Futurity.org » digital mapping

Picture digital data on a massive scale

Aaron Dubrow-Texas — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:52:43 +0000

U. TEXAS-AUSTIN (US) — By 2014, the National Archives and Records Administration expects to house more than 35 petabytes (quadrillions of bytes) of electronic data. Modern archivists face a daunting task: manage and make sense of it all.

“The National Archives is a unique national institution that responds to requirements for preservation, access, and the continued use of government records,” says Robert Chadduck, acting director for the National Archives Center for Advanced Systems and Technologies.

From space, keep tabs on groundwater

Susan Young-Stanford — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:10:31 +0000

STANFORD (US) — Researchers have found a way to use satellites to see past crops and check water systems underground for signs of overuse.

In agricultural regions, groundwater regulators use direct measurements from wells—which are often few and far between—to monitor aquifer levels carefully in an effort to avoid drought.

West Bank map could inform peace talks

Carl Marziali-USC — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:15:58 +0000

“The significance of making this data public should not be underestimated. For the first time, both Palestinians and Israelis can dynamically consult this interactive map and view what cultural heritage will fall under the sovereign rule of each side during final peace negotiations,” says team member Ran Boytner about a new searchable Google Map portal. (View the searchable map.)

USC (US)—A team of American, Israeli, and Palestinian experts has developed the first map detailing 40 years of Israeli archeological activity in the West Bank and Jerusalem—much of it never publicly disclosed.

The public can access the West Bank and East Jerusalem Archaeology Database at http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/wbarc/ (users should have Google Earth installed to enjoy the full power of the database).

Dinosaurs reacted fast to avoid slip-ups

Joy Myers-Michigan — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:44:21 +0000

Paleontologist Jeff Wilson uses a laser scanner to collect three-dimensional data while Claudia Marsicano examines the emerging image. View more images. (Credit: Roger Smith)

U. MICHIGAN (US)—Early dinosaurs made on-the-fly adjustments to their movements to cope with slippery and sloping terrain, according to a new investigation of a fossilized tracksite in southern Africa.

The Moyeni tracksite in Lesotho contains more than 250 footprints made by a variety of four-legged animals near the beginning of the Jurassic Period (about 200 million years ago), when the Earth’s land masses were united as Pangea. The site was first discovered and described in the 1960s and 1970s by French paleontologist Paul Ellenberger but has not since been examined in detail.