The final Atlantis space shuttle flight is currently underway, and while we all wipe those tears of nostalgia from our eyes, Google Earth Blog has a post outlining some of the tools available to track its progress in near-real time.
According to PC World, Google has quietly pulled traffic information from its browser-based Google Maps, stating a lack of accuracy as the reason why. The change hasn’t affected the smartphone apps seen on Android or iOS, though, but I would assume that’s because it’s easier to roll out a change on a webpage than it is an app.
Temporal mapping is a challenge, with boundaries shifting over time. However, with Parishes in the UK dating remaining fairly constant over history, slashgeo have a post outlining a map that measures the wealth of parishes over time, back to the 11th century!
Speaking of history, Google Maps Mania has a post outlining the website Pushpin, which places historical events and photographs in both geographical and temporal context. The neatest feature, however, is its ‘augmented reality’ mobile app that overlays the historical photos onto the real world.
While not entirely spatially related, got geoint? has a post all about whacky science, and there’s few things I dig more than whacky science! It’s not all just whacky, though, with some very interesting sites linked, including strange but true facts from scientific American, and a history of how humans settled the world.
Spatial Sustain has a post outlining the road to self-service GIS, the barriers it traditionally faced, how technology is overcoming them, and how it will benefit companies.
And, finally, if you loved our story on undersea volcanoes, then you can follow it up with Peter Aldhous’ map of deep sea vents. (A tip of the hat toward Google Maps Mania for linking it).
