Geeky States of America: Maine’s Scale Model of Planet Earth
Explore the Earth in Maine, from a view that can’t be beat: DeLorme’s large scale replica of our planet.
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Tag: Earth
Green Tara: Sci-Fi Eco Adventure
Ecology gets a space-adventure for young adults in a new book by K.H. Brower. Green Tara: A Bosque Family Adventure is set in a future where Earth can no longer sustain life.. Can one girl change that and bring humans back home?
Continue ReadingA Start Up Trek – Turning Tables
Its only been today that I can laugh about this. (Both injuries are on the right so I tell folks that I hobble around in circles.) If you work at the same government agency I do you’ll probably hear about …
Continue ReadingA Start Up Trek – Global Scale
There is a lot more to research about the globe option. How many projectors will I need? If I only illuminate around the equator then then the top and bottom of the globe will see little light. How will I …
Continue ReadingDon’t Miss Your Last Chance Ever to See a Venus Transit!
Tonight is the last time that any of us will be able to view the transit of Venus across the solar plane. The planets won’t be in such perfect alignment for another 105 years, so head outside and carefully watch the celestial bodies dance before your eyes.
Continue ReadingRight Where You Are Now: Painting Our Planet’s History
In the crowded aisles of New York ComicCon, a quiet book called out to me. My eye was drawn to the painterly, slightly retro style, and as I thumbed through the book, I fell in love with all of the …
Continue ReadingWorld Population Hits 7 Billion: Target Date October 31
While you’re out trick-or-treating with the kiddos, the world is set to reach a landmark population of 7 billion. It took just twelve years to go from a population of 6 billion to 7 billion on this planet, and that’s worrying some people. Can Earth sustain 7 billion people? What about 8 billion? We’re supposed […]
Continue ReadingHere Comes the Sun: Coronal Mass Ejection Headed for Earth (GeekDad Weekly Rewind)
On Tuesday, the Sun threw off a large amount of material directed towards Earth in an event known as a Coronal Mass Ejection, or CME. When I state a large amount of material here, I mean large. According to a …
Continue ReadingHere Comes the Sun: Coronal Mass Ejection Headed for Earth
On Tuesday, the Sun threw off a large amount of material directed towards Earth in an event known as a Coronal Mass Ejection, or CME. When I state a large amount of material here, I mean large. According to a …
Continue ReadingHow to Watch Tonight’s Lunar Eclipse
Not only is tonight’s total lunar eclipse the only one of 2010, it’s the first one any of us on this planet have seen in almost three years, and it won’t happen again until 2014. This one’s also a little extra special by being the first one to happen during a winter solstice in half […]
Continue ReadingReview: Eaarth – Making a Life on a Tough New Planet
As a girl, I read the Little House on the Prairie series and dreamed of a time when people cooked over an open fire and gave handmade gifts. As an adult, I actually hoped that Y2K would bring a change. …
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Review: Eaarth – Making a Life on a Tough New Planet
As a girl, I read the Little House on the Prairie series and dreamed of a time when people cooked over an open fire and gave handmade gifts. As an adult, I actually hoped that Y2K would bring a change. While we called it a “scare” back then, few would have guessed Y2K could actually […]
Continue ReadingBBC’s Wonders Of The Solar System is Out of This World
I can’t remember the last time I sat down to watch an educational series that was not only thoroughly engrossing for me (and my wife), but also had our kids clustered around watching, asking questions (constantly) and getting into a …
Continue ReadingLearn About The Planet in a Pebble
I love geology. I’ve always been interested in rocks, the Earth and changes to the land. My mom’s rock identification book was one that I pored over as a child. My favorite rock looked like an Oreo. That may or …
Continue ReadingThe Universe Season 4: Destroying The Earth One Episode at a Time
If you liked 2012, you’re gonna love this one: “10 Ways to Destroy the Earth” and eleven other episodes that will fascinate you and make the most of your home entertainment system, while freaking out your kids. The Universe Season …
Continue ReadingEarth Destroyed By Large Hadron Collider; Martian Questioned
In a stunning piece of astronomical news, the planet Sol III — better known as “Earth” — has been completely obliterated. In connection with this sudden catastrophe, authorities have questioned a resident of neighboring planet Sol IV (Mars), who is …
Continue ReadingTotality: Eclipses of the Sun
Nothing is more gorgeous than nature at its finest. A total solar eclipse is a prime example of that. Even a partial eclipse is a memorable experience, if you get outside and witness it first hand. I remember during a …
