To note that the United States is the richest country on the planet is a bit of an understatement.
We can take the economies Japan, China, and Germany, combine their gross domestic product totals, and the U.S. still has more wealth. But how we decide to use or not use our wealth, particularly in times of economic distress, can boggle the mind.
Source:
http://progressivenation.us/2010/08/08/all-of-this-in-the-wealthiest-country-on-earth/
Trees can be described as regal� or majestic.� But they can also be some of the spookiest vegetation on the planet.
Stunning new photos from the International Space Station show the Earth below as seen over the course of half an orbit, from sunrise over Northern Europe to sunset over southeast Australia.
Source:
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sunrise-sunset-earth-view-from-space-100707.html
One of the most important forms of life, PhytoPlankton produce something like 50% of all the Oxygen on Earth - about as much as the world's Forests and Jungles combined.
Sadly in some areas of the ocean, there has been a 30 percent decrease in phytoplankton production between 1999 and 2004 alone.
Source:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/6/26/879599/-A-Key-Strand-in-the-Web-of-Life:-PhytoPlankton
Nature is all around us, and its beauties are unlimited.
Luckily, there are still people in the world who see this beauty and choose to share it with those of us that are too busy to normally take notice.They take what seems like the ordinary and present it to us in a way that shows us the elegance, the magnificence and the amazing is on the Earth.
Source:
http://thewondrous.com/30-best-of-nature-photography/
Sperm whales feeding even in the most remote reaches of Earth's oceans have built up stunningly high levels of toxic and heavy metals, according to American scientists who say the findings spell danger not only for marine life but for the millions of humans who depend on seafood.
>...start with the American Southwest, let's assume for the moment that the irredentists are right and that it should be ceded to Mexico.
What gives the Mexican government a claim to this portion of the earth? This was Mexico for a mere 27 years -- just a single generation. In 1821, one could argue, the Mexican colonists stole New Spain....>>
Source:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/06/who_owns_the_land_anyway.html
A Japanese space capsule returned to Earth and plunged through the atmosphere over the Australian outback today, capping a seven-year space journey that took it to a nearby asteroid in a historic attempt to collect pieces of a billion-year-old space rock.
The disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has revived the debate about alternatives to the extraction or use of fossil fuels.
But what most commentators do not realize is that the spill wouldn't be happening if the earth were 4.6 billion years old--because the oil wouldn't be under the tremendous pressure now causing it to spew out.
A interactive guide to how much electricity countries are using and their corresponding carbon emissions.
See on a global scale who is doing the most to reduce their carbon footprint by generating renewable energy.
Source:
http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/environment/energy/
I like this question because it can be answered at different levels.
First, what do you mean by world? If you mean "the Earth", then the answer would be that the Earth essentially appears the same to an insect as it does to us humans (from a size perspective).
And these astonishing pictures, taken by British freelance photographer John Beatty, record the spectacular events which took place at the now-infamous Eyjafjallajoekull (Island-Mountain-Glacier) volcano in Iceland, and which have had such a dramatic aftermath.
For Earth Hour 2010, record-breaking millions of businesses, homes, and landmarks around the world will turn off their lights Saturday evening for the sake of the planet, conservationists say.
Source:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/03/100326-earth-hour-2010-record-landmarks/
An amateur stargazer has captured the moment a comet exploded in space - an event missed by the world's professional astronomers.
Source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1260049/Exploding-comet.html?ITO=1490
An infrared space telescope has spotted several very dark asteroids that have been lurking unseen near Earth's orbit.
Their obscurity have kept them hidden from surveys designed to detect things that might hit our planet.
Source:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18616-dark-dangerous-asteroids-found-lurking-near-earth.html
Evidence for the existence of Earths magnetic field has been pushed back about 250 million years, new research suggests.
The field may therefore be old enough to have shielded some of the planets earliest life from the suns most harmful cosmic radiation.
Source:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/03/earths-magnetic-field-is-35-billion-years-old/
A filmmaker braved Earth's hellish depths to walk amongst the largest mineral crystals in the world.
Nestling up to a cauldron of pressurized, molten rock is almost never a good idea. But in Mexico's Naica mine, the payoff is worth the risk.
Hail Crabzilla! The Japanese Spider Crab is the biggest arthropod on Earth--their legs are believed to grow up to 12 feet long.
But since they live at such great depths (typically 1,000 feet down or so) a full grown spider crab has yet to be caught. So for now, we'll have to make due with the 5 foot long Crabzilla.
Source:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/crabzilla-5-ft-biggest-known-crab-uk.php
THE cosmos is quiet.
Eerily quiet. After decades of straining our radio ears for a whisper of civilisations beyond Earth, we have heard nothing. We've tried messaging extraterrestrials in geek speak � but we've had no replies. Maybe we should stop trying to make sense and just gabble.
Source:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527441.300-exolanguage-do-you-speak-alien.html?full=true
picture of shadow of moon on earth from International space station
