Each month, we look back on the best of the month’s Best of the Blogs.
How do you map a planet that no human has stepped foot on? When it comes to cartography, a featureless planet like Mars is the ultimate challenge. With little more than craters, rocks and dust, the first humans on mars will need a map suitable for planning, navigating and survival in an alien terrain – a map that will save lives. That’s why The International Cartographic Association Commission on Planetary Cartography compiled the best cartographic visions of Mars to date. [Planetcarto]
To get stories like this delivered to your mailbox every week,
subscribe to the weekly Spatial Source newsletter.
A recent hydrographic mapping expedition in the Black Sea has led to the accidental discovery of dozens of shipwrecks. The team of scientists behind the expedition uncovered over more than 40 wrecks while surveying the seabed near Bulgaria to understand how quickly land in the area was inundated following the last ice age 20,000 years ago. The discoveries included this medieval-aged wreck shown here as a 3D photogrammetric model. [ABC News]
There’s more than one way to map something like global climate change. Such a complicated matter cannot be shown in just one map, hence why we need this compilation of 11 maps. While they cannot show all, at least they will show you what are the reasons behind it and the consequences that are already emerging. [Geoawesomeness]
Daniel Rubio, CTO of AirMap believes it is autonomous aircraft, not cars, that have the advantages that will make widespread adoption of vehicles without human operators possible in the very near future. Here he gives are four reasons why the future of autonomy is about drones, not driverless cars. Get ready to hit the skies, forget the road! [Forbes]
Although the existing gender stereotype about spatial ability suggested that men might be better at spatial perspective-taking than women, new research may suggest otherwise. The study finds that when the skill is framed as a test of social ability or empathy—which women are typically thought to excel at—it is women who may be considered the better navigators. [ScienceDaily]
