22 maps and charts that will surprise you

"A good visualization helps you see what the data is telling you. The best visualizations help you you see things you never thought the data would tell you. These 22 charts and maps were, at least for me, in that category: all of them told me something I found surprising. Some of them genuinely changed the way I think about the world."

22 maps and charts that will surprise you by Ezra Klein at Vox

http://www.vox.com/2014/9/23/6829399/23-maps-and-charts-that-will-surprise-you

40 maps that explain the Roman Empire

Vox has a very nice presentation of maps to explain the Roman Empire.

As a student of history myself these are invaluable to help you visualize Roman and world history.

(click on the image for the link)

BBC Audio slideshow: Human Planet

 

An audio and still video preview of a new BBC show with photographs by Timothy Allen and with his commentary. It is 7 minutes long and worth watching.

Awesome photography showing the diversity of people in our world.

Mount St. Helens eruption’s 30th Anniversary today

It is 30 years today since the eruption on May 18, 1980.

I visited the park years later and saw the devastation. I am sure the people who experienced it would never forget.

(Article)

Volcanic Lightning, Eyjafjallajökull, and how it works

(click to see bigger image)

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for April 19th at NASA’s site, is an amazing shot by Marco Fulle from Stromboli Online. This is from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Southern Iceland (how do you pronounce that?)

Theoretical astrophysicist Ethan Siegel has a great post explaining how do you get lightning in a volcanic eruption, and how it is much more common than you may think.

How Tides Work

Ethan Siegel from Starts with a Bang blog writes a very nice explanation of How Tides Work. If you ever wandered, there’s your answer.

Here’s an article about it in Wikipedia.

Bay of Fundy at low tide

(image credit Samuel Wantman)