Continue ReadingIt’s Earth Day Every Day at EPA Web Site For Kids
What better way to celebrate Earth Day than to get your kids involved. A wide range of activities have been planned specifically for today or this week, but what about ongoing environmental awareness and programs? The EPA Student Center helps to fill that role. The EPA Student Center is a web portal run by the […]
Continue ReadingVisualizing the Trip to Grandma’s House with Google Earth
If you took the geeklets on a long drive over the river and through the woods this holiday weekend, or if you’ve got some long drives coming up, you can use Google Earth to do super-cool 3D-flyovers of your whole trip. Google Earth has some basic abilities to generate directions itself, but you can also […]
Continue ReadingExplore Ancient Rome with Google Earth
Google has released an "Ancient Rome 3D" layer for their popular Google Earth geographic browser. The new layer shows many of the buildings, structures and topography that made up the city during the rule of Constantine the Great. Some of the buildings even have interiors. The Ancient Rome 3D feature was created in conjunction with […]
Continue ReadingSpace Junk May Hit the Earth Today
An ammonia tank discarded from the International Space Station is expected to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere sometime today. The refrigerator-sized tank was jettisoned during a spacewalk on July 21, 2007 by Astronaut Clayton Anderson, from the end of the station’s robot arm. NASA usually tries to avoid adding to the debris orbiting the planet, but […]
Continue ReadingProjects for the Nature Geek: Create a Tabletop Ecosystem
Summer may be drawing to a close and the kids are in school but there is still time to launch an outdoor project or two with the geeklets. Any project that will give you an excuse to get outside with the young ones is a good one. You can still build a tipi or, you […]
Continue ReadingCommemorating the Ultimate Geek-Project: Apollo 11
Thirty-nine years ago, on July 16, 1969, three ultra-geeks set off for Luna, Earth’s moon. Their mission was called Apollo 11. This is widely considered one of the greatest accomplishments of the United States, but is rarely recognized outside of a brief mention on the news, or a quick photo-op with the president. When the […]
Continue ReadingReuse BPA bottles in the garage…and beyond
By now, most of us know we must get rid of plastic baby bottles (among other things) that contain the compound Bisphenol-A. (For some of the most exhaustive reporting out there on the presence of BPA in baby products, check out GeekDad Jeremiah McNichols’s blog Z Recommends). But what to do with all of those […]
Continue ReadingLiving Lights of the World
Curious Expeditions is a wild site full of the interesting and well worth the death of your productivity. Their team travels the world looking for the "wondrous, the macabre, and the obscure." The entry on Living Lights is phenomenal. A bit late for Earth Day but hey, you don’t need a day to revel in […]
Continue ReadingThe Digital Ark
If you haven’t already discovered it, ARKive, Images of Life on Earth is a vast collection of pics and video of endangered and threatened animals. In giving special recognition to "Earth week," I came upon this in my (constant) search for cool animal videos for the 5-year-old. The stuff on this site is superb. Backed […]
Continue ReadingTabletop Biosphere 2
San Francisco based KQED’s Quest visited the MAKE test lab in advance of Maker Faire and has a short video on making your own tabletop biosphere. Boy, they sure make it look easy! The video is an expansion of the same project that appeared both in MAKE magazine and on one of their vidcasts. The […]
Continue ReadingNASA Science Website Updated – Great Content for Kids
NASA has recently performed an overhaul of its science website, pulling together all the remarkably varied and useful information into a slick, functional portal. Of note to GeekDads, the NASA Science for Kids section with a wealth of content for young learners, including something that caught my eye: the Earth as Art site, showing some […]
Continue ReadingHeads up! Computer controlled balloon in flight!
The Spirit of Knoxville IV (SNOX IV), a balloon carrying a control computer, GPS receiver, and amateur radio transmitters, is currently over the north Atlantic ocean headed for Europe. The link leads to a page of near-real-time telemetry giving the balloon’s latitude, longitude, altitude, temperature, and other interesting data. It also displays a Google map […]
Continue ReadingDiscover the Earth’s Magnetic Personality
A gigantic spot, large enough to swallow the Earth in one gulp, slides into view on the edge of the Sun’s surface. It creeps over a period of days across the Sun’s visible disk, growing ominously. As it nears the Sun’s center a massive solar flare erupts from the spot, triggering a coronal mass ejection […]
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