 service members. More recently throughout the spring of 2013, North Korea’s youthful leader launched a tirade against South…
This week, we meet a retiree who decided to climb the Seven Summits on a whim, learn about the humanism of primates, explore the potential for drones, previously used exclusively in combat, to help conservation, and we discover where food goes after you eat it.
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When it comes to tasting, what you see is not always what you get. Speaking at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Terry E. Acree, Ph.D., announced his findings that the appearance of foods and drinks can make people “see” flavors before they actually taste anything, a phenomenon that can influence their flavor…
His name means “Hawk” in his language. Yet even with the acuity of vision the moniker suggests, Karapiru could not have foreseen thetragedy that befell his people, the Awá tribe of northeastern Brazil. He could never have imagined the day that he would flee for his life far into the rainforest, a shotgun pellet burning…
Geography in the News: Dengue Fever Threat Much Greater
Posted by Neal Lineback of Maps101.com and Maps.com on April 11, 2013 By Neal Lineback and Mandy Lineback Gritzner, Geography in the NewsTM and Maps.com DENGUE FEVER Reports of dengue fever were rare in Florida until 2009 when physicians began diagnosing cases around Key West in individuals who had not traveled outside the state. National Public Radio recently reported that, with mosquito season under way in 2011,…
Ötzi the Iceman, the world’s oldest wet mummy, may have had many things in life, but a dazzling smile and fresh breath were not among them. A team of researchers from the Centre for Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich announced that Otzi’s oral hygiene left a lot to be desired, to put it…
Geography in the News: Maple Syrup Time
Posted by Neal Lineback of Maps101.com and Maps.com on April 7, 2013 By Neal Lineback and Mandy Lineback Gritzner, Geography in the NewsTM and Maps.com SUGAR TIME IN NEW ENGLAND Sugar maple are tapped in New England and 2013 may be a better year for the maple syrup industry after several declining years. Maple syrup, that sweet sticky syrup that makes mere pancakes incredibly delicious, is threatened…
Posted by According to local legends in Madagascar, the aye-aye lemur is a demon that can kill just by pointing a finger. That sounds mythical, but for insects inside tree trunks, there is truth to the killing part. The nocturnal aye-aye uses its multipurpose middle finger to tap forest wood in search of its meals (see above…
On this week’s show, meet a woman who free-dives with great white sharks, a man who skied to the North Pole in the darkness of winter, and photographers who can turn such darkness into a colorful portrait of a world we can’t see.
Every week, embark with host Boyd Matson on an exploration of the latest discoveries and interviews with some of the most fascinating people on the planet, on National Geographic Weekend. Please check listings near you to find the best way to listen to National Geographic Weekend, or pick your favorite segments and listen now below! Episode: 1309 – Air Date:…
Whether you’re gaga for Gruyère, bonkers for Brie, or wild about Wensleydale, all cheese lovers have a new reason to celebrate—a breakthrough discovery in the history of cheese-making. A team of scientists announced that they have found the earliest evidence of human cheese-making dating back more than 7,000 years ago in Northern Europe. Blessed Were…
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Genovesa was for me the most enchanting of all the islands we saw, not only because we got to walk along the rim of the caldera, but because of the birds in tremendous profusion. And what birds they were: boobies of every kind, frigate birds, gulls, owls, mockingbirds, finches. They were mating, nesting, roosting, sleeping, hunting, fighting. The sky was full of them arriving and departing from their feeding grounds. The noise they made, especially at sunset, was cacophonous.
Green turtles were mating in the water in front of us when our Zodiac pulled up to Bartolome, a mound of lava less than half the size of New York’s Central Park, just off Santiago Island in the Galapagos. Bartolome is a breeding and nesting ground for the turtles. It’s also favorite stop for visitors to the Galapagos because of its fantastic geology, an energetic climb up 376 wooden steps to a commanding view from the summit of the islet’s biggest volcanic cone, and spectacular snorkeling with sharks and rays in the clear water around postcard-famous Pinnacle Rock.
New research from the University of Granada’s Department of Experimental Psychology makes it as plain as the nose on your face: When people lie, their noses get hotter. Nicknamed the “Pinocchio effect,” the phenomenon was observed during a study that applied thermography to psychology to see what the body’s temperature could reveal about the mind.…
Day five of our expedition to the Galapagos islands took us to the northwest slope of Santa Cruz for a walk up Cerro Dragon, “Dragon Hill.” This place was once home to a thriving colony of the massive Galapagos land iguana, Conolophus subcristatus. The lizard is making a comeback here after being nearly wiped out by cats, rats, and dogs introduced to the Galapagos by humans.
In this post I interview Terry Goss, who was on our expedition as the 2011 winner of the Ocean in Focus Photo Contest, a competition that focuses on the human impacts on marine environments and species, positive and negative, in an attempt to advance ocean conservation through the power of imagery. Terry shares his impressions of the Galapagos beneath the waves, and some advice for how to get the best underwater photographs.
On the night we sailed across the Equator the sun set fire to the sea and sky, creating a dramatic setting for the shadowy dormant volcanoes lining the horizon around us. It was a memorable moment celebrated over a glass of champagne on the bridge deck of National Geographic Endeavour. We were roughly midway through…
Listening to freestyle rap can be humbling. When an artist easily improvises on the spot, coming up with smooth lyrics and effortless rhymes that flow to the beat in real time, it makes you wonder what amazing things are going on in that brain. A team of scientists decided to find out. The Sounds of…
