- From record setting solar panels, to new computing materials, to water-based batteries, this tech review has something for the nerd in all of us!
New material discovered for sustainable batteries.
Graphene can now be produced in a less toxic manner.
Record efficiency set for quantum solar dots.
Another record setting solar panel.
This battery has water as a major component.
From electronic waste to gold.
New magnetic materials could revolutionize computing.
Another solar cell efficiency record set.
Fusion power is one step closer to practical.
According to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, it is likely that El Niño will transition to ENSO-neutral by April-June 2024 (83% chance), with increasing odds of La Niña developing in June-August 2024 (62% chance). The Arctic region had its third warmest winter on record while the Arctic Sea ice extent in February 2024 tied with 2022 as the 15th lowest on record. The Antarctic Sea ice summer minimum extent in February tied with 2022 for the second lowest on record. (Image Credit: NOAA Global Climate Report)- The NOAA Global Climate Summary for February 2024 has been released and reveals further proof that global climate change remains a concern. Temperatures were above average across much of the globe, with the February global surface temperature becoming the warmest February on record and the 45th consecutive February since March 1979 with temperatures above the 20th Century average. South America had its warmest December-February period on record while North American had its warmest winter and warmest February on record. Global precipitation was above average for February across much of the western US and western half of Alaska, eastern Brazil, much of western and northern Europe, central Asia and much of central and eastern China and Japan. Northern and eastern areas of Australia also received generally above average precipitation in February. Precipitation was below average in much of the eastern half of the US and Canada, much of Mexico, the Amazon basin, large parts of southeastern Europe, much of India and Southeast Asia, as well as most observing locations in West and North Africa. Heavy rain in February triggered flooding in northern Spain and central and northern Italy, which also experienced landslides.
- April brings spring showers and this year, a virtual Easter egg hunt. Our Google search of the month was, “GIS and Easter egg hunts.” While families, churches, communities and libraries typically host Easter egg hunts with candy-filled eggs scattered across their property, some have tried the high-tech approach and mapped out those eggs’ locations for a GIS Easter egg hunt. In fact, these high-tech Easter egg hunts using spatial technologies have turned into fundraisers and tourist attractions. The town of Ninety Six held a GPS Easter Egg Hunt at Lake Greenwood State Park while the Vermillion River Reservation in Lorain County hosted one. The Lake Laurentian Conservation Area combined “Easter Eggs, GPS, and Nature” into an Earth Day EGG-Stravaganza; and REI Outdoor Outfitters got in on the fun and held a class on Family Geocaching: Easter Egg Hunt. Students in one Fairbanks, Alaska teacher’s multi-grade classroom (grades four through six) teamed up with first graders to hunt treat-filled caches hidden around the school grounds with handheld Global Positioning System receivers. It was designed by a fourth grader’s mom who was a professor of Remote Sensing Geology and Geophysics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. You can find the locations of GIS-powered Easter egg hunts at several sites.
- We took a look at the online GIS resources for Eugene, Oregon, last month. This month, we’re heading over to Allentown, Pennsylvania, a city that holds historical significance in the United States as the location where the Liberty Bell, then known as the State House Bell, was successfully hidden for nine months by American patriots to avoid its capture by the British Army after the fall of Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War. Founded in 1762, Allentown is the third most populated city in the state, located along the Lehigh River, a 109-mile-long tributary of the Delaware River. We found an easy-to-navigate, resource-filled GIS website linked below for you to check out:
Allentown, PA, GIS Website
Allentown, PA, GIS Contacts – no contacts
Allentown, PA, GIS Web App
Allentown, PA, GIS Map Collections
Allentown, PA, GIS Direct Downloads
Brock Adam McCarty
Map Wizard
(720) 470-7988
brock@apollomapping.com
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