Found this via CNN today, it is a distrubited project that turns computers into Earthquake monitors, called Quake-Catcher Network.

The Quake-Catcher Network is a collaborative initiative for developing the worlds largest, low-cost strong-motion seismic network by utilizing sensors in and attached to internet-connected computers.

With motion sensors in many notebooks and an Internet connection, the number of siesmic detectors can greatly increase  (though I have to wonder what normal human activity shows up as).  There is also a desktop version as well that will use a USB attached motion sensor.

This project is also geared greatly towards educational uses and development:

The open-source software will provide the client-user with a screen-saver displaying seismic data recorded on their laptop, recently detected earthquakes, and general information about earthquakes and the geosciences. Furthermore, this project will install USB sensors in K-12 classrooms as an educational tool for teaching science. Through a variety of interactive experiments students will learn about earthquakes and the hazards earthquakes pose. For example, students can learn how the vibrations of an earthquake decrease with distance by jumping up and down at increasing distances from the sensor and plotting the decreased amplitude of the seismic signal measured on their computer.

Not you’re local shopping mall, but the National Mall in Washington, D.C.. NOAA and the Smithsonian have worked together to develop “The Sant Ocean Hall“, this exhibit hall combines 674 marine specimens and models, high-definition video experiences, one-of-a kind exhibits, and the newest technology, enabling visitors to explore the ocean’s past, present, and future as never before.

What looks really interesting and worth a trip to go see is the “Science on a Sphere” exhibit.

NOAA’s Science On A Sphere™ will take visitors as if they were 22,000 miles in space where they will see ocean and atmospheric processes displayed across a spinning globe and understand why Earth is so appropriately called “the blue planet.” The Science On A Sphere™ was invented by Sandy MacDonald, director of NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo.

Been spending the last 30 minutes or so browsing through the new NASA Science Website.  This is a very nice site that is loaded to the brim with great information.

I like how it is broken in information for Researches, Educators, Kids and Citizen Scientists for some specific information for those groups of users; and divides the content into Earth centric, Sun centered, Planets and Astrophysics.

But.. no mention of NASA WorldWind though…

Wired has an interesting blog post up on the greatest gadgets from all of history, including the Antikythera Computer, the pocket watch and the Baghdad Batteries.  But the most interesting gadgets they list relate a lot to what most people use now; Virtual Globes, and GPS / navigation.

First up is the The Seamless Globe.  The earliest known model was invented by Eratosthenes in 255BC, with Zhang Heng creating a water-powered example in the second century.  With the greatest being the seamless but static perfect globes created for the Mughal Emperors, between the 16th-19th centuries.

Next item covered is the Classical GPS: The Equitorium, Torquetum, Astrolabe, Sextant and Orrery.  The astrolabe was in use from before the age of Christ until the modern era. An analog computer able to predict and pinpoint the location of heavenly bodies.  The sextant, a device that allows navigators to quickly measure the angle of the sun, was another essential gadget on the high seas.  The equitorium was able to pinpoint the relative positions of the Moon, Sun and planets without any calculation, mechanical or otherwise, it was first invented by Arzachel in the eleventh Century.  Illustrating in miniature a three dimensional model of the solar system, Orreries also model the movements of its constituent bodies.

The last two covered are the Mariner’s Compass and the pocketwatc.  Until the second millenium, it was impossible for mariners on the open sea to accurately track latitude. The compass was invented in China in the 11th century and in common use worldwide by the end of the 13th century.  The mechanical clock, with its intricate gearing and accuracy, standardized timing.

All of these inventions combined are what have brought us to the point where I can look at my phone and know there is a Starbucks around the corner..

This came though the NASA WW project manager:

Hi!  My name is Tim Slater and I am an astronomy education professor at the University of Arizona.  Our team is trying to determine how teachers are using Earth and Space science images, data, and web sites in teaching.  The overarching goal of the project is to figure out what things scientists can do to best support teachers.

If you are a classroom teacher, we would really, REALLY appreciate you completing a very short (5 minutes maximum), online survey.  The survey is completely anonymous - your responses are never associated with your name and will ask you questions about which, if any, resources use use.

Survey Link

If you know any educators that use Earth and Space Science imagery and or data, let them know about this survey.

Ok, first up.. about Miss South Carolina and her answer to the “Find U.S. on a Map” question… if you are looking to Beauty Contests as a marker for intelligence.. you are REALLY looking up the wrong tree.  They didn’t get there
because of a 290 I.Q.

I am sure most people might remember what happened in Michigan in 1994 when an Eagle Scout tried to make his own Nuclear reactor.  Well, it seems like he is at it again, he has been arrested for theft of smoke detectors.

And the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter which seemed to have a camera concern, has had that concern resolved.

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on the orbiter has now taken more than 3,000 images of Mars, resolving features as small as a desk in targeted areas covering thousands of square miles of the Martian surface. Already, this is the largest Mars data set ever acquired by a single experiment.