Mapping an Earth-like planet.

Geo Lounge has a fascinating post on the (semi) emerging field of ‘exo-cartography’ – that is, the mapping of planets other than Earth. “Exo-cartographers have to be a combination of photographer, mathematician and rocket scientist in order to create an accurate description of these planets, many of which are tens of thousands of light years away from Earth.”

LiDAR News has a post highlighting a group of research scientists that are confident that they can map the world’s rainforests in 3D for only US$250 million.

Google Maps Mania talks of ‘Disappearing Glaciers’, an Esri StoryMap designed to visually highlight the alarming speed at which glaciers are disappearing around the world.

GMM also has this map on preventable disease outbreaks across the world. Immunise your kids, dangit!

In lighter news, GMM also follows a monkey!

I promise that’s all I’m posting from GMM this week…

IEEE Spectrum has posted a tonne of robot-related videos, including some on laser vision (think LiDAR), UAVs, consumer-grade robots and more. It’s a great way to spend (quite) a few futuristic minutes of your day.

IEEE Spectrum also has a little more info on the physical design of Google’s Project Wing, which we just reported on.

GeoAwesomeness has news of Google’s new ‘Cartographer’ indoor mapping backpack, based on  Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) technology.