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One consequence of the fundamental difference between flat surfaces and spherical surfaces, such as the Earth, is that any planar depiction of the Earth – such as a map on the wall, in an atlas, or on Google Maps – will necessarily have some distortions. More: http://www.science4all.org/scottmckinney/non-euclidean-geometry-and-map-making/
Sakis Koukouvis's insight:
The impossibility of making perfect maps 
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From
io9
That's the intriguing new hypothesis put forward to explain the Permian mass extinction, which wiped out more than 90% of all Earth's species 251 million years ago. And we even know which microbe is responsible for this omnicidal annihilation. Via Goulu
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41,000-year cycle in the Earth's tilt matches up with peak volcanic activity.
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A supercomputer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center was used to map aerosols - particles suspended in the air - based on observations from August 2006 - April 2007. The result is surprisingly lovely. I've marked a couple of pints you want to pay attention to, like a volcanic eruption near Madagascar; the effect of the event is stunning.
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The Earth’s magnetic field is more permeable than previously thought, according to researchers analysing data from the European Space Agency’s Cluster mission. The findings have implications for modelling the dangers posed by space weather and could also help us better understand the magnetic environments around Jupiter and Saturn.
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The group of geologists involved in the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) aim to penetrate 6 kilometers through the Earth’s crust and reach our planet’s second layer, the mantle. From the mantle they hope to retrieve samples which will answer some basic questions about geology, climate change, and life here on Earth.
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![[LISTEN] NASA spacecraft records 'Earthsong' | Science News | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/PnHhxwkIAYKeLdcr1EdTejl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
From
phys
Nobody ever said anything about singing, though. A NASA spacecraft has just beamed back a beautiful song sung by our own planet.
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Scientists from the University of Washington recently unveiled a new take on an old proposal to cool the Earth by artificially producing cloud cover over swaths of ocean to reflect away light, part of a process known as 'marine cloud brightening'.
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For the first time, scientists of the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences have succeeded in setting up a harmonized catalogue of earthquakes for Europe and the Mediterranean for the last thousand years.
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Most of today's continents (left) will migrate toward the North Pole and collide to form a new landmass called Amasia (right).
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A NASA-sponsored researcher at the University of Iowa has developed a way for spacecraft to hunt down hidden magnetic portals in the vicinity of Earth. These portals link the magnetic field of our planet to that of the sun.
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Our planet is shaped by the oceans, the dynamic geology and the changing climate. It teems with life and we, in particular, have a massive impact as we build homes, grow food, travel and feed our ever-hungry need for energy. Mathematics is vital in understanding all of these, which is why 2013 has been declared as the year for the Mathematics of Planet Earth.
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Rayleigh scattering, and why the is sky blue... and yield white near the horizon. Via Patrice AFRIAT
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Subscribe to MinutePhysics - it's FREE! http://dft.ba/-minutephysics_sub MinutePhysics is on Google+ - http://bit.ly/qzEwc6 And facebook...
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From a distance of 500 kilometers out in space, two German satellites equipped with special scanners are making a 3D map of the Earth's surface within an astounding accuracy of just two meters. Via Christine Hartmann
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From
phys
Hoping to expand our understanding of auroras and other fleeting atmospheric events, a team of space-weather researchers designed and built NORUSCA II, a new camera with unprecedented capabilities that can simultaneously image multiple spectral...
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Join Dr. Philipp Heck and his team at the Field Museum's Robert A. Pritzker Center for Meteoritics and Polar Studies in their quest for presolar grains - cosmic stardust older than our Solar System!
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Scientists developed a computer model to identify four possible instances of true polar wander in the past. And, they say, true polar wander is happening now.
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Our planet's magnetic field is in a constant state of change, say researchers who are beginning to understand how it behaves and why.
Every few years, scientist Larry Newitt of the Geological Survey of Canada goes hunting. He grabs his gloves, parka, a fancy compass, hops on a plane and flies out over the Canadian arctic. Not much stirs among the scattered islands and sea ice, but Newitt's prey is there--always moving, shifting, elusive. His quarry is Earth's north magnetic pole. Scientists have long known that the magnetic pole moves. James Ross located the pole for the first time in 1831 after an exhausting arctic journey during which his ship got stuck in the ice for four years. No one returned until the next century. In 1904, Roald Amundsen found the pole again and discovered that it had moved--at least 50 km since the days of Ross.
The pole kept going during the 20th century, north at an average speed of 10 km per year, lately accelerating "to 40 km per year," says Newitt. At this rate it will exit North America and reach Siberia in a few decades. Keeping track of the north magnetic pole is Newitt's job. "We usually go out and check its location once every few years," he says. "We'll have to make more trips now that it is moving so quickly." Earth's magnetic field is changing in other ways, too: Compass needles in Africa, for instance, are drifting about 1 degree per decade. And globally the magnetic field has weakened 10% since the 19th century. When this was mentioned by researchers at a recent meeting of the American Geophysical Union, many newspapers carried the story. A typical headline: "Is Earth's magnetic field collapsing?" Probably not. As remarkable as these changes sound, "they're mild compared to what Earth's magnetic field has done in the past," says University of California professor Gary Glatzmaier.
Sometimes the the whole magnetic field of Earth completely flips. The north and the south poles swap places. Such reversals, recorded in the magnetism of ancient rocks, are unpredictable. They come at irregular intervals averaging about 300,000 years; the last one was 780,000 years ago. Are we overdue for another? No one knows. Via Dr. Stefan Gruenwald, ABroaderView
Robert T. Preston's curator insight,
June 2, 2013 2:18 PM
The magnetic North Pole is ever on the move, and always has been. See where it's been, where it's headed, and get a glimpse into why.
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Filmed at 10,000 frames per second by Japan's NHK television, movies like this of electromagnetic bursts called "sprites" will help scientists better understand how weather high in the atmosphere relates to weather on the ground.
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For years, many scientists had thought that plate tectonics existed nowhere in our solar system but on Earth.
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This map of all the world's recorded earthquakes between 1898 and 2003 is stunning. As you might expect, it also creates a brilliant outline of the plates of the Earth's crust—especially the infamous "Ring of Fire" around the Pacific Plate.
The plate boundaries are amazingly vivid in this geovisualization of the all the earthquakes over a 105 year span. How did scientist orginally come up with the theory of plate tectonics? How did spatial thinking and mapping play a role in that scientific endeavor? Via Martin Daumiller
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From
phys
A favorite theme of science fiction is 'the portal' -- an extraordinary opening in space or time that connects travelers to distant realms. A good portal is a shortcut, a guide, a door into the unknown.
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An 18-member international team of researchers that includes James Kennett, professor of earth science at UC Santa Barbara, has discovered melt-glass material in a thin layer of sedimentary rock in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Syria. According to the researchers, the material –– which dates back nearly 13,000 years –– was formed at temperatures of 1,700 to 2,200 degrees Celsius (3,100 to 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit), and is the result of a cosmic body impacting Earth.
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![History of Earth in 24-hour clock [INFOGRAPHICS] | Science News | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/HVnOHAfBOw6LX2otgaC-WDl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
Very fun side topic for an advanced geometry class!