"Fall Back" is Good For Your Heart
Friday October 31, 2008
Swedish researchers found that the end of Daylight Saving Time, when we adjust the clocks back one hour reduced heart attacks on the following Monday. The researchers feel that ... Read More
December 2004 Tsunami Was Largest in 600 Years
Thursday October 30, 2008
Geologists have determined that the tsunami that struck in the Indian Ocean in December 2004 and killed more than 230,000 people was the largest tsunami in the ocean in 600 ... Read More
The Great Lakes
Thursday October 30, 2008
Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario, form the Great Lakes, straddling the United States and Canada to make up the largest group of freshwater lakes ... Read More
Biography of Robert Cavelier de la Salle
Thursday October 30, 2008
Robert Cavelier de la Salle was a French explorer credited with claiming Louisiana and the Mississippi River Basin for France. In addition, he explored much of the United States' Midwest ... Read More
Election Maps
Thursday October 30, 2008
I have two great suggestions for election maps. The first is Electoral-vote.com, which provides an election map showing the polling data for each state and an overall Electoral College ... Read More
Women Rule in Rwanda
Wednesday October 29, 2008
The Washington Post has a great article about the increasing power of women in Rwanda, where, "Women hold a third of all cabinet positions, including foreign minister, education minister, Supreme ... Read More
Life Expectancy Disparity Among Rich and Poor
Tuesday October 28, 2008
The World Health Organization reports that there is as much as a 40-year difference in life expectancy between the rich and the poor in developing countries. The WHO says ... Read More
ZIP Code Map
Tuesday October 28, 2008
The blog atlas(t) found and provides this fascinating ZIP Code Map showing the geographic distribution of ZIP Codes in the United States by state, based on the first two or ... Read More
Key Themes in Geography Today
Monday October 27, 2008
Geography blogger Catholicgauze identifies three key geography themes going on in the world today. He says that the three things to watch are: 1) global cooling, 2) the war ... Read More
Green Revolution
Monday October 27, 2008
The agricultural developments brought about by the Green Revolution saved millions of lives in the developing world. Read about the major advances of the Green Revolution in this new ... Read More
Can You See Russia From Alaska?
Friday October 24, 2008
People are asking me if it's possible to see Russia from Alaska. Well, the Bering Strait is over 50 miles (80 km) wide. The horizon is about 2.89 ... Read More
The Places We Live
Friday October 24, 2008
I highly recommend exploring the site The Places We Live, a photographic exploration of urban slums around the world, including cities in Venezuela, Kenya, India, and Indonesia. Turn on ... Read More
Saudi Arabia to Build Tallest Building
Wednesday October 22, 2008
Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal claims that he will build the world's tallest building in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Al-Waleed's building will be more than a kilometer (3,280 feet) high. ... Read More
Landscape Ecology
Wednesday October 22, 2008
Landscape ecology is the science that examines the appearance and patterns of land as a result of the interactions with its ecosystems. Learn all about landscape ecology and its ... Read More
International Travel Required for Presidential Candidates?
Monday October 20, 2008
Author Stephen Guttmann proposes that presidential (and vice-presidential) candidates be required to have visited a minimum of twenty countries before they can run for office. He writes, "Sadly, we ... Read More
Exploration Experience: The Heroic Exploits of the World's Greatest Explorers
Monday October 20, 2008
Tomorrow the book, Exploration Experience: The Heroic Exploits of the World's Greatest Explorers is being released by the National Geographic Society. This book is awesome and would make a ... Read More
Garden Cities
Monday October 20, 2008
Sir Ebenezer Howard wanted to develop a fully functioning community into a compact, self-sustaining and easily replicable design. The pattern was focused on a central hub of industrial and commercial ... Read More
New UN Security Council Members
Friday October 17, 2008
The United Nations General Assembly voted today to select new non-permanent members of the Security Council. The General Assembly selected Japan, Austria, Turkey, Mexico, and Uganda to serve ... Read More
NewGeography
Thursday October 16, 2008
Thanks to John for letting me know about a fantastic site NewGeography.com! NewGeography.com is a site devoted to commentary and discussion about the futures of places. It ... Read More
Americans' Political Literacy As Bad As Geographic Literacy
Thursday October 16, 2008
I am mollified by the news that Americans' political literacy might just be as bad as their geographic literacy. In a recent poll, only 18% of Americans could correctly ... Read More
Jersey Keeps British Time
Thursday October 16, 2008
A referendum was held yesterday in the quasi-independent British crown dependency of Jersey to switch from the British time zone to the Central European time zone. According to the ... Read More
What Is The Coriolis Effect?
Thursday October 16, 2008
The Coriolis effect is a key principle to understanding the movement of air masses and ocean currents on earth. Learn all about the Coriolis effect from this latest article ... Read More
International Recognition of Kosovo Surpasses 50 Countries
Friday October 10, 2008
Portugal, Macedonia, and Montenegro have joined the group of countries that recognize Kosovo as the world's newest independent country, bringing the total number of countries that recognize Kosovo to 51. ... Read More
What Do We Need to Know About Earth Science?
Friday October 10, 2008
My colleague Andrew Alden, the About.com Geology Guide, shares information about the Earth Science Literacy Initiative, which "aims to gather and codify the underlying understandings of Earth sciences into a ... Read More
A Car for Women
Wednesday October 8, 2008
Iran's largest automobile maker is planning on producing a car specifically for women. The car will include, "An automatic gearbox, electronic parking aids, a navigation system and a jack ... Read More
Trash Islands
Tuesday October 7, 2008
As our global population expands so too does the amount of trash we produce. A large portion of this trash then ends up in the world's oceans. Due to oceanic ... Read More
How Google Maps Deals With Changing Geographies
Tuesday October 7, 2008
Google is planning on allowing Internet users to submit changes and updates to maps in India. Thus, Google is "embarking on what could prove the most concerted effort to ... Read More
U.S. Africa Command Activated
Monday October 6, 2008
Catholicgauze reports on the activation of AFRICOM, the brand-new United States Africa Command headquarters that will oversee U.S. military activity in Africa. AFRICOM joins several other regional command units ... Read More
Why Did Warning of "Certain Death" Fail to Work?
Monday October 6, 2008
The National Weather Service used strong language in attempting to get people to heed their advice to evacuate prior to Hurricane Ike last month, "Persons not heeding evacuation orders in ... Read More
Land-Use Planning
Friday October 3, 2008
Within urban and rural communities, geography plays a critical role in development of the built environment. Urban planners must rely on knowledge of geographic space when deciding how best to ... Read More
ASEAN
Friday October 3, 2008
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a group of ten member countries that encourages political, economic, and social cooperation in the region. Today the group is considered ... Read More
Pollution Remains in Northern Hemisphere
Friday October 3, 2008
Discovery News reports that the ITCZ or Intertropical Convergence Zone acts as a barrier that keeps Northern Hemisphere pollution in that hemisphere, thus serving to keep the air of ... Read More
Geography of Personality
Friday October 3, 2008
An article on WSJ.com reports on a study published in Perspectives on Psychological Science reveals that various states in the U.S. are home to different personality types across the union. ... Read More
GPS Sabotage
Friday October 3, 2008
An article from MSNBC discusses the possibility that GPS units could be interfered with to show incorrect time or location. There are two methods by which this can be ... Read More
Fertility Increases in Europe?
Wednesday October 1, 2008
The Population Reference Bureau is reporting that just a few weeks after publishing their 2008 World Population Data Sheet, the PRB has uncovered data that shows that fertility rates in ... Read More