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Earth Day is the one hippie-holiday of the year everyone can partake in—it’s a celebration of this giant rock we call home! This annual event strives to bring awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. Some people throw festivals or plant trees, but what about those of us who wish to celebrate Earth Day in a technology-friendly way?
Dust off your Google Earth application (or download it, if you don’t already have it) as we’re going to show you five amazing things Google Earth can do to celebrate Earth Day.
This Google Earth plug-in comes packed with 95 objects from our Solar System, including the planets, dwarf planets, and major planet moons and asteroids, along with two years of orbital data. You can turn on the orbital path, search for your point of interest, or relive Pluto’s glory days. You can even follow along the Sun’s path and direction of orbit or scope out your favorite constellation. The plug-in also comes equipped with current sky events, a backyard astronomy map (which connects the dots for you), and historical sky maps, so you can relive the Middle Ages, when man first inquired about the twinkling sky up above. Add on the Jupiter Imagery Animation plug-in to view our Solar System’s biggest planet via image overlays from the Cassini spacecraft. Though the application doesn’t display in real time, this is a great plug-in to whip out as an educational tool or just for kicks.
Google Maps already includes options for displaying the current position of the clouds, weather radar that shows precipitation, and current forecast. However, if you’re tired of that boring, stagnant image-based weather map, Google Earth Hacks offers three dynamic maps of current temperatures.
If you’re United States based, the Current US Temperatures map borrows Weather.com’s infrared heat maps for a thorough overhead view of the range in temperature, from the East to the West side. If you’re looking for details from all over the globe, the Weather Channel’s Satellite mosaic contains a standard collection of satellite images and is updated often, while the Global Infrared Satellite Images offers a handful of overlapped overlays that covers much of the earth and is updated every three hours.
One of the best features that came with the new version of Google Earth was the ability to use a joystick to fly around the Earth. Any kind of joystick should work, whether it be the traditional “flight stick” or a cheap, USB-powered game pad. Under Tools, Enter Flight Simulator, select Joystick mode (this will only work if you have the appropriate peripheral plugged in). Then, pick your aircraft (are you a fighter jet or a nonchalant propeller airplane?) and navigate the world! Enable 3D Buildings for more of an effect.
If you don’t have a joystick, but still want to give it a try, Google has so kindly provided us with the appropriate command keys. Similarly, if the flight simulator makes you feel a little queasy, press Ctrl + Alt + A to exit.
Remember back when sharing a slideshow of your recent vacation to Fargo, North Dakota meant boring your friends and putting them to sleep? If your Cohen brothers loyalty isn’t enough to win you some points, why not try with an interactive tour of your most recent vacation?
Using Google Earth Tours, you can create and then playback interactive tours of your latest travel endeavor. Hook up the computer to a projector to put on a 3D slideshow that includes not just photos, terrain, and satellite clouds, but audio as well. Add a YouTube video bookmark to pinpoint the exact location of the wood chipper, or set up a flight path to show the highway route you took cross-country. And, if you just can’t convince your friends otherwise, bombard them with requests to watch the tour via their own Google Earth user accounts.
With a recession in effect, pinching pennies is more crucial than ever. But, don’t fret about your lack of travel plans this year. Hop on the Visual Travel Guide train to view over 18,000 individual photographs of coveted places around the world. Additionally, the plug-in comes with a sightseeing application under the same name that takes you on a slideshow of the world, stopping at various places of interest. There’s only one problem with this plug-in: it may give you more of an inclination to travel.
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amitava
November 29, 2010 at 2:30am
Earth Day is the largest, most widely celebrated international environmental event. Earth Day helps celebrate Earth’s unique place in the universe. It is the only planet in our solar system teeming with incredible biodiversity. Learning about and protecting this biodiversity is what Earth Day is all about. Niagara Falls Hotel
