The world's population density...

visualized in an interactive graphic.  Adjust the slider at the top of the map to see areas of the globe where the human population ranges from 5 to 500 people per square mile.

It's interesting to note that the continent of Australia doesn't appear at all, even at the minimum density setting, reflecting the sparse human settlement there.  And you can see why I love the western interior of the United States.

Dynamic wind map...

traces air flow over the US in near real time based on one-hour differences in barometric pressure.  It's zoomable, but I wish you could toggle on/off state boundaries.

Don't stare at it too long.  It's hypnotic.

It may look like a pizza...

but it's actually a new map of the surface of Io, one of Jupiter's moons and the most volcanically active body in the solar system:

More here at the USGS: Geologic Map of Io.

Image credit: Wired.com.

What does your favorite...

map projection say about you?  Heh.

Hat tip:  BH.

Entire wreck site of Titantic mapped...

in high resolution for first time, showing the 3 x 5 mi (5 x 8 km) debris field in stunning detail, to be released next month on the 100 year anniversary of its sinking on 15 April 1912.  Here's a related article that includes some excellent images.

Sea floor now better rendered...

in Google Earth according to this recent announcement.  Higher resolution bathymetric surveys have now been incorporated in the image server, showing seamounts, trenches and other features in greater detail than ever before.  Take a look, look takers.

Know your forest biomass...

distribution by studying this new map showing the concentration of carbon in trees in the U.S.  (Click on the image to download the ~ 4 MB JPG hi-res version).

Can't see the forest for the trees?  Now you can.

Know your antipode...

before tunneling through the center of the Earth as it may be helpful to have an idea where you will emerge on the other side of the globe.  Here's an easy antipode calculator.

For me, digging down from Cheney, America, it's in the southern Indian Ocean, near the Kerguelen Islands.

It's a volcano-palooza...

with this series of links that I've accumulated the last several weeks:

• Beautiful Destruction: 11 Gorgeous Geological Maps of Volcanoes
• Vulcan’s View: Eruption News and Volcanoes From Space
  
• Hydrovolcanism: When Magma and Water Mix

Hi-res topographic map of the Moon...

has just been released (click to enlarge):

Selenographers rejoice!  Here's more information about the new map (and the color scale) and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera.

"Ice Age Floods" layer...

created by former EWU student Ron Hall for Google Earth can be found here. Once you import the .kmz file into GE you can turn on/off or adjust the opacity of glacial lakes, the channeled scablands, glacial ice and significant landmarks.

Great job, Ron.

Burger wars mapped...

in the US at Weather Sealed. Check out the maps, and indeed, the McForce is strong.

Smallest map of the world...

has been etched on a chip at 1:1,000,000,000,000 scale, with the "40,000-kilometer equator reduced to 40 micrometers, half the width of a human hair."

Kinda hard to use, however.

National Geologic Map Database...

can be found at this link and looks like it will be a very useful tool. Here's the description from the web site:

"Welcome to our Data Portal. It is intended to: 1) give you a quick browse and query of our Nation's geologic maps, in a standardized format, and 2) link you to the source information found via the NGMDB Map Catalog and Geologic Names Lexicon. More than 80,000 maps and reports, by 370 publishers, are accessible. We anticipate expanding the Portal this year, and welcome your comments."

New generation of...

digital topographic maps is being offered by the U.S. Geological Survey, called "Digital Map - Beta." Looks good at a glance and I'll give it a test drive when I have the time.

Google Mars...

is too cool for school. Here's a screen shot (click to enlarge) of the Olympus Mons region of Mars showing the reference frames for all of the satellite imagery available at this location which, by the way, is the largest volcano in the solar system. The new iteration of Google Earth 5.0 includes this Mars viewer, and this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg as to its capabilities.

Guess what I'll be exploring the next several weeks?

Geologic Investigations Map...

I-2800 from the U.S. Geological Survey is now in a downloadable form on the web. The map is entitled This Dynamic Planet and it consists of a world map of volcanoes, earthquakes, impact craters, and plate tectonic features. Students will recognize this wall map since it is posted in most of the classrooms and laboratories in the geology department.

Warning: read the web page linked above before you download these huge .pdf files.

Google Earth 5.0 (beta)...

has been released. Here's the link.

Cool content: access to all Mars imagery. More: Google Ocean

Warning: don't download and use this nifty program unless you have a high-bandwidth connection to the net.