Posts by geogadmin

“The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is little known to the public, but it represents one of the most-challenging efforts in observational cosmology ever attempted. The most recent phase, SDSS-III, began in 2008 and includes the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), a part of SDSS-III aimed at mapping the cosmos. Its goal is to map the physical locations of all major galaxies back to seven billion years ago, and bright...

In a recent news piece on National Public Radio titled “There She Blew! Volcanic Evidence of the World’s First Map,” UCSB Geography Professor Keith Clarke was selected as the expert to render a final verdict regarding what may be the world’s oldest known map: “A new study of volcanic rocks suggests that an ancient mural may indeed depict an erupting volcano, adding new weight to a theory that this image...

“Much of the Florida shoreline was once too cold for the tropical trees called mangroves, but the plants are now spreading northward at a rapid clip, scientists reported Monday. That finding is the latest indication that global warming, though still in its early stages, is already leading to ecological changes so large they can be seen from space” (New York Times Science article, December 30, 2013). According to the...