Apollo News Snippets – May 2018
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- Technology is the coolest and in light of that statement, it is time for our monthly review of cool advancements I have seen recently!
Batteries–This environmentally friendly carbon-water based proton battery could replace lithium ion batteries in the near future; while this idea for a paper battery is well just crazy!Solar/Wind – This solar panel is a two-for-one generator as it also produces energy from raindrops. Holy huge solar project, this one will be 100 times the size of anything we have on the planet today. This hybrid perovskite solar panel improves efficiency in the sun as its molecular lattice expands on bright days. Here is a much needed idea to save birds from spinning wind turbine blades with acoustic warnings.
Random – We have been looking for an economic way to produce hydrogen gas from water, perhaps this is the idea that will work! This ultra-white paint was inspired by a beetle’s shell; while this gel can purify even the dirtiest and saltiest water in the world. Finally, this low cost panel can extract water from thin air, a needed technology in the direst parts of our planet.
- Technology is the coolest and in light of that statement, it is time for our monthly review of cool advancements I have seen recently!
The temperature percentile departure map for March 2018 paints a varied view of our global climate as much of Europe was cooler than average while huge pockets of record warmth persisted over the Middle East and central Asia.- The March 2018 NOAA global climate report is out and I bet you are not surprised to find out that March 2018 was the 399th consecutive month with a temperature average above that of the 20th It was also the 5th hottest March on record in 139 years. The rate of decadal temperature increase is now 0.08 degrees Celsius (0.14 Fahrenheit)–which is more than double the rate of increase in 1980. But, you know global climate change is a Chinese hoax, please!
- May the fourth be with you! In honor of Star Wars day on May 4th, my Google search was, “Star Wars and GIS.” And okay, this is not a serious article, but love it, GIS teachers are definitely Jedis!
- Last month we were in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for our monthly review of city GIS websites and for May we stay close by with a look at Overland Park, Kansas’ online GIS presence. And similar to last month, the landing page for the GIS team is little more than a holding tank for access to a collection of maps. Overland Park offers a set of printable maps in PDF format here; and then also a large collection of online maps here, one drawback with the online maps is that they require a Flash Player so they are not viewable on all browsers.
Brock Adam McCarty
Map Wizard
(720) 470-7988
brock@apollomapping.com